Handbook for Writers

Instructor’s resource

Manual

to accompany

troyka | Hesse

sIMon & scHuster

Handbook

for WrIters

tentH edItIon

Linda Julian, Patricia Kelvin, Scott A. Leonard, Laurel Black,

Cynthia Myers, Edgar V. Roberts, Susan Loudermilk Garza,

andKathryn Riley

troypart00_pi-xii_troyfm.qxd 12/2/12 1:55 PM Page i

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Instructor’s Resource Manual to accompany Troyka/Hesse, Simon & Schuster

Handbook for Writers, Tenth Edition

Copyright © 2013, 2009, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc.

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in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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contents

� Part one: strategIes for teachIng WrItIng

by Linda Julian 1

CHAPTER ONE: Great Expectations .................................................1

CHAPTER TWO: The Impossible and the Possible:

Realistic Goals for Courses in Writing ....................................9

CHAPTER THREE: Using a Handbook: Why and How..................14

The Handbook as Text............................................................15

The Handbook as an Aid in Marking Papers ........................19

The Handbook as a Tool for Students ..................................21

CHAPTER FOUR: The Course Syllabus: Some Models..................25

Syllabi for Semester (Fifteen-Week) Courses .......................28

Emphasis on Technology and Writing ..............................29

Emphasis on Writing Across the Curriculum....................35

Syllabi for Quarter (Ten-Week) Courses ...............................40

Emphasis on Research Skills ............................................40

Emphasis on Paragraphs ..................................................45

Syllabi for Summer-School (Six-Week) Courses ..................50

Emphasizing Critical Thinking and Argument..................50

CHAPTER FIvE: Teacher Feedback: Methods to Improve

Student Writing.......................................................................55

Commenting on Drafts ..........................................................55

Conferences: Student and Teacher One-to-One ....................57

CHAPTER SIx: Peer Response: Opinions That Matter ..................63

CHAPTER SEvEN: Evaluation by the Teacher: Using Grading

Help Students Develop Their Writing....................................70

Portfolio Assessment ..............................................................71

Contract Grading ....................................................................72

Weighted Grading ..................................................................73

CHAPTER EIGHT: Some Ideas for Assignments and

Classroom Activities...............................................................88

APPENDIx: Further Suggestions for Reading ..............................100

iii

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strategies and resources for teaching Writing

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� Part tWo: collaboratIve WrItIng

by Patricia Kelvin and Scott A. Leonard 103

Teaching Collaborative Writing...................................................103

Why Teach Students to Write Together?.....................................104

Creating a Collaborative Classroom ...........................................107

Teaching Collaboration: Conceptual vocabulary and Group

Behaviors ..............................................................................109

Assigning Groups ........................................................................117

Aiming the Groups Toward Success ...........................................121

Designing Collaborative Writing Assignments That Work.........126

Diagnosing Problems in the Collaborative Group ......................130

Assignments That Work ..............................................................135

More About Collaboration...........................................................138

� Part three: usIng PortfolIos

for learnIng and assessMent

by Laurel Black 145

Introduction..................................................................................145

What Is a Portfolio?.....................................................................146

Why Use Portfolios?....................................................................149

Preparing to Use Portfolios .........................................................152

Using Portfolios ...........................................................................155

Preparing Students for Portfolios ................................................160

Pitfalls and Problems in Portfolio Use........................................164

Connecting Portfolios to the Simon & Schuster Handbook

for Writers.............................................................................169

Conclusion ...................................................................................171

Appendix A: Advanced Composition: English 251 ....................175

Appendix B: Writer’s Memo Assignment...................................176

Appendix C: Reflective Essay Assignment ................................178

Appendix D: Portfolio Response Rubric ....................................179

� Part four: MultIlIngual WrIters

In the coMPosItIon class

by Cynthia Myers 181

Introduction..................................................................................181

Cultural Issues .............................................................................183

Strategies and Resources for Teaching Writing

iv

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Listening and Speaking Skills for Multilingual Students ...........191

Writing Skills for Multilingual Students.....................................196

Helping Multilingual Students in the Composition Classroom..202

Conclusion ...................................................................................211

� Part fIve: readIng and WrItIng

about lIterature: a PrIMer for students

by Edgar V. Roberts 215

Foreword ......................................................................................215

What Is Literature, and Why Do We Study It?...........................216

Elements of Fiction......................................................................218

The Fiction Writer’s Tools...........................................................221

Reading a Story and Responding to It Actively .........................226

Guy de Maupassant—The Necklace ....................................227

Reading and Responding in a Journal.........................................237

Responding to Literature: Likes and Dislikes ....................238

Guidelines for Reading ........................................................240

Writing Essays on Literary Topics ..............................................246

Discovering Ideas ................................................................248

Drafting Your Essay ............................................................253

Writing a First Draft ............................................................254

Writing by Hand, Typewriter, or Word Processor................258

First Sample Essay, First Draft ............................................260

Develop and Strengthen Your Essay Through Revision.............261

Check the Development and Organization of Your Ideas ..263

Write with Your Readers in Mind........................................265

Use Exact, Comprehensive, and Forceful Language ..........265

Sample Essay—Improved Draft ..........................................268

Summary...............................................................................271

Writing About Responses: Likes and Dislikes............................271

Sample Essay........................................................................273

� Part sIx: WorkPlace and PublIc WrItIng

by Linda Julian 275

Teaching “Real World” Writing Skills ........................................275

Major Kinds of Workplace Writing.............................................279

Kinds of Workplace Documents ..........................................279

Contents

v

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Strategies for Letters and Memos ...............................................280

Employment Documents .............................................................281

Résumés................................................................................283

Cover Letters ........................................................................281

Other Employment Letters ..................................................284

Proposals and Reports .................................................................286

Formal Reports ....................................................................286

Informal Reports and Proposals ..........................................288

Headings in Reports ............................................................288

Public Writing..............................................................................290

Activities for Teaching Workplace and Public Writing ..............292

Letter and Memo-Writing Activities ....................................292

Report and Proposal-Writing Activities ..............................293

Public Writing Activities ......................................................294

� Part seven: IntegratIng coMPuters

Into the WrItIng classrooM

by Linda Julian 297

Technology in the New Millennium: Tools for Reading

and Research.........................................................................297

Advantages and Disadvantages of Teaching with Computers....298

Using Computers to Teach Writing Skills...................................300

Prewriting with Computers ..................................................300

Drafting and Revising Using the Computer ........................301

Using Computers to Do Research ...............................................304

Understanding the Internet ..................................................304

Places to Begin ....................................................................304

Evaluating Resources on the Internet ..................................306

Handling Copyright Issues and Plagiarism..........................307

Glossary of Basic Computer Terms ............................................309

� Part eIght: the role of vIsual rhetorIc

In WrItIng

by Susan Loudermilk Garza 315

What Is visual Rhetoric?.............................................................317

How Should We Teach visual Rhetoric? ....................................321

Resources for Teaching visual Rhetoric .....................................330


vi

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� 1 WrItIng sItuatIons and Processes

Chapter 1, Ten Top Tips for College Writers..............................337

Chapter 2, Ten Troublesome Mistakes Writers Make.................339

Chapter 3, Thinking, Reading, and Analyzing

Images Critically ..................................................................342

Chapter 4, Understanding College and Other

Writing Situations.................................................................350

Chapter 5, Essential Processes for Writing .................................355

Chapter 6, Writing Paragraphs, Shaping Essays.........................360

Chapter 7, Designing Documents................................................369

Chapter 8, no exercises

Chapter 9, Writing with Others ...................................................373

� 2 fraMes for college WrItIng

Chapters 10, Personal Essays ......................................................381

Chapters 11, Informative Essays .................................................382

Chapters 12, Process Essays........................................................384

Chapters 13, Essays Analyzing Cause or Effect .........................387

Chapters 14, Essays Analyzing a Text ........................................389

Chapters 15, Argument Essays....................................................391

Chapters 16, Proposal or Solution Essays...................................396

Chapters 17, Evaluation Essays ..................................................398

� 3 source-based WrItIng

Chapter 18, Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing...............400

Chapter 19, Avoiding Plagiarism.................................................407

Chapter 20, Writing About Readings ..........................................413

� 4 research and docuMenatIon

Chapter 21, Starting and Planning Research Projects ................415

Chapter 22, Finding Published Sources ......................................420

Contents

vii

unIt 2

chapter-by-chapter resources

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Chapter 23, Evaluating Sources ..................................................424

Chapter 24, Drafting and Revising a Research Paper ................426

Chapter 25, MLA Documentation with Case Study ...................429

Chapter 26, APA Documentation with Case Study.....................439

Chapter 27, Chicago Manual (CM) and Council of

Science Editors (CSE)..........................................................443

� 5 understandIng graMMar and WrItIng

correct sentences

Chapter 28, Parts of Speech and Sentence Structures ................445

Chapter 29, verbs ........................................................................455

Chapter 30, Pronouns: Case and Reference................................467

Chapter 31, Agreement ................................................................475

Chapter 32, Adjectives and Adverbs ...........................................483

Chapter 33, Sentence Fragments .................................................487

Chapter 34, Comma Splices and Run-On Sentences..................494

Chapter 35, Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers.........................499

Chapter 36, Shifting and Mixed Sentences.................................502

� 6 WrItIng effectIvely, WrItIng WIth style

Chapter 37, Style, Tone, and the Effects of Words.....................508

Chapter 38, Sentence variety and Style ......................................518

Chapter 39, Parallelism ...............................................................526

Chapter 40, Conciseness..............................................................530

� 7 usIng PunctuatIon and MechanIcs

Chapter 41, Periods, Question Marks, and Exclamation Points.535

Chapter 42, Commas ...................................................................537

Chapter 43, Semicolons...............................................................546

Chapter 44, Colons ......................................................................549

Chapter 45, Apostrophes .............................................................551

Chapter 46, Quotation Marks ......................................................554

Chapter 47, Other Punctuation Marks.........................................558

Chapter 48, Capitals, Italics, Abbreviations, and Numbers........563

Chapter 49, Spelling ....................................................................570


viii

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� 8 WrItIng When englIsh Is not your fIrst

language

Chapter 50, Multilingual Students Writing in U.S. Colleges

and Universities ....................................................................577

Chapter 51, Handling Sentence-Level Issues in English............579

Chapter 52, Singulars and Plurals ...............................................583

Chapter 53, Articles .....................................................................585

Chapter 54, Word Order ..............................................................587

Chapter 55, Prepositions ............................................................589

Chapter 56, Gerunds, Infinitives, and Participles .......................590

Chapter 57, Modal Auxiliary verbs ............................................592

� 9 sPecIfIc WrItIng sItuatIons

Chapter 58, An Overview of Writing Across the Curriculum ....594

Chapter 59, Writing About the Humanities.................................597

Chapter 60, Writing in the Social and Natural Sciences ............600

Chapter 61, Writing Under Pressure ...........................................603

Chapter 62, Making Presentations ..............................................604

Chapter 63, Writing for Digital Environments ...........................607

Chapter 64, Writing for Work .....................................................610

Contents

ix

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GETTING REGISTERED

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3. After being directed to the catalog page for your text, click

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Part One:

Strategies for teaching Writingby Linda Julian, Furman University

ChaPter 1

Great expectations

The scene is a familiar one.

“Why’d ya give me a D on this paper? I did everything you told me

to. I fixed all the things you marked wrong on my rough draft. I proof-

read it,” the student argues, slouched in a chair across from the teacher’s

desk, waving the heavily red-marked essay to punctuate these assertions.

Suddenly, straightening the torso and looking the teacher squarely in the

eye, the student delivers the coup de grâce: “I thought you liked my

writing. You’re just like all the rest!”

The look of betrayal, the raised voice, and the defeated posture add

force to the indictment. The teacher, overcome with a split-second vision

of sins of omission and commission, attempts to salvage whatever good-

will is possible, but on a subconscious level the teacher likely admits that

the student’s statement contains some truth. The bitterest pill to swallow,

however, is the hard truth that yet another student has been alienated

from the process of learning to write, perhaps irretrievably so.

Many of our students, of course, fortunately have had teachers who

made the process of writing exciting, and their interest continues into our

courses. Our responsibility to these students is to sustain this excitement

and help them refine their skills. Unfortunately, though, we still lose

some students who have been scarred by earlier classroom experiences

1Copyright © 2013, 2009, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc.

UNIT 1STRATEGIES AND RESOURCES FOR

TEACHING WRITING

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and who are being further alienated by some of our practices, often with-

out our full realization. But we teachers have much more power to

combat these negative experiences with writing—and negative attitudes

toward writing—than many of us may realize. Engendering a positive

attitude about writing can make learning it an intellectual adventure

rather than a dead-end road, and this positive attitude can make teach-

ing writing more pleasurable for us teachers as well. The most impor-

tant lesson we can teach is not the grammar, structure, or tone of writing

but a positive attitude towards writing that makes possible a dynamic

piece of prose.

This positive attitude informs the Simon & Schuster Handbook for

Writers by Lynn Quitman Troyka and Doug Hesse. This Instructor’s

Resource Manual is meant to aid teachers of writing—both new teach-

ers and experienced teachers—in using Troyka & Hesse’s handbook

effectively to suit the needs of their students. It offers practical sugges-

tions for using the text in a variety of ways to accommodate different

kinds of academic calendars. Like the Troyka & Hesse text, this supple-

ment is grounded in the theory that writing is a process that can be

enjoyed and taught successfully.

Teaching writing is neither an arcane science nor a hit-or-miss oper-

ation but a manageable and stimulating venture that requires careful

planning, a somewhat flexible spirit, and intellectual energy. As teach-

ers, we know that learning to write well is the most important need that

most students have. At the same time we realize that students today often

see writing as an amorphous, vague skill impossible to master, and they

often view teachers of writing as arbitrary beings who are impossible to

please. Motivated by a need to succeed in college, apathetic students of

writing enter into a tug of war with us over the grades we assign their

writing, paying little attention to the process itself or the important poten-

tial embodied in their work. For them, Composition 101 is more of what

they’ve had—and they don’t want it. But Composition 101 doesn’t have

to be this way for them. We can make it a stimulating, creative, enjoy-

able course that will teach them skills useful for their entire lives.

One of the critical skills we must help all students master is learn-

ing to use computers in many different ways. Teaching critical thinking

skills and writing with computers and the many resources they bring

through the Internet is imperative if our students are to function as learn-

ers, employees, and citizens. In addition to using the Internet for

research, students can have online class discussions. They can access

syllabi and class materials for courses; they can e-mail questions to class-

mates or the instructor; they can e-mail essay drafts to classmates or the

campus’s writing center for feedback. Students can design Web pages to

Part One—Strategies for Teaching Writing

2 Copyright © 2013, 2009, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc.


publish their own writing and use publishing or presentational software

to create documents or visual aids. They can do collaborative projects

with peers in their own class or in classes across the country or around

the world.

Technology enables instruction and learning to extend past the para-

meters of the classroom. Teachers who have been reluctant to embrace

technology are finding they have to become students themselves so that

they not only maintain credibility with their students and peers but also

enrich their own capabilities as thinkers and writers. Part seven of this

manual addresses the pedagogical needs of both experienced and inex-

perienced teachers of writing by attempting to show some ways tech-

nology can work well for their composition students.

Paying attention to our students’ needs with regard to technology

is one major positive step we can take to help them write better. Other

less revolutionary changes in our preparation and attitudes about teach-

ing writing can help our students focus on the positive rewards of

learning to write.

In communicating with our students, we can begin this transforma-

tion of attitude by accentuating the positive. In both written and oral

comments to the students, we need to emphasize what the students have

done well in a given assignment. Certainly, we have a duty to tell them

what is ineffective in a paper and what they must do to improve a piece

of writing; but if we write only negative comments, we will engender

or strengthen negative attitudes towards writing. (See Part One, Chap-

ter 7, in this supplement for a discussion of evaluation.) If we commu-

nicate to the students our recognition of each student’s unique abilities

as a writer and our understanding that all writers, no matter how weak

or ineffective, can improve, our words will fall on the ears of more will-

ing listeners. If we communicate positive expectations, we will have

more positive results.

One important key to success in teaching writing is realizing that we

cannot march an entire class in lock step through a syllabus each term.

In some other disciplines the nature of the material being taught warrants

a more rigid syllabus, but an inflexible syllabus in a composition course

is a death knell to growth and excitement. This realization does not mean

we should have no syllabus or that we should have a hit-or-miss plan for

the term. On the contrary, it means that we must be adept at constantly

amending and revising our syllabus to accommodate the various levels

of writers we have in a given class. Those teachers who have a syllabus

planned by their department must look for ways to tailor it to the needs

of the students and to flesh it out with energetic assignments.

Chapter 1—Great Expectations



Developing this ability to plan the course but not to over-plan it

(addressed in more detail in Part One, Chapters 2 and 4 of this supple-

ment) is one step in communicating to students our awareness of their

uniqueness and the potential that it brings to the classroom. It also

communicates to the students that they are partners in the writing class,

not objects to be talked at. In fact, we should involve students in plan-

ning the class periodically, perhaps one day every couple of weeks. We

must allow students to see the possibility that their contributions to the

class will result in assignments that grow out of their own work.

And we should involve students in evaluating each other’s work

and in collaborating on projects that will strengthen the skills of each

individual. Recent research has shown the great value of peer evaluation

in teaching writing (discussed in more detail in Part One, Chapter 6 in

this supplement) and the benefits to students of collaborative learning

(discussed in Teaching Collaborative Writing).

Another important key to success in teaching writing is developing

ways to help students see why writing is important. Certainly, we all

think that we promote this awareness in our first-day-of-class speeches

about the value of the course and in our interaction with these novice

writers throughout the term. Often, though, we are miscommunicating.

Students quickly dismiss as empty platitudes our most sincere reasons

for learning to write—unless we show how those reasons relate directly

to their own immediate needs and experiences (see Part One, Chapter 2

in this supplement).

We obviously want students to know that well-educated people

observe conventions in writing. We can set up discussions and assign-

ments that show students that learning to write is much more than learn-

ing rules. We can show them the intellectual energy that writing can

produce. We can show them that writing is a means to knowing, that it

is a tool for discovering connections between the external world and the

internal self.

Discovering these connections is especially difficult for students

whose native language is not English or students whose language is

nonstandard. We must be sensitive and diligent in helping these students

acquire new skills with language. Many composition teachers have had

little or no training in teaching English as a second language (TESL) and

therefore are particularly frustrated when confronted with students who

must struggle to express even basic ideas in Standard Written English. But

we can help these students overcome their fear and frustration. Our posi-

tive attitude and our excitement about writing will go a long way toward

dismantling language barriers and setting these students at ease (see Part




8 in the handbook and Part Four of this manual for help in teaching ESL

students).

Another important goal is to help our students become more criti-

cal readers of other writers’ work. Students become more excited about

the writing process as they comprehend the communal nature of writ-

ing. We can help these novice writers understand the value of their audi-

ence, and we can show them the important contribution they make to

society as responsive, critical readers.

One path to this understanding of audience is the use of well-

planned and well-supervised peer critiques. Recent research has shown

the gains to be made if we increase students’ understanding of audience,

and it has supported the effectiveness of peer critiquing as one method

for showing students the value of the audience.

Helping our students evaluate what they read also makes them better

writers. Critical reading, emphasized in Chapter 3D of the handbook,

requires students’ attention to nuances of structure and ideas in such a

way that these readers pay more attention to similar nuances—and their

effects—in their own writing. Critical reading stimulates students to

develop subtler topics than they likely would otherwise. And, critical

reading makes students aware of the power of language.

Teaching writing effectively means emphasizing what students are

doing well. It means exciting them about the possibilities—and being

excited about them ourselves. As we are helping our students develop

more confidence in their abilities, we must have more confidence in our

own skills and professionalism. With that professionalism in mind, I

hope that this supplement will stimulate some new insight, sense of

purpose, and sources for energy and enthusiasm as we teach and our

students learn.

SuGGeSted readinG

Adler Kassner, Linda. “Structure and Possibility: New Scholarship About

Students Called Basic Writers.” College English 63, no. 2 (Nov.

2000): 229–43.

Anson, Chris M., and Hildy Miller. “Journals in Composition: An

Update.” “A Progress Report from the CCCC Committee on Profes-

sional Standards.” College Composition and Communication 42

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Austin, Kurt. Trends & Issues in Postsecondary English Studies. Urbana,

IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1999.

Badger, Richard, and Goodith White. “A Process Genre Approach to

Teaching Writing.” ELT Journal 45, no. 2 (Apr. 2000): 153–60.

Berlin, James. Writing Instruction in American Colleges 1900–1985.

Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1987.

Bloom, Lynn Z., Donald A. Daiker, and Edward M. White. Composition

in the Twenty-first Century: Crisis and Change. Carbondale, IL:

Southern Illinois UP, 1997.

Bowden, Darsie. “The Limits of Containment: Text-as-Container in

Composition Studies.” College Composition and Communication

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Bullock, Richard, and John Trimbur, eds. The Politics of Writing Instruc-

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Elbow, Peter. “Reflections on Academic Discourse: How It Relates to

Freshmen and Colleagues.” College English 53 (Feb. 1991):

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France, Alan A. “Assigning Places: The Function of Introductory

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Gale, Fredric G., James L. Kinneavy, and Phillip Sipiora. Ethical Issues

in College Writing. New York: Peter Lang, 1999.

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Conflicts of Culture, Ideology and Pedagogy. Albany: State UP of

New York, 1999.

Hairston, Maxine. “Diversity, Ideology, and Teaching Writing.” College

Composition and Communication 43, no. 2 (May 1992): 179–93.

Horner, Bruce. “Resisting Traditions in Composing Composition.” Jour-

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Kennedy, Mary Lynch. Theorizing Composition: A Critical Sourcebook

of Theory and Scholarship in Contemporary Composition Studies.

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in Composition Research. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois Univer-

sity Press, 1992.

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Oxford University Press, 1995.

Lourey, Jessica. “Grease on the Keyboard: Making Composition Work

in a Technical College. Teaching English in the Two-Year College

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Mifflin Custom Pub. 2000.

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Miller, Susan. Assuming the Positions: Cultural Pedagogy and the Poli-

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ChaPter 2

the impossible and the Possible: realistic Goals for Courses in Writing

Well before the bell signals the first class meeting, teachers of writing

must have come to terms with goals which are realistic for a college

writing course. In other words, we must understand what is possible

given the constraints of time and the backgrounds and attitudes of our

students. Many teachers get so caught up in trying to teach the impos-

sible that frustration clouds their vision of the possible.

The best confidence builder—and one too often neglected by most

of us—is a long, hard look at what is possible during a term. Although

the following list of goals is not comprehensive, most teachers would

agree that these goals are realizable for most students in a single course

in composition.

1. We can help students understand that they can learn to write.

Building a positive attitude is essential. We can build the kind of confi-

dence that will ensure an interest in writing long after the students have

left our classes.

2. We can help students become aware of the role of writing in

their lives. It is both possible and essential to show students that even

in this age so often dominated by images, writing plays a major part in

everything they do—from checking the weather in the newspaper to

looking at the menu in a fast-food restaurant to playing a computer video

game. We can help them see the need for learning to write.

3. We can help students learn to use technology to empower them

as writers. By integrating technology into our courses, we can help

students see how technology offers rich possibilities for research, collab-

orative work, peer review, and presentation of their writing.

4. We can help students realize that writing is a tool for learning

about themselves and the world. We can help students discover that a

paper is taking a direction they have not planned on. From that point,

we can show them that this departure from their expectation is teaching

them what they are really trying to say.

5. We can help students realize that writing is a process. Many

students think that writers are born being able to write and that a piece

of writing springs, fully finished, from the brain of a “real” writer. We



can certainly show students that all writing involves stages and that each

stage can be learned. (See Troyka & Hesse, Simon & Schuster Handbook

for Writers, Chapter 5, hereafter referred to as Troyka & Hesse.)

6. We can show students that brainstorming a topic and writing a

draft of a paper can give rise to questions that lead them to new ideas

and connections. (See Troyka & Hesse, Chapter 5.)

7. We can help our students see the importance of revision. We can

use peer critiquing and our own comments to help students see that

papers grow slowly through definite stages, each of which requires full

development, with revision being perhaps the most important. We can

show them that revision is more than patching up problems with usage

and mending a few awkward sentences, and instead that it involves

several stages of reconceiving the purpose of the paper and reviewing

its effect on the audience. (See Troyka & Hesse, Chapter 5, section I.)

8. We can help students understand that a piece of writing is never

finished. As a part of learning the stages that make up the process of

writing, students can learn that writers finally let go of a piece of writ-

ing when they have revised it enough to satisfy the demands of the situ-

ation but that they rarely think they have written something that is

perfect and defies improvement. (See Troyka & Hesse, Chapter 5,

sections I, J, and K.)

9. We can help our students understand the importance of structure

in writing. We can show students the relative merits of various kinds of

sentences, the effectiveness of various kinds of paragraph structure, and

the effectiveness of structure in an essay. Students may not be able to

apply all of the principles of structure that we show them, but making

them aware of structure is important and possible. (See Troyka & Hesse,

especially Chapters 4, 6, and Part Two.)

10. We can help our students understand what a paragraph is and

how to write a coherent one. We can acquaint students with various

methods for developing paragraphs that suit the audience and topic with

which they are working. Chapter 6 of the Troyka & Hesse handbook

explains many methods of paragraph development and gives interest-

ing, easy-to-grasp examples of each. It also provides a clear explanation

of how to make paragraphs coherent and unified. By teaching students

how to write effective paragraphs, we can help ensure the sturdiness of

the groundwork on which they will eventually build coherent, effective

essays.

11. We can help students understand the importance of making clear

connections between ideas. It is possible to teach students to draw logi-

cal conclusions, to make their thoughts coherent, to support their gener-




alizations with evidence. We can teach them how to make connections

among ideas in their own writing and to look for them in the writing of

others. (See Troyka & Hesse, Chapters 3, 6, and 15.)

12. We can help students understand the nature and the importance

of the audience. Too many students think that English papers are written

only for the English teacher. In making this assumption, they do not real-

ize that many choices they make as writers depend on defining the audi-

ence for a given piece of work. We can help students realize that as writers

they belong to a community of readers and writers. In short, we can teach

students that they do not write in a vacuum. (See Troyka & Hesse, Chap-

ter 4.)

13. We can help students understand that good grammar is not the

same thing as effective writing. Although good grammar helps make

writing clear and more acceptable to some audiences, it is a far differ-

ent thing from the process of writing. We can, and must, clarify this

important point for students. Part 5 of Troyka & Hesse’s handbook

clearly presents basic grammar, but it does so in a positive way that

should minimize students’ feelings of inadequacy with grammar.

14. We can help our students understand that inflated diction does

not equal sophisticated thinking. In the same way that many students

equate good grammar with “good” writing, many students equate big

words with elevated style and thought. We must show students that the

most effective writing is that which puts clear, simple language together

in a coherent and interesting way. (See Troyka & Hesse, Chapter 37.)

15. We can help students understand what an essay is. Experienced

teachers know that even the brightest students have read few essays and

that most students have only vague notions of what an essay really is.

Students frequently call them “stories,” and they think that essays,

invented by English teachers, are found only in school. Helping students

define the term essay is important, as is showing them where they can

find good essays being published today.

16. We can help our students understand how to use a dictionary.

Students think that all dictionaries are created equal, and they think of

a dictionary as a place to look up a word to check spelling or meaning.

We need to acquaint them with the aids for using the dictionary, given

in each one, and we need to show them the value of the prefatory matter

in the dictionary. We can help them see the value of both desk dictio-

naries and unabridged dictionaries. (See Troyka & Hesse handbook

Chapter 37, section F.)

17. We can help students learn to use a handbook to find answers

to questions they have about writing. Too often many of us assume that

Chapter 2—Realistic Goals for Courses in Writing





because we know what’s in a handbook and how to find it, students will

as well. We should take some time to show students how to use the book

we have chosen. To a great extent, knowledge is knowing where to find

out what one needs to know. Encouraging students to read Troyka &

Hesse’s “Instruction to Students” likely will help students feel that they

are part of the book and that Troyka and Hesse have considered their

needs.

18. We can help students understand that they have a responsibil-

ity to be critical readers. Most students think that if something is

published, it must be important or “good.” We can help them understand

how to recognize the flaws in scholarship and logic that make much

published work inferior. (See Troyka & Hesse, Chapter 3.)

19. We can help students see that they live in a community of read-

ers and writers, a community which can grow in mutual understanding

and respect only through careful, sensitive reading and writing that will

promote dialogue between groups of different genders, ethnic origins,

ages, socioeconomic class, and geographic areas. (See Troyka & Hesse,

Chapters 4 and 9.)

20. We can, and must, help students realize that writing is neither

“good” nor “bad.” Too often our students come to us having been labeled

by themselves or by others as “good” writers or “bad” writers; but we

can help them see that a better way of judging writing is to consider the

effectiveness of a piece of writing in its context.

Taking stock of what we can do in a single course contributes signif-

icantly to our own sense of confidence in our ability to teach a stimu-

lating class. My own experience has shown me clearly that students

respond with more assurance and interest when they sense my confi-

dence in achieving these goals.

SuGGeSted readinG

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the Product in the Process.” English Journal 88. No. 5 (May 1999):

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Bruffee, Kenneth A. “Academic Castes, Academic Authority, and the

Educational Centrality of Writing.” College Composition and

Communication 50, no. 4 (June 1999): 722–42.


Connors, Robert J. “The Erasure of the Sentence.” College Composi-

tion and Communication 52, no. 1 (Sept. 200): 96–128.

Devine, T. G. “Caveat Emptor: The Writing Process Approach to College

Writing.” Journal of Developmental Education 11 (Fall 1990): 2–4.

Dossin, Mary Mortimore. “Writing Across the Curriculum: Lessons from

a Writing Teacher.” College Teaching 45 (Winter 1997): 14–15.

Lardner, Ted. “What Works? Rethinking the Theory-Practice Relation-

ship in Composition.” Writing Instructor 15 (Fall 1995): 5–17.

–––. “Locating the Boundaries of Composition and Creative Writing.”

College Composition and Communication 51, no. 1 (Sept. 1999):

72–77.

Mayers, Tim. “(Re)writing Craft.” College Composition and Communi-

cation 51, no. 1 (Sept. 1999): 82–89.

Newkirk, Thomas, ed. Nuts and Bolts: A Practical Guide to Teaching

College Composition. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1993.

Reid, Joy M., and Patricia Byrd. Grammar in the Composition Class-

room. New York: Heinle & Heinle Publishers, 1998.

Troyka, Lynn Quitman. “Closeness to Text: A Delineation of Reading

Processes as They Affect Composing.” in Relating Writing and

Reading in the College Years, edited by Thomas Newkirk. Boyn-

ton/Cook, 1986.

Wallace, D. L., and J. R. Hayes. “Redefining Revision for Freshmen.”

Research in the Teaching of English 25 (Feb. 1991): 54–66.

Chapter 2—Realistic Goals for Courses in Writing



ChaPter 3

using a handbook:Why and how

Tyrant or tool, or something in between—one of these is the role that a

handbook of grammar and usage generally plays in a writing course. To

play a vital role in a student’s experience of learning to write and a

teacher’s experience in teaching writing effectively, the best role for a

handbook like the Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers is that of

tool.

Many of us have seen the handbook as tyrant. Either as students,

observers of other composition teachers, or new teachers of writing, we

have seen the handbook become the focus of the course. In this scenario

bad grades are often used to browbeat students into virtually memorizing

the handbook. The teacher equates rules with writing. Instead of concen-

trating on the positive features of a piece of writing, the teacher points out

all the rules it has violated. Revision becomes a belabored effort to “fix”

the mistakes in the paper. The product of a handbook-as-tyrant class is frus-

trated students who come to fear using the handbook because they think

that they can never fix their writing to reflect its perfect standards. Of

course, a byproduct is a frustrated teacher who works hard and cannot see

why the students are not improving.

In the ideal scenario, students view the handbook as a means to

effective writing. They look upon it as a tool in the same way they

consider a dictionary, a notebook, or a computer disk a tool.

But, we all know that it is totally unrealistic simply to plunk copies

of the handbook down on students’ desks and instruct the students to use

the handbooks as tools. Few students know how to use a handbook, and,

given their previous experience with writing classes and handbooks,

many of them do not even want to try.

Teachers must help students figure out the apparatus of the hand-

book to make using it second nature, and, equally important, they must

help students see that being able to use the handbook well as indepen-

dent learners can improve both their writing skills and their sense of

self-confidence as students. Initially, at least, students probably learn

together the apparatus and the confidence to work with the book on their

own.

In addition to helping make students familiar with the handbook—

and comfortable and confident using it—teachers are faced with impor-

tant decisions about how large a role the handbook should play in the



syllabus for the course. They also must consider ways in which they

will use the handbook in marking students’ papers.

� the handbOOk aS text

Although the handbook rarely works well as a central text for a

course in writing, many teachers are successful in assigning parts of it

for class discussion or as the basis for written assignments. We should

be open to possibilities for using it that require us to deviate from the

order of information in the text; that is, we should not be afraid to mix

and mingle parts of the handbook to suit our students’ interests and

needs.

Depending on the focus of the individual teacher’s class, several

sections of the Simon & Schuster Handbook may be used separately or

together as useful information for class discussion or writing assign-

ments. Since Chapter 4 of this supplement gives sample syllabi which

include sections of the handbook, the following are only general sugges-

tions.

1. Choose to teach a unit on language, grounding it on Chapter 37

of the handbook. Since this chapter is not made up of “rules,” it offers

the teacher a good beginning point for creating a positive interest in

writing rather than a negative one. Most students are keenly interested

in improving their vocabularies, though often for the misguided notion

that big words equal important ideas. They also know very little about

dictionaries and etymology. Chapter 37, “Style, Tone, and the Effects of

Words,” can provoke some substantial discussion, especially when

coupled with a look at several kinds of dictionaries, including the Oxford

English Dictionary (OED). Students often have lively discussions on

such topics as sexist language, jargon, slang, doublespeak, and cliches.

These discussions can be effective springboards into some energetic

writing about language.

2. Choose to teach a unit on research and assign parts of Part 4,

“Research and Documentation.” Or you could choose a unit on writing

across the curriculum or public writing using Part 9, “Specific Writing

Situations,” which includes chapters on writing in the disciplines,

making multimedia presentations, business and professional writing,

public writing, writing for digital envrionments, and document design.

In using these chapters, emphasize that you want the students to get an

overview of the range of audiences for which research is done and the

common methods respected in the many communities that rely on

research. Many students are unaware of how much research is done in

businesses and service industries, and some good class discussions can

Chapter 3—Using a Handbook: Why and How



explore the real-life uses of research. We want to teach them that

research is not something that only chemists and English teachers do.

Class discussions should focus on the process of research and the process

of writing information found in research. Discussions can make clear to

students that knowing how to do research and write about their findings

is much more than knowing the proper forms of documentation to use

in research papers. This kind of assignment can combat the negative

experiences that many students have had with term papers, especially if

they begin to see that research is an essential part of most kinds of

careers and fields.

In addition, this unit offers a great opportunity to help students

understand the role of computers and electronic databases in current

research. Although some students will be experienced with the “infor-

mation highway,” even they will enjoy discussing the strengths and

weaknesses of electronic searches. Less computer-literate students need

to be introduced to the possibilities of electronic research. All students

need help with learning to document material from electronic sources,

and they need to learn what constitutes plagiarism in the world of elec-

tronic sources. The handbook’s chapters 22 and 23 (“Finding Published

Sources” and “Evaluating Sources”) and chapters 18 and 19 (“Quoting,

Paraphrasing, and Summarizing” and “Avoiding Plagiarism”) offer such

help. (For help with integrating computers into your teaching, see Part

Seven of this supplement.)

3. Choose to teach a unit on argument, basing it on Chapters 3 and

15, “Thinking, Reading, and Analyzing Images Critically” and “Argu-

ments Essays.” Many students believe that anything in print is useful

and true, and they will respond with interest to Chapter 3, which shows

why critical reading is important and how they can learn to read criti-

cally. Most of them have had little or no exposure to logic, and they will

find the discussions of evaluation and reasoning informative and stim-

ulating. Troyka & Hesse’s handbook features a Quick Box in Chapter

15 (Quick Box 15.2) that highlights Steven Toulmin’s ideas about argu-

ment. In Chapter 3, sections J, K, and L, students are surrounded by

visual rhetoric and will benefit from learning how to “read” visuals and

understand their arguments.

This chapter can be a useful basis for assignments, both oral and

written, which ask students to evaluate the arguments in books, movies,

editorials, or advertisements. Once students learn about inadequate

evidence and about inductive and deductive reasoning, they enjoy scru-

tinizing ads or letters to the editor for flaws in reasoning.

4. Choose to teach a unit on the paragraph, for which you assign

Chapter 6, “Writing Paragraphs, Shaping Essays.” Many teachers like to




begin composition courses by having students learn to write well-unified,

coherent paragraphs before they tackle a whole essay. Others like to do

a unit on developing paragraphs after they have discussed the essay as

a whole. In either case students can usually benefit from discussing vari-

eties of methods for developing paragraphs. They will particularly enjoy

the information in this section if they locate samples of paragraph devel-

opment and critique the paragraphs of classmates. A whole class work-

shop using transparencies or photocopies of student paragraphs can be

a useful strategy to teach paragraph development and peer-response

skills.

5. Choose to teach a section on revision and assign Chapter 5,

“Essential Processes for Writing.” Many teachers prefer to teach revision

as the third major step in the process of writing, but others find that

pulling revision out of the chronology and emphasizing it helps students

understand that revisions are a major element of producing an effective

piece of writing and that it involves far more than patchwork repairs to

grammar and spelling. Often students need some time away from a piece

of writing in order to re-think its content or structure. Revising an essay

from a previous course or having students rewrite a piece for a new audi-

ence or purpose can be useful methods for teaching students global revi-

sion.

6. Choose to teach a unit on planning a piece of writing and assign

Chapter 5, “Essential Processes for Writing. This unit should bring about

some lively discussion, especially if you illustrate the chapter’s points

by having students work in class in groups to generate ideas and shape

them into manageable topics for papers or paragraphs.

Many students complain that they cannot think of anything to write

about, or they turn in topics that are worn out or too large for even a

multi-volume work. These students can benefit from reading this section

of the text, but they will benefit much more if they are assigned activi-

ties that reinforce the skills introduced in the chapter. Unless students

actually practice these skills, the information does not really register and

many will revert to planning their essays as they write them.

7. Choose to do a unit on effective sentences and assign Part 6,

“Writing Effectively, Writing with Style.” Especially helpful for students

are discoveries they make about coordination and subordination and vari-

ety (Chapter 38), parallelism (Chapter 39), and conciseness (Chapter 40).

Even students who are improving their skills at the slowest rate take

pleasure in crafting effective sentences, and more proficient writers enjoy

working with the possible variations of form for a single sentence.

8. Choose to teach a unit on the importance of audience and assign

Chapter 4, “Understanding College and Other Writing Situations.” Many




teachers like to begin writing courses by introducing students to the

concept of audience, but others prefer to introduce this idea after students

have begun to work on paragraphs, research, or even whole essays.

Nevertheless, audience and purpose are two of the most important

concepts that beginning writers need to know about, and most students

do not. This chapter of the text presents information that is stimulating

to students because it is largely new and nonthreatening in terms of

“rules.” They generally enjoy class discussions of alterations one would

need to make in a piece of writing for a change in audience or purpose.

9. Choose to help students improve their ability on typical types of

college writing assignments, including summaries, lab reports, critical

responses, and essay exams. Using Part 2 (“Frames for College Writ-

ing”), you can help students, develop effective processes and organiza-

tional strategies to improve their success in these situations.

10. Choose to help students improve their writing skills by teach-

ing a unit on “Writing for Work,” Chapter 64, or “Writing for Digital

Environments,” Chapter 63 in the handbook. Most students are eager to

learn about employment letters and résumés, and most also enjoy

composing online. Such a unit allows us to help them see the importance

of organization, precision with diction, grammar, and spelling, a clear

view of purpose and audience, and attention to conventions of address

and format.

In fact, business letters work better than many kinds of assignments

to help students see the importance of careful planning of their message

as well as careful revision and proofreading. We can help them see that

personal pride in their work can be communicated in letters and other

business documents. Students enjoy writing letters of complaint about

real problems they have experienced with products or services, and they

enjoy responding to one another’s complaints. You might choose to have

them write to local companies requesting information useful for research

projects or samples of business documents the company routinely

processes. Whatever the assignment, students usually take the business

writing tasks more seriously than other writing requirements because

they see an immediate value for this knowledge. For this reason, many

teachers like to do some business writing early in the term to help moti-

vate students to write and to make connections between business writ-

ing and extremely important concepts like audience and purpose, which

should figure prominently in later writing assignments.

In addition, empowering students to write about public issues and

concerns in such documents as letters to the editor, news releases, and state-

ments to government officials will help equip them to be better informed

and more articulate citizens likely to participate in group discussions in




their own communities as well as in issues facing state and national govern-

ing and policy-making bodies. The material in Chapter 63 and Chapter 64

will help you show students how to make their writing heard in matters that

affect their lives.

In a class, all of these sections of the handbook work well as text.

They are not concerned with right and wrong usage and are thus

nonthreatening to students. Most of these sections contain concepts

which the students are only marginally knowledgeable about, if at all,

and the information generally stimulates them to have a more positive

attitude toward the whole process of writing. The content in these chap-

ters can also be supplemented with Chapter 7, “Designing Documents,”

Chapter 62, “Making Presentations,” and Chapter 63, “Writing for Digi-

tal Environments.”

� the handbOOk aS an aid in MarkinG PaPerS

Many teachers like to use a handbook as an aid in marking papers. The

numbers listed inside the front cover or the symbols given at the back of the book

make it easy for a teacher to indicate in an abbreviated way both what the prob-

lem is and where in the text the student can find an explanation and examples

to help in the revision. Certainly the ease with which these numbers and symbols

can be used makes them an attractive feature to busy teachers. For example, see

the teacher’s comments on Cheryl Cusack’s first draft in Chapter 5 of the hand-

book. But numbers and symbols are best used in conjunction with some writ-

ten comments by the teacher. Such comments help remind the student that a

human being has read the paper and is interested in it. (See Part One, Chapter

7 of this supplement, for additional information on evaluation.)

The following paragraphs from students’ essays show how a teacher

can use these symbols and numbers along with written comments to

help students understand how to revise their work and to help them feel

that they can, in fact, continue to improve.

If we have given our students a preliminary introduction to the hand-

book during the first few days of class, they have little trouble using the

symbols and numbers marked by the teacher to find the explanation they

need. Having students keep an error log can heighten their awareness of

mistakes they commonly make when writing and how to correct those

errors.

Often, in addition to marking symbols or numbers or both, teach-

ers indicate exercises that they want the student to do to strengthen

particular skills. Sometimes they have students write a revision as well

as certain exercises before they meet with students about the paper. Of

course writing exercises can be simply busywork unless the teacher care-




fully monitors the students’ use of them and encourages the students to

see that the exercises are not ends in themselves but means to strength-



Whether they choose Topps, Fleer, Donruss, or Upper Deck, millions of

40E 30RAmericans delight in the collection of baseball cards. For 75 cents, you

can buy a pack of ten cards, and if the brand is Topps a piece of gum

not quite clearwill accompany the cards. Some collectors strive to obtain a certain

team, while others attempt to gain as many cards as possible. Whatever

awkward phrasingthe quantity, the idea of the trading card still exists, as the collector’s

favorite pastime may be trading cards with a friend or local dealer.

see 37IThe baseball card collector can be a boy in the seventh grade or possibly

a sophisticated business executive. Card collection is not restricted to males,

as girls can easily be found with their Barbies and baseball

of?cards. Clearly this American tradition truly entertains a wide variety.

—Steve Weathers

Great topic, Steve.Try to make the sentences more specific and clearer.

see 40D

34 31IiStudying in the dorms is difficult, at night everyone begin to act silly.

31EQuestions and laughter fills the air. Shawn and Julie bombard Nadine

30Dand I with pillows or play practical jokes on us. The many distractions

30Dof a relaxed environment force Nadine and I back to our room.

45D 42DAttempts to complete homework in the boy’s friendly, noisy and busy

room always fail.

—Holly Burnette

Holly,You’re off to a good start here, but can you flesh out the

paragraph with more details? You’ll also want to revise themechanical problems I’ve marked.


ening the revision. And having students work on a revision and exercises

can help students become more independent learners.

� the handbOOk aS a tOOL fOr StudentS

Perhaps the most important function of a handbook is as a tool for

the students to use independently. But before we can expect them to use

it, or even to want to, we must show them how to make the handbook

work for them. One good way is to take two or three class meetings at

the beginning of the term to acquaint students with the handbook’s

features and to give them an overview of its contents.

A simple but effective beginning, especially for weaker students, is

to have them read the “Introduction to Students” and the Table of

Contents and write answers to the following questions (or similar ones):

1. What will Troyka & Hesse discuss in this book?

2. How many chapters does this book have?

3. In what three ways can you look something up in this book?

4. What appears on the inside back cover?

5. What does it mean when a term in the book appears in all caps?

Even though the students write out the answers, you will usually need

to have them discuss their findings and do some exercises on locating

material to ensure that everyone in the class has absorbed the informa-

tion in the Introduction. For all levels of students, discussion of the hand-

book seems to work better than individual written responses since

students are capable of mechanically writing information without under-

standing or processing it.

In-class group exploration of the handbook can stimulate learners

of all levels, and it can be a good icebreaker to help students get to know

one another during the first few class meetings. You may wish to have

each group respond to more detailed versions of the questions above,

perhaps giving a couple of examples to support each answer. In addition

you may wish to have students do exercises that show them how to

locate kinds of information in the handbook. These kinds of exercises

not only teach students to find their way around in the book, but, more

importantly, they build the students’ confidence in their own ability to

use it.

In using these kinds of exercises, you should emphasize, however,

that the point is not the answer itself but the process of learning how to




use the handbook. Following are some sample exercises that you may

find useful models for your own versions.

1. Suppose you want to find out when to use who and when to use

whom. Where could you learn the difference? Most students would prob-

ably begin with the index to solve this problem since few of them would

know that these are pronouns. When they found the who entry in the

index, they would be referred to section 30G on pp. 491–93, “When

should I use who, whoever, whom, and whomever?” where these forms

are discussed in detail. Those students who knew that these were

pronouns could have gone directly to the Terms Glossary and looked

under pronoun, where they would find references to the appropriate

section. Finally, those students who recognized that these are pronouns

could quickly have found the reference to section 30G by looking in the

inside back cover under Pronouns: Case and Reference, where section

30G is defined as “who, whom; whoever, whomever.”

2. Suppose you are confused about the placement of quotation marks

with commas. Where would you find some help? If the students first looked

up comma(s) in the index, they would find an entry “quotation marks and”

which would direct them to page 661. There they would find examples

illustrating the placement of the two marks. If they first looked up quota-

tion marks in the index, they would be directed to Chapter 46, pages

655–63, where section H discusses the conventions of using quotation

marks with other punctuation. If they first looked at the inside back cover

of the text, they would find Quotation marks with other punctuation as

subdivision H of Chapter 46. Similarly, if the students first looked at the

Response Symbols Chart, the symbol for “punctuation error” is pe, which

is followed by a reference to pages 616–76.

3. Where can you find out how to revise your essay to rid it of

sexist language? If the students looked up sexist language, nonsexist

language or gender-neutral language in the index, they would be

directed to pages 576–77 where, in Chapter 37I, they would find the

section “What is gender-neutral language?” There, students will find a

shaded box (Quick Box 37.6) labeled “How to avoid sexist language.”

Although most students are not sophisticated enough to look under

pronoun in either the index or back cover of the text, many could find

nonsexist language by looking under “Style, Tone, and the Effects of

Words” inside the back cover. The abbreviation sxt in the correction

chart also refers students to Section 37I.

4. Your teacher has indicated that you have trouble making transi-

tions both within your paragraphs and between paragraphs. Where can

you learn how to make smooth transitions? Looking in the Glossary, they




might notice the term transitional expressions directly following the tran-

sition entry. The definition of transitional expressions briefly explains

how they function as transitional devices. Under transitional expressions

students would also find a reference to section 6G, which illustrates how

to use transitions both within and between paragraphs.

Here are other sample questions for this kind of exercise:

1. Where can you find out how to omit information from a quota-

tion or to add explanatory words to it?

2. Your teacher has indicated that you frequently write dangling

modifiers. Where can you find an explanation of this problem

and some examples of ways to correct dangling modifiers?

3. You are writing a term paper which often quotes lines of poetry.

Where can you find guidelines for conventions of quoting lines of

poetry?

4. Your teacher has said that your writing is wordy. You don’t quite

understand the term wordy, and you want a further explanation

of this concept and some suggestions for improvement. Where

can you find them?

5. Your teacher has commented on your paper that your style is

choppy and monotonous because you use too many short, simple

sentences. The teacher has said that you need to subordinate

more. Where can you find out what subordination means and

how to put it into practice?

Such exercises will go a long way towards alleviating the fear and

feeling of helplessness that handbooks often inspire in inexperienced

writers and will help the students feel more confident that they can find

in it what they need to know. After they use the handbook for a couple

of weeks, most students will begin to regard it as a tool and an impor-

tant reference work that they will want to keep for writing beyond the

English classroom.

SuGGeSted readinG

Boyd, Richard. “Mechanical Correctness and Ritual in the Late Nine-

teenth-Century Composition Classroom.” Rhetoric Review 11, no.

2 (Spring 1993): 436–55.

Broad, Bob. “Pulling Your Hair Out: Crises of Standardization in

Communal Writing Assessment.” Research in the Teaching of

English 35, no. 2 (Nov. 2000), 213–61.




Fredericksen, Elaine. “Letter Writing in the College Classroom.” Teach-

ing English in the Two Year College, 27, no. 3 (Mar. 2000): 278–84.

Glasser, Marc. “Grammar and the Teaching of Writing: Limits and Possi-

bilities.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 22, no.

4 (Winter 1993): 23–32.

Hayes, Christopher G. “A Brief Writing Assignment for Introducing

Non-sexist Pronoun Usage.” Teaching English in the Two-Year

College, 28, no. 1 (Sept. 2000): 74–77.

Helton, Edwina L., and Jeff Sommers. “Repositioning Revision: A

Rhetorical Approach to Grading.” Teaching English in the Two-Year

College 28, no. 2 (Dec. 2000): 157–64.

Reynolds, Patricia R. “Evaluating ESL and College Composition Texts

for Teaching the Argumentative Rhetorical Form.” Journal of Read-

ing 36, no. 6 (March 1993): 474–80.

Shuman, R. Baird. “Grammar for Writers: How Much Is Enough?” The

Place of Grammar in Writing Instruction: Past, Present, Future.

Ed. Susan Hunter and Ray Wallace. Portsmouth, NH:

Boynton/Cook, 1995.

Whichard, Nancy Wingardner, et al. “Life in the Margin: The Hidden

Agenda in Commenting on Student Writing.” Journal of Teaching

Writing 11, no. 1 (Spring–Summer 1992): 51–64.

Williams, James D. Preparing to Teach Writing. Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth, 1988. “Rule-Governed Approaches to Language and

Composition.” Written Communication 10 (October 1993): 542–68.




ChaPter 4

the Course Syllabus: Some Models

The term syllabus is our own jargon for the plan or outline of the

purpose, goals, and form of our course. The syllabus is meant to be a

tool for teachers and students—a guide, not a remonstrance constantly

reminding us that “at my back I always hear / Time’s winged chariot

hurrying near.” The term conjures up images of shackles for some teach-

ers and steamrollers for others. But it’s a safe bet that teachers who view

a syllabus in these negative ways have been victims of rigidity rather

than masters of the course plan. A syllabus, an essential anchor for our

teaching, is, however, relatively easy to prepare and use if we approach

its construction with some guidelines and some enthusiasm.

Twenty years ago handing out a syllabus on the first day of class

was the exception, not the rule. Teachers were more likely to write the

names of the texts on the blackboard and make an assignment orally for

the next class. Those teachers who did hand out a syllabus usually gave

their students a much more succinct statement of the policies of the class

than what we have come to view today as a typical syllabus.

Today the syllabus comes in various forms, but it is generally more

detailed than it was even a decade ago. One form is the departmental

syllabus, often devised by a committee in those departments that teach

numerous sections of basic courses. But even these fairly rigid guidelines

need fleshing out, and teachers must do so, on paper, before the term

begins, modifying the syllabus as necessary throughout the term. Now,

the syllabi of many teachers incorporate instruction about word process-

ing, document design, online research, and other computer skills that

students need to acquire before they enter the workforce or graduate

school.

These changes in the nature of the syllabus and the frequency of its

use have come about for several reasons. Many department chairs and

deans have urged faculty to give their students fairly detailed syllabi,

because having course policies and assignments in writing helps prevent

misunderstandings that, in extreme cases, can result in lawsuits. Spelling

out attendance policies, grading policies, the goals of the course, and

the skills required of students earning credit for the course makes a kind

of contract between teachers and students.



Also, in this age of accountability, students like to know what will

be expected of them and that the requirements are not going to be

changed drastically and arbitrarily (or, as they perceive it, whimsically).

A syllabus—even a demanding one—is a security blanket of sorts.

From the teacher’s point of view, however, the real advantage of

having a syllabus is that it gives a game plan for the term. To be effec-

tive, such a game plan affords teachers much leeway in strategy, but at

the same time it clarifies for teachers the material that they think is real-

istic and manageable for them to cover in that term. Teachers who begin

a composition course with no syllabus often run the risk of getting to the

last two weeks of the term and realizing suddenly that there’s no time

to do the four additional papers required by the department or that only

two of the twelve goals they have set for the course have been met.

Thus, legalities and students’ security aside, handing out some kind

of a syllabus makes good pedagogical sense. Having chosen to give

students a syllabus, however, teachers are still faced with some major

decisions about the syllabus: How detailed should it be? How much

should it control the class? To what extent can the teacher feel free to

deviate from it?

A syllabus should include the obvious information about the course:

the teacher’s name, the catalogue number of the course, the classroom

number, the attendance policy, the grading policy—perhaps only a brief

statement about what percent of the final grade will be made up of class

work, essays, exams, and so forth. In addition, the syllabus should

contain a statement of the overall goals for the course. Often this state-

ment will be one formulated by a department or freshman writing

committee. Also, as part of the syllabus many teachers like to include a

statement defining plagiarism and the penalties for it.

In addition to this basic information, teachers usually give an outline

of the course. This outline may be as specific as a day-by-day list of assign-

ments for the entire term, or it may be as general as a list of dates on which

specific assignments are due. Students like the day-by-day list of assign-

ments because it helps them plan their work around that demanded by other

courses, but teachers find it more problematic. With a day-by-day list of

assignments, teachers often find themselves behind on the second or third

day so that the syllabus either will be inaccurate throughout the course or

will require constant revision. This kind of syllabus leaves little room for

the slowing down or speeding up that will be motivated in all classrooms

by the students themselves. Teachers may begin to feel that this kind of

syllabus is a set of chains.




Conversely, the syllabus that lists only the dates when major assign-

ments are due frustrates the students somewhat because they have a hard

time juggling the seemingly arbitrary assignments that the teacher

sporadically makes to supplement the syllabus. More importantly, such

a syllabus may also be too vague to help the teachers pace themselves.

For many, a good compromise is the kind of syllabus that breaks the

course into weekly chunks and gives the goals and major assignments

for the week. This kind is usually detailed enough to allow students to

plan well with their other courses and to allow teachers to get through

the allotted material during the term. Writing a course syllabus effec-

tively also requires that we consider both the length of the term and the

emphasis we want to impose on the material. There’s really no such

thing as a generic composition course: the teacher’s own interests or the

philosophy of the department or freshman committee dictates a partic-

ular goal or emphasis for the basic college course in composition. These

goals must be considered realistically in light of the length of the term.

In composition courses, time is extremely relative; that is, the forty-

five or so contact hours required for most three- or five-hour courses are

not equally effective if one compares a long term to a short, compressed

one. Obviously, time is required for the process of writing to take root

and for the students to begin to have confidence in their ability to write.

The closer together the class meetings are and the longer the class

sessions are, the more difficulty students have assimilating the principles

we are trying to teach them. Thus, in arranging the syllabus we should

keep in mind that less work is often more learning. Of course, those

teachers in departments who require an absolute number of pages or

papers per term have less flexibility with this idea that less is more,

though they can perhaps adjust the subjects and lengths of papers with

this concept in mind. Among the many possible focuses for a basic

composition course, teachers often adopt one of these five approaches:

� the whole essay, showing students several rhetorical modes of

development (narrative, description, definition, etc.) or various

purposes (informative, persuasive) or contexts (writing across

the curriculum, workplace and public writing, etc.) for writing;

� the paragraph, working up to the whole paper at the end of the

term, a method often favored particularly by those working with

developmental writers;

� research skills, perhaps having students write papers for disci-

plines other than English and focusing on critical reading skills

Chapter 4—The Course Syllabus: Some Models



and attention to audience or developing a Web-based alterna-

tive of the traditional research paper;

� technology and writing, either integrating technology into the

classroom or teaching the course itself online;

� critical thinking, empasizing critical thinking, reading, and writ-

ing skills, particularly argument, and often working with both

print and visual rhetoric.

These five approaches are illustrated in the sample syllabi which follow:

two fifteen-week semester samples (technology and writing and whole

essay/writing across the curriculum, respectively), two ten-week quar-

ter samples (paragraph and research skills, respectively), and one six-

week summer term sample (critical thinking/argument). To approach the

course in any one of these five ways, teachers will find the Simon &

Schuster Handbook for Writers easy to use, although the book’s useful-

ness is certainly not limited to these five approaches. In addition, help

in the handbook is supported by online resources offered by Pearson.

All sample syllabi are based on the assumption that teachers are

using Troyka & Hesse’s Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers and

perhaps a reader as well. For any of the syllabi, essay assignments may

be altered to include writing arguments (Chapter 15), visual rhetoric

(Chapter 3), research writing (Part 4), writing about literature or other

readings (Chapter 20 and Chapter 59D), writing in the disciplines (Chap-

ters 59–60), business and professional writing (Chapter 64), collabora-

tive writing (Chapter 9 of the handbook and Part Two of this manual),

and essay exams (Chapter 61). Instructors may also opt to include oral

presentations (Chapter 62) or multimedia composition (Chapter 63)

along with their writing assignments, or they may desire to emphasize

grammar, punctuation, mechanics, syntax, and diction (Part 5, Part 6,

Part 7, and, possibly Part 8). Any of these syllabi can be modified to fit

weighted, portfolio, or contract evaluation.

� SyLLabi fOr SeMeSter (fifteen-Week) COurSeS

The two syllabi here focus on technology and writing and on writ-

ing across the curriculum, respectively. The first syllabus, which focuses

on technology and writing, may be used in a computer-assested class-

room or may be taught partially or fully as an online course. This

syllabus assumes the use of portfolio evaluation and includes collabo-

rative writing and presentation projects, but can easily be altered to focus

solely on essay writing or writing in the disciplines using weighted or

contract grading.




The second syllabus for a course focused on essay writing empha-

sizes esssay writing and writing across the curriculum. This syllabus

may be adapted to fit a learning community, a course which links or

integrates courses from two or more disciplines. If the composition class

was linked to a psychology class, for example, the instructor may prefer

to focus the entire course on writing in the social sciences. Incorporat-

ing collaborative writing, whether in the form of an essay, a multimedia

presentation, or Web page design, is another effective way to generate

interest and develop a sense of community in the classroom.

� Emphasis on Technology and Writing

Week One

Goals: Learn how to use the handbook

Learn about the importance of audience and purpose

Learn to summarize

Learn to read critically

Learn about developing electronic portfolios (Chapter

8; instructors, see Part Three, “Using Portfolios for

Learning and Assessment,” in this manual)

Review: E-mail and Internet use, including “netiquette” (Ch.

63)

Assignments:Read and analyze blogs, websites, and assigned read-

ings

Summarize two readings or blogs

E-mail instructor (introduction)

View sample electronic portfolios

Read Chs. 3 and 4 in handbook

Week TWO

Goals: Learn about the writing process

Learn how to plan an essay

Learn to find and evaluate sources

Learn about writing to inform

Review: Summary (3D), purpose (4B)



troypart01_p1-102_troypart01ch01.qxd 12/2/12 12:28 PM Page 29

Assignments:Online discussion of readings or blogs

Brainstorm topic for essay #1 (informative essay with

sources)

Research and evaluate sources

Summarize one article related to essay #1 topic

Read Chs. 5, 22, and 23 in handbook

Week three

Goals: Learn to write a thesis

Learn to create an outline

Learn about developing paragraphs

Learn to paraphrase, quote, and cite sources

Review: MLA documentation (Ch. 25); thesis statements,

outlines, drafting (Ch. 5)

Assignments:Continue research

Continue online discussion (readings and/or research

and/or class topics)

Read and discuss features of sample informative

essays

Write a paragraph (definition, exemplifcation, or other

relevant rhetorical mode) related to essay #1 topic,

which integrates one paraphrase and one quote (both

attributed and cited) from source material

Develop a thesis and rough outline for essay #1

Read Chs. 6 and Part 3 in handbook

Week fOur

Goals: Learn about introduction and conclusion paragraphs

Learn to develop a Works Cited page

Learn to draft and revise an essay

Review: Ch. 5 (drafting and revising) and collecting/develop-

ing materials for electronic portfolios; fragments (Ch.

33) and comma splices and run-ons (Ch. 34)

Assignments:Develop introduction and conclusion paragraphs for

essay #1

Write first draft of essay #1




Create a Works Cited page for essay #1

Peer response (in-class or online) and revision of essay

#1, including Writer’s Memo (see Ch. 64D for memo

format)

Submit essay to instructor for feedback via e-mail or

via an online peer review site

Week five

Goals: Learn to edit and proofread essays

Learn the features of argument writing

Learn types of persuasive appeals

Learn to choose a topic and create a claim for an argu-

ment

Review: Pronoun Case and Reference (Ch. 30) and Agreement

(Ch. 31); review Chs. 22 and 23 (finding and evaluat-

ing sources)

Assignments:Revise, edit, and proofread essay #1; use computer

tools to aid editing and proofreading

Read and analyze sample arguments, including edito-

rials or blogs; continue online discussion of readings

Read Ch. 15 in handbook; review Chs. 3, 22, and 23

Write a letter to a public official which presents an

argument about an issue that concerns you (and/or

publish to a “letter to the editor” on a class online

discussion forum)

Use pre-writing strategies to develop a topic and claim

(thesis) for essay #2 (a research-based argument

connected to informative essay topic)

Week Six

Goal: Learn to structure and develop an argument essay

Learn to synthesize source material

Review: Paraphrasing, summarizing, quoting, and citing (Ch.

18); Ch. 5 (planning and shaping)

Assignments:Research and evaluate sources for essay #2




Develop a rough outline of essay #2

Read and analyze sample arguments; continue online

discussion of readings

Develop a support paragraph that synthesizes infor-

mation from two sources and correctly paraphrases or

quotes from and cites those sources

Week eiGht

Goal: Learn to revise an argument essay

Learn to critically analyze images

Review: Use of quotation marks, parentheses, brackets, and the

ellipsis (Part 7, “Using Punctuation and Mechanics”);

electronic portfolio development

Assignments:Peer response and revision of essay #2 (in-class or

online), including Writer’s Memo

Revise, edit, and proofread essay #2



View and analyze visual images from textbook and/or

online

Week nine

Goals: Learn to write an analysis essay

Learn about visual rhetoric

Review: The Impact of Words (Ch. 37)

Assignments:Revise, edit, and proofread essay #2 based on teacher

feedback

Review Ch. 9; Read Ch. 20 in handbook

Practice analyzing images, visual arguments; continue

online discussion

Select an image and develop a plan for analysis essay

(essay #3)

Plan and begin drafting essay #3

Week ten

Goals: Learn to revise, edit, and proofread an analysis essay




Learn about collaborative research and writing

Review: Sentence Variety and Style (Ch. 38)

Assignments:Peer response and revision of essay #3 (in-class or

online), including Writer’s Memo

Revise, edit, and proofread essay #3



Read Ch. 9 (collaborative writing)

Form collaborative groups and brainstorm topic ideas

for essay #4, which includes an oral presentation

and/or Web writing component

Week eLeven

Goals: Learn to work in groups

Learn about research writing

Review: Parallelism (Ch. 39); group dynamics (see Part Two of

Strategies and Resources for Teaching Writing); elec-

tronic portfolio development

Assignments:Revise, edit, and proofread essay #3 based on teacher

feedback

Read Ch. 21

In class and/or in online discussion, select topic and

begin researching for essay #4 (collaborative research-

based essay); plan subtopics and group member

responsibilities

Week tWeLve

Goals: Learn about document design

Learn to organize and synthesize group’s research and

writing

Review: Shifting and Mixed Sentences (Ch. 36)

Assignments:Read Ch. 7 in handbook

View and analyze various documents and discuss

effectiveness of design for intended audience and

purpose

Develop a rough outline for Essay #4 and begin draft-

ing




Meet with each group individually to discuss essay

plans and group process

Week thirteen

Goals: Learn to draft a collaborative research paper

Learn to develop a Web page or oral presentation

Review: Critically analyzing images (Ch. 3) and Document

Design (Ch. 7)

Assignments:Read Ch. 62 or 63 in the handbook

Draft collaborative research-based essay (essay #4),

including appropriate graphics or other images

Peer response and revision of essay #4

Plan and prepare for Web page project or oral presen-

tation using multimedia

Week fOurteen

Goals: Learn to collaboratively revise, edit, and proofread

Learn to develop reflective pieces for electronic

portfolio

Review: Adjectives and Adverbs (Ch. 32) and Misplaced and

Dangling Modifiers (Ch. 35); electronic portfolio

development

Assignments:Polish final essays for electronic portfolio

Draft portfolio cover letter, reflecting on learning and

achievements over semester (see 64E for business

letter format)

Complete Web page project or oral presentations

Read assigned material for final essay exam

Week fifteen

Goals: Present final Web page project or oral presentations

Complete and submit final portfolios

Complete final essay exam

Review: Essay exam-taking strategies; portfolio requirements




� Emphasis on Writing Across the Curriculum

Week One


Learn about writing across the curriculum

Learn rhetoric strategies for paragraph development

Review: Fragments (Ch. 33) and Comma Splices and Run-ons

(Ch. 34)

Assignments:Read Chs. 6, 58, and 38 in handbook

Read paragraphs or essays using various rhetoric

modes of development

Develop narrative paragraph about personal writing

history and/or college or career goals

Develop exemplification and compare and contrast

paragraphs discussing writing in the disciplines

Week TWO

Goals: Learn about writing in the natural sciences

Learn critical reading strategies

Learn about the writing process


Assignments:Read Ch. 3 (focusing on critical reading and summary

and synthesis), Ch. 5, and Ch. 60 in handbook

Read, analyze, and summarize science reports

Develop a definition, description, and/or process para-

graph(s) based on a scientific concept

Develop a paragraph describing personal writing

process

Week Three

Goals: Learn about writing in the humanities

Learn the difference between summary and response

writing

Review: Agreement (Ch. 31) and Pronoun Case and Reference

(Ch. 30)




Assignments:Read Chs. 3D and 59A–C in handbook

Read, discuss, and analyze short stories and poems or

plays in reader

Write a brief summary and a personal response to two

of the assigned readings

Week fOur

Goals: Learn about literary analysis and interpretation

Learn how to generate topic ideas

Review: Literary terms/devices and strategies for writing about

literature

Assignments:Review Ch. 5 and Ch. 59D–H in handbook

Read, discuss, and analyze short stories and poems in

reader

Read sample literary analysis essay and interpretation

essay

Begin developing essay #1 topic (literary analysis or

interpretation essay)

Week five

Goals: Learn how to write an effective thesis statement

Learn how to organize and draft a literary analysis or

interpretation essay

Learn how to quote and cite passages from a literary

work using MLA documentation

Review: Adjective and Adverbs (Ch. 32) and Misplaced and

Dangling Modifiers (Ch. 35)

Assignments:Review Chs. 5 and 59 in handbook

Practice paraphrasing, quoting, and citing using MLA

Documentation (Chs. 18–25)

Develop a thesis for literary analysis or interpretation

essay

Plan a literary analysis or interpretation essay and

begin drafting essay #1




Week Six

Goals: Learn to write introduction and conclusion paragraphs

Learn to give effective feedback on peer’s essays

Learn to use comments to revise, edit, and proofread

essay

Learn to develop an MLA Works Cited page

Review: Quotation mark and ellipses use; citing sources; Ch. 6,

“Writing Paragraphs, Shaping Essays”

Assignments:Review Ch. 5 and Ch. 9 in handbook

Develop an introduction and conclusion paragraph for

literary analysis or interpretation essay

Create a Works Cited page for essay #1

Peer review and revise essay

Submit revised essay for teacher evaluation

Week Seven

Goals: Learn about writing in the social sciences

Learn to find and evaluate sources

Review: Shifting and Mixed Sentences (Ch. 36) and Paral-

lelism (Ch. 39)

Assignments:Review Chs. 22, 23, and 60 in handbook

Read sample articles from the social sciences (i.e.,

research reports, case studies)

Begin researching a social issue (essay #2); evaluate

sources

Summarize 3 – 4 articles from research

Week eiGht

Goals: Learn to synthesize sources

Learn about using APA documentation

Review: Summary and synthesis (Ch. 3D–E); thesis and outline

development (Ch. 5); using sources and avoiding

plagiarism (Chs. 18 and 19)

Assignments:Review Ch. 26, APA Documentation; practice in-text

and reference page documentation




Continue research on social issue (to sythesize for

essay #2); summarize articles in journal

Read sample synthesis essays

Write a paragraph which synthesizes two or more

sources of information about your selected social issue

(using APA documentation)

Develop a thesis and plan for essay #2 (synthesis of

research on a social issue)

Week nine

Goals: Learn to draft and revise a synthesis essay in the social

sciences

Review: Review Ch. 5 (drafting and revising) and Ch. 6 (writ-

ing paragraphs)

Assignments:Draft synthesis essay (essay #2)

Develop APA References list for essay #2

Peer review and revision of esssay #2

Submit essay #2 for teacher evaluation

Introduce writing in your major/career assignment

(essay #3)

Week ten

Goals: Learn about primary and secondary research

Learn to interview and gather information from inter-

viewed sources

Learn about the types of writing and features of writ-

ing in one’s major or career

Review: Ch. 59 (comparing the disciplines)

Assignments:Develop interview questions to learn about writing in

one’s major or career; students also may wish to

explore other questions about expectations in and

preparation for this major or career

Students will arrange and conduct at least one inter-

view with a professor in student’s major and/or a

prefessional in student’s career of interest; student also

may wish to interview one or more upper-division

students or interns in his or her field of interest




Research secondary sources to learn more about

required course work, experiences, and skills in

student’s field of interest

Week eLeven

Goals: Learn to develop an oral presentation using multime-

dia

Learn elements of effective document design

Learn to draft an essay or creative piece, such as a

brochure, related to writing in student’s major or future

career

Review: Sentence Variety and Style (Ch. 38) and Style and

Tone in Writing (Ch. 37)

Assignments:Plan and draft an essay or creative piece using primary

and secondary research

Read Chs. 62 and 7 in handbook

Begin developing oral presentation to accompany

essay #3 (writing in the disciplines)

Week tWeLve

Goal: Learn about writing in various careers and majors

Review: Punctuation (Part 7), especially comma use (Ch. 42)

Assignments:Peer review and revision of essay #3

Present oral presentation using multimedia

Submit essay #3 to instructor for evaluation

Week thirteen

Goal: Learn to write for public and the workplace

Review: Conciseness (Ch. 40)


Read and analyze business and public communications

Develop a résumé and job application letter




Week fOurteen

Goal: Learn about writing arguments

Review: The Impact of Words (Ch. 37)


Read, discuss, and analyze various arguments in public

writing (i.e., news editorials)

Develop a letter to a community, college, or state offi-

cial arguing an issue that concerns you

Week fifteen

Goal: Review the achievements of the term and note areas

which still need work

Assignments:Revise, edit, and proofread business and public writ-

ing pieces

In-class write reflecting on learning and achievements

during semester

� SyLLabi fOr Quarter (ten-Week) COurSeS

Even though the quarter-length term offers the same number of

contact hours with the students as the semester system, some teachers

find that for students to master the principles of writing covered in the

course, they should do fewer papers with more time between or write

shorter papers. Because of these individual preferences, the models that

follow may be adjusted for more or fewer papers than are suggested. Or

instructors may choose to incorporate alternative writing assignments,

such as Web pages, business and public writing, or timed writing. And

like those for the semester-length term, these syllabi also can make use

of a reader in addition to the handbook, though teachers may adjust them

to use only the handbook. Individual teachers may choose to incorpo-

rate more or less grammar and usage review.

� Emphasis on Research Skills

In this syllabus, students’ research skills are developed and assessed

using a variety of methods besides research-based essays, including




summaries, working bibliographies, an annotated bibliography, outlines

with notecards, and an oral presentation. This course can easily be

adapted to incorporate a single, extended research paper or several shorter

essays that incorporate research or to develop a Web-based research

project. Additionally, this syllabus can be altered to introduce students to

disciplinary differences in research and documentation; it may be effec-

tive to introduce writing across the curriculum early in the term and to

encourage students to select topics and use documentation styles in their

“major” or relevant to their current course work. Another alternative may

be to tie students’ research work to their future careers, allowing them to

research their interests and to explore the types of writing they will be

required to do in the workplace.

Week One


Learn about the importance of situation, audience, and

purpose

Learn to summarize information

Learn to think and read critically

Review: Sentences, run-ons, comma splices, and fragments

(Chs. 28, 33, and 34)

Assignments:Read Chs. 3 and 4 in the handbook

Practice critical reading skills on articles

Summarize and annotate assigned readings

Write formal summaries of two assigned articles

In-class, document articles using MLA or APA format

Week tWO

Goals: Learn how to use library and Internet for research

Learn how to find a writing topic


Assignments:Read Chs. 5, 21, 22, and 23 in handbook

Use pre-writing strategies to find a research topic for

research-based essay (synthesis of arguments on a

current issue)

Develop a preliminary topic proposal (using memo

format—see Ch. 64D)




Begin “Scavenger Hunt” bibliography: find 8 to 10

different types of sources (including library, Internet,

and other types of research) related to selected topic

and cite them correctly using MLA or APA documen-

tation

Week three

Goals: Learn to document sources on a Works Cited (or

References) page

Learn to critically evaluate sources

Review: MLA and APA Documentation (Chs. 25–26)

Assignments:Finish “Scavenger Hunt” bibliography (cited correctly

using MLA or APA documentation)

Develop a working bibliography (using relevant

sources from “scavenger hunt” bibliography as well

as newly researched sources), citing sources correctly

using MLA or APA format

Evaluate sources, determining which are credible and

relevant to topic (Review Ch. 23)

Summarize four relevant sources

Week fOur

Goals: Learn to paraphrase, quote, and cite in-text

Learn to create a thesis and outline

Learn to take content notes

Review: Conventions of quoting (Ch. 18)

Assignments:Read Ch. 19 in handbook; review Ch. 5

Using relevant source material, practice paraphrasing,

quoting, and citing in-text

Develop a thesis and rough outline for research-based

synthesis essay

Create two or more notecards for each topic on rough

outline (minimum eight notecards)

Week five

Goals: Learn to draft a research-based essay




Learn to develop paragraphs, particularly introduction

and conclusion paragraphs

Learn to revise and edit research-based essay

Review: Shfting and Mixed Sentences (Ch. 36) and documen-

tation

Assignments:Read student sample research essay(s)

Read Ch. 6 and Ch. 24 in handbook

Draft research-based synthesis essay

Peer response and revision of synthesis essay

Week Six

Goals: Learn to read and analyze written arguments

Learn to develop a topic and research plan for a

research-based argument essay

Review: Research writing as process (Ch. 24) and finding and

evaluating sources (Chs. 22 and 23)

Assignments:Submit research-based synthesis essay for teacher

evaluation

Read Ch. 15 in handbook

Read and analyze written arguments using Toulmin

analysis

Develop a preliminary argument-based research topic

proposal and research plan

Begin developing a working bibliography

Annotate two sources related to proposed topic (one

pro and one con)

Week Seven

Goal: Learn to create an annotated bibliography

Review: Conciseness (Ch. 40), Parallelism (Ch. 39), and Writ-

ing Paragraphs (Ch. 6)

Assignments:Continue to research, evaluate, read, and annotate

sources

Create an annotated bibliography (minimum 10 cred-

ible, relevant sources)




Week eiGht

Goals: Learn to develop a thesis statement and outline for an

argumentative research paper

Learn to use refutation

Review: Style and Tone in Writing (Ch. 37), Variety and Style

(Ch. 38)

Assignments:Select development method(s) for argument and create

a preliminary outline

Create two or more notecards for each section/item on

preliminary outline (minimum eight notecards)

Develop a rebuttal paragraph

Week nine

Goals: Learn to draft a research-based argument essay

Learn to use peer response to revise research-based

argument essay

Learn principles of document design

Review: Writing process, paraphrasing, quoting, synthesizing,

and citing sources


Draft research-based argument, incorporating at least

one graphic in paper

Peer response and revision of research-based argument

Week ten

Goals: Learn to develop an oral presentation (argument)

Review the achievements of the term, and note areas


Assignments:Develop oral presentation based on research-based

argument

Submit research-based argument for teacher evalua-

tion

Write a brief essay about what you have learned about

doing research and its connection to writing

Final exam: oral presentation




� Emphasis on Paragraphs

The sample syllabus below, which emphasizes paragraph develop-

ment, assumes students are enrolled in a developmental writing course.

The syllabus shows students how to develop paragraphs and later essays

using rhetorical modes, such as narration, description, classification,

compare and contrast, cause and effect, definition, and process. This

sample syllabus can easily be adapted to accomodate Portfolio Evalua-

tion (see Part One, Ch. 7 of this instructor’s manual).

This syllabus begins with narration and description, not necessarily

because they are easier than some other types of development (as some

teachers argue), but because students feel more comfortable writing

narrations and descriptions. As students first begin to study the writing

process, these more accessible types of development ease them into writ-

ing papers that are more analytical and for many students more difficult.

Later in the term, students are introduced to basic research skills;

however, this introduction may not be necessary, or it may be necessary

to introduce research skills earlier in the quarter, depending on what

skills students will need to bring into the next course in their writing

sequence.

This syllabus also assumes that some of the work will be done in

class, especially review of mechanics and grammar. Some teachers will

spend more time with this than others. Although the syllabus suggests

that students will review particular grammar topics each week, it is

generally more effective to tailor grammar instruction to the students’

strengths and weaknesses (perhaps based on some sort of diagnostic

performed at the beginning of the quarter). There may be topics that the

whole class needs to review, but often instruction and practice will need

to be more individualized. The “editing log” listed below tries to accom-

plish this, allowing students to record and correct their particular errors.

This log could be developed into a personal grammar workbook, which

includes both editing log entries and individualized grammar activities.

Week One


Learn what a paragraph is

Learn about ways to develop paragraphs (focus on

narrative and descriptive)

Learn pre-writing strategies




Review: Grammar diagnostic; if needed, Ch. 28—Parts of

Speech and Sentence Structures, and/or Ch. 50—Writ-

ing in U.S. Colleges and Universities

Assignments:Use prewriting strategies to develop narrative and

descriptive paragraphs

Write 1 - 2 narrative paragraph(s) and 1 - 2 descrip-

tive paragraph(s)

Read Chs. 3, 4 and 5 in the handbook

Read sample narrative and descriptive paragraphs or

essays from reader

In-class, handbook activity/overview

Week tWO

Goals: Learn how to write effective topic sentences

Learn additional ways to develop paragraphs (defini-

tion, classification, and exemplification)

Learn about paragraph unity and coherence

Review: Fragments (Ch. 33) and, if needed, Handling

Sentence-Level Issues in English (Ch. 51)

Assignments:Write definition, classification, and exemplification

process paragraphs with effective topic sentences

Read Ch. 6 (B, E, F, G, I) and review pre-writing

strategies (Ch. 5) in the handbook

Read and analyze examples of definition, classifica-

tion, and exemplification paragraphs or essays in

reader

Introduction to editing log (each week students list,

label, correct, and explain 1 – 2 errors made in their

writing)

Week three

Goals: Learn additional ways to develop paragraphs (process

and compare and contrast)

Learn to revise

Review: Comma Splices and Run-on Sentences (Ch. 34)




Assignments:Write a descriptive paragraph and classification para-

graph

Review Ch. 5 in the handbook

Revise two of the paragraphs previously written in

course (intro. to peer response)

Read and analyze examples of process and compare/

contrast paragraphs or essays in the reader

Keep an editing log

Week fOur

Goals: Learn critical reading skills

Learn to summarize and analyze readings

Learn to revise and edit

Review: Pronoun Case and Reference (Ch. 30)

Assignments:Write summary and analysis paragraphs

Revise two of the paragraphs previously written in

course (peer and/or teacher feedback)

Read Chs. 3 and 20 in the handbook

Read and analyze essays in the reader

Practice summary and critical reading skills in-class

Keep an editing log

Week five

Goals: Learn what an essay is

Learn to select an essay topic

Learn to develop a thesis statement

Learn to develop an outline

Learn to develop an informative essay (process)

Review: Agreement (Ch. 31)

Assignments:Revise summary and analysis paragraphs

Generate a topic for a process essay

Develop a plan for process essay

Develop a thesis statement and rough outline for

process essay




Finish reading/review Ch. 5 in the handbook

Read and analyze sample process essays (either from

reader or student samples)

Keep an editing log

Week Six

Goals: Learn to develop special paragraphs (introduction and

conclusion)

Learn to use peer feedback to revise an essay

Review: Shifting and Mixed Sentences (Ch. 36)

Assignments:Read Ch. 6C and J and Ch. 9C and review Chs. 5 and

6 in the handbook

Develop an introduction and conclusion paragraphs

for process essay

Draft process essay

Participate in peer response and revise and edit essay

based on peer feedback

Keep an editing log

Week Seven

Goals: Learn to plan a compare and contrast essay

Learn to find sources for compare and contrast essay

Learn to paraphrase, quote, and cite source material

Review: Punctation: commas, apostrophes, quotation marks

(Chs. 42, 45, and 46); MLA Documentation (Ch. 25)

Assignments:Submit process essay for evaluation

Submit editing log for evaluation

Select topic for compare and contrast essay

Develop a thesis for compare and contrast essay

Develop a plan for compare and contrast essay

Research for compare and contrast essay (two sources)

Read Chs. 22, 23, and 19 in the the handbook

Read and analyze student samples of compare and

contrast essays




In-class practice on paraphrasing, quoting, and citing

sources

Week eiGht

Goals: Learn to develop a Works Cited page

Learn to organize and develop a compare and contrast

essay (integrating source material)

Review: Sentences and Sentence Types (Ch. 28K and Q) and

Sentence Variety and Style (Ch. 38)

Assignments:Develop an MLA Works Cited page for compare and

contrast essay (Ch. 25)

Develop an outline and rough draft of compare and

contrast essay

Peer response and revision of compare and contrast

essay

Keep an editing log

Week nine

Goals: Learn to write an argument (letter to editor)

Learn to select a topic and organize an argumentative

piece

Learn to read and analyze written arguments

Review: Conciseness (Ch. 40)

Assignments:Read Ch. 15 in the handbook

Read and analyze arguments in reader and in local

newspaper

Use pre-writing strategies to develop a topic for letter

to editor

Develop thesis and rough outline for letter to editor

Week ten

Goal: Reflect on learning and achievements in course

Assignments:Peer response and revision of letter to editor

“Publish” letters to editor on interactive online discus-

sion site




Read, analyze, and respond to peers’ letters

Write a reflective essay discussing achievement in

editing (see editing log), reading, writing, and critical

thinking throughout the quarter

If needed, final exam (essay exam and/or editing

exam)

� SyLLabuS fOr SuMMer SChOOL (Six-Week)COurSeS

Planning courses for such intensive terms as summer school requires

great care. Classes in these sessions, normally about six weeks, are

generally scheduled daily for about two hours, a long enough period for

the teacher to allow in-class work on papers. A big advantage of the

short term is that teachers can observe students while they write and

help them in the process, lending immediacy to the process. A second

advantage, shared by the quarter-length term, is the continuity of class

meetings, which usually occur daily.

Along with the more constant teacher-student contact that this

schedule provides comes the down side—the much more intensive pace.

Teachers must decide if they can have students do numerous short papers

(one or two per week) or a few long ones. Those whose departments

demand the same number of papers for summer school as for a regular

term have little choice but to require shorter ones, usually with less revi-

sion. Those with more control over the syllabus may choose fewer

papers; the sample below includes three, or about one every other week.

In any case, teachers need to pace themselves carefully.

The following syllabus emphasizes critical thinking and is designed

for a course in writing arguments. Like the other sample syllabi here, this

one assumes the use of a reader. Teachers who wish to emphasize para-

graphs, research skills, technology, essays (and types of development)

and/or writing across the curriculum may adapt the previous models to

accommodate the shorter term.

� Emphasizing Critical Thinking and Argument

Week One


Learn about thinking, reading, and writing critically




Learn to summarize and synthesize sources

Learn how to plan an essay and write a rough draft

Review: Research strategies (Ch. 21), Finding and Evaluating

Sources (Chs. 22 and 23)

Assignments:Read Chs. 3, 4, and 5 in handbook

Read, summarize, analyze, and evaluate arguments

from reader

Use pre-writing strategies to select a topic for essay

#1, a synthesis of arguments or perspectives on a

contemporary social issue

Develop a thesis and outline for essay #1

Research and evaluate sources to use in essay #1

(minimum six sources)

Week tWO

Goals: Learn to paraphrase, quote, and cite source material

in-text and on a Works Cited page

Learn how to revise and edit an essay

Review: MLA Documentation (Ch. 25)

Assignments:Practice paraphrasing, quoting, and citing from essay

#1 source material

Develop a synthesis paragraph using (and citing) two

or more sources related to essay #1

Read sample synthesis essays in reader

Draft synthesis essay; including a Works Cited page,

of at least six sources

Peer response and revision/editing of essay #1; submit

for teacher evaluation

Read Ch. 3D and 19 in handbook

Week three

Goals: Learn about writing to argue (Toulmin, logical fallac-

ies, etc.)

Learn how to develop a claim and structure and

support a position argument (Classical argument)

Review: Paraphrasing, summarizing, quoting, and citing




Assignments:Read Ch. 15 in handbook; review Ch. 3

Read and analyze (using Toulmin’s method and ethi-

cal, logial, and emotional appeals; also, logical fallac-

ies) arguments, both visual and print, from reader

Practice refuting arguments in readings

Develop a claim and rough outline for essay #2 (a

position on issue researched in essay #1)

Find and evaluate additional sources for essay #2

Begin drafting essay #2

Week fOur

Goals: Learn how to write introduction, conclusion, and tran-

sition paragraphs

Learn how to revise and edit an argument essay

Review: Sentences, comma splices, run-ons, fragments (Chs.

28, 33, and 34), and Sentence Variety and Style (Ch.

38)


Finish drafting essay #2, including introduction and

conclusion paragraphs and Works Cited page

Peer response and revision/editing of essay #2; submit

for evaluation

Read and analyze sample critical reviews and other

evaluations in reader

Week five

Goals: Learn how to evaluate a product or performance based

on criteria

Learn how to write an evaluation (or critical review)

essay

Review: Agreement, pronoun case and reference, shifting and

mixed sentences (Chs. 30, 31, and 36)

Assignments:Read Part 2 and/or Ch. 59D–H in handbook and

analyze sample reviews and evaluations from reader

and from class research




Use prewriting strategies to find a topic for essay #3,

an evaluation of a product or performance

Do necessary background “research” for essay #3

(attend play or other type of performance, visit a

restaurant, read a book, etc.)

Develop a plan—thesis, criteria, outline—for essay #3

Week Six

Goals: Review the achievements of the term and note areas


Learn how to write essay exams

Assignments:Draft, revise, and edit essay #3; submit for evaluation

Read Ch. 20 in handbook; review Ch. 3

Prepare for essay exam (final)—analysis/evaluation of

visual argument

All teachers eventually come up with combinations of mechanics, gram-

mar, rhetoric, and research that work well together in any given class.

Therefore, these models are offered only as guidelines until the teacher’s

own creativity with using the handbook takes over.

SuGGeSted readinG

Baecker, Diann L. “Uncovering the Rhetoric of the Syllabus: The Case

of the Missing I.” College Teaching 46.2 (Spring 1998): 58–62.

Dahlin, Amber. “A Student-Written Syllabus for Second-Semester

English.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College 21 (Feb. 1994):

27–32.

Devine, Thomas G. “ Caveat Emptor: The Writing Process Approach to

College Writing.” Journal of Developmental Education 14 (Fall

1990): 2–4.

Figg, Kristen M. “Handbook Use in College English I: Classroom Prac-

tices and Student Responses.” Teaching English in the Two-Year

College 19 (Oct. 1992): 185–91.

Fleming, David. “Rhetoric as a Course of Study.” College English 61.2

(1998): 169–91.




Gold, R. M. “How the Freshman Essay Anthology Subverts the Aims of

the Traditional Composition Course.” Teaching English in the Two-

Year College 18 (Dec. 1991): 261–65.

Krest, Margie, and Daria O. Carle. “Teaching Scientific Writing: A

Model for Integrating Research, Writing, and Critical Thinking.”

The American Biology Teacher 61.3 (1999): 223–27.

Kroll, Keith. “A Profile of Community College English Faculty and

Curriculum.” Community College Review 22 (Winter 1994): 37–54.

Lindemann, Erika. “Three Views of English 101.” College English 57

(March 1995): 287–301.

Martinsen, Amy. “The Tower of Babel and the Teaching of Grammar:

Writing Instruction for a New Century.” English Journal 90.1

(2000): 122–26.

Nilson, Linda Burzotta. Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource

for College Teachers. [n.p.]: Anker Publishing, 1998.

Quigley, Dan. “The Evolution of an Online Syllabus.” Computers and

Composition 11.2 (1994): 165–72.

Salvatori, Mariolina. “Conversations with Texts: Reading in the Teach-

ing of Composition.” College English 58 (April 1996): 440–54.




ChaPter 5

teacher feedback: Methods toimprove Student Writing

Commenting on Drafts

One of the most common methods that teachers use to offer students

feedback on their writing is handwritten comments. When giving

students feedback on their work, we must use strategies that will help

students, not demoralize them. These methods include such decisions as

the color of ink we use and the tone of our remarks, as the following

suggestions show:

1. ChanGe ink. Many teachers have found that as simple a change

as switching from red ink to pencil or blue ink has a positive effect on

the students’ attitudes. No one denies the authority of red ink, but the

students are more likely to see pencil comments as less threatening. By

choosing another color, the teacher in effect says that he or she is just

another critical reader in a world of readers.

2. ChanGe tOne. The old saying that “you can catch more flies

with honey than with vinegar” applies significantly to grading papers.

Students who are bombarded with “don’t do this” and “don’t do that”

soon give up altogether. Naturally we cannot say that a poor piece of

work is great just to make students feel good, but students’ improve-

ment is directly related to how we tell them the work is poor.

Throughout the paper as we are marking ineffective features of the

writing, we should also take the few seconds needed to write in the

margin “I like this image,” “These details really help make your point,”

or “Your transition is especially skillful between these two paragraphs.”

More important, we should begin the first part of a final note with

comments about the strengths of the paper. Then we can comment on the

parts that need work, but we should end with an additional positive

comment. All of us like to be complimented, and students especially

respond well to compliments. By beginning and ending our notes with

positive statements, we show students that we’re not in the business of

simply hunting for errors but that we also notice what they do well.

As the term goes on, these comments should, if possible, emphasize

the improvement we are seeing regarding particular features of the

students’ writing. And even when we’re hard pressed to find new

elements to compliment, we can always end with a statement like, “I’m

really looking forward to seeing your revision of this piece. You’ve got



some strong ideas here that I know will come together well in your final

draft.” If the students believe that we are genuinely interested in what

they are saying, they will work hard to come up to our expectations as

far as mechanics are concerned.

3. ChanGe PriOritieS. Don’t mark everything that’s wrong all at

once. Doing so overwhelms learners. It stands to reason that if we mark

all the errors and stylistic problems in a piece of writing—especially in

red ink—the student who looks at this sea of red ink is likely to give up

in the face of his or her hopeless inadequacy. If we want students to

improve and learn to revise, we should keep our commentary focused

on a few areas that are most in need of change.

Those teachers who are selective about the errors they mark each

time vary with regard to the criteria for marking papers in a given week.

Some mark only the most serious mechanical errors early in the term

(comma splices, fragments, subject-verb disagreements, and run-together

sentences) and comment only on major problems in content and style

(adequate transition within and between paragraphs, enough evidence

and detail, clear thesis and topic sentences, for example). Others mark

only matters of content and organization first, inspiring students to think

clearly about the subject, and gradually mark mechanics as the term

proceeds. Some teachers mark matters of content and organization first

as well as whatever mechanics they review during the period in which

the students are working on the essay (usually these teachers, too, begin

reviewing the most serious mechanical problems first). As the term goes

on and students gain confidence in their ability to express their ideas in

coherent paragraphs that support a clearly stated thesis, teachers have

more success with criticizing problems of style (wordiness, adequate

subordination, inconsistency of diction, and ineffective sentence struc-

ture).

Some teachers think it is dishonest to leave errors unmarked. They

argue that by doing so, we only mislead the students into thinking that

they are much better writers than they in fact are. Other teachers—and

these seem more successful, in the long run—believe that it’s what the

students know at the end of the course that matters and that keeping

them involved in improving and enthusiastic about their writing is ulti-

mately more important than absolute tyranny in marking errors.

Some teachers find that students respond especially well to written

comments if the students have communicated to the teacher the degree

of detail with which they wish the teacher to mark the essay. Agreeing

with the teacher about this helps create a sense of shared responsibility

for the grading that can make students more responsive to the comments

the teacher does make.




Although handwritten comments are the most common method of

teacher feedback, some teachers prefer variations of this method. A

colleague of mine, a former writing center consultant, prefers to audio-

tape his comments to students. Doing this allows him to explain himself

in more detail and monitor the tone of his comments. Other teachers

prefer to type or e-mail global comments to students, which prevents

them from taking over the authority of students’ drafts by making the

changes for the students. Some teachers develop checklists or other types

of evaluation rubrics that enable them to cut down on time spent craft-

ing comments while still providing students with direction for revision.

Conferences: Student and Teacher One-to-One

Some of the most valuable time that we spend with students is time we

spend in conference, one-on-one, in our offices. Conferences can give

us the opportunity to make students more confident of their ability to

write and can give us the opportunity to nurse along the weak writers

who, without our interest, would simply give up. Conferences are the

times when we try to overcome the inequities inherent in teaching writ-

ing to a group of students with different abilities, problems, and levels

of commitment.

One of the important early realizations that we writing teachers

come to is that if we have twenty-two students in a class, for all practi-

cal purposes we are teaching twenty-two different courses. Each

student’s problems are so individual that some of them cannot be

addressed satisfactorily in class. Thus, the conference becomes useful as

a means of dealing with concerns that lie outside the interests of the

class as a whole. All students need the extra attention to individual prob-

lems that conferences offer, but the strong students and the weak ones

particularly benefit from this attention to their needs, which normally are

not addressed when circumstances force us to teach more to the aver-

age students.

Student-teacher conferences not only enable teachers to respond

individually to students, they also allow teachers to learn about the effec-

tiveness of their instruction. The conference can teach us what we are

not clarifying in the classroom and what concerns and needs among

students we should respond to in our assignments.

But how do we get the students into our offices willingly for help?

How do we use this valuable time to the best advantage to achieve both

our goals and those of the students?

Many departments stipulate that instructors must devote a given

number of hours per week to office hours, and teachers in such depart-

ments dutifully post the hours when they will be available to students.

Chapter 5—Teacher Feedback: Methods to Improve Student Writing



Students do not, however, always come. Thus the teacher sits in the

office waiting for students who often want help but are too frightened

of the teacher or formality of office suites to seek it. Unfortunately, many

students have grown up with the notion that it is a sign of weakness to

ask a teacher for help, and too many of them have been told that the big

bad college teacher is interested not in helping students, but flunking

them.

One good solution to the problem of getting students into the office

is simply to require each student to sign up for a ten-minute get-

acquainted conference during the first week of school. Yes, that is heavy

traffic for the teacher, but it is time well spent. During such a visit the

teacher might ask the students to explain their experiences with writing

in high school and their current feelings about their writing. Students

usually begin to relax in this kind of conference, and they seem to appre-

ciate the new teacher’s interest in their past. Teachers who have large

classes may find it helpful to take notes immediately following the

conference so that they will be able to recall the meeting when the

student comes in again.

In addition to showing students that we don’t maim and torture them

in our offices but are, instead, interested in them, these short, early-in-

the-term conferences show them that we are available in our offices to

help them continue to learn about writing. These mandatory get-

acquainted conferences show them where our offices are and emphasize

that we expect them to come there regularly. The conferences also help

the students see that being a member of a community means taking

responsibility for getting help with their work.

Even with these early required conferences, many students still will

not come regularly when they need help, and some won’t come at all

until they’ve received a low grade or two. Therefore, some instructors

schedule optional or mandatory conferences a few times during the term

to go over problems that students have had up to that point. Other teach-

ers may schedule conferences with students as a means of giving feed-

back on their drafts. Although the conferences are time consuming, many

teachers find they take less time and are more effective than writing

comments on their drafts. Multi-student conferences enable teachers to

focus on a problem common to those students. These group conferences

often help students more than the teacher alone can—the interaction

with other students can help make the student more independent and

more excited about writing. Some teachers, however, simply do not have

the luxury of this choice because the available time for conferences is

severely curtailed by other responsibilities and by having too many

students in writing classes. Thus teachers must decide for themselves if





59

they want to do more than extend an invitation for students to come in

during office hours.

Even before we decide how to use conferences most efficiently, we

must consider what to do about the outpouring of personal problems that

frequently occurs in conferences about writing. Because students in

composition classes often share information about their personal lives in

their essays, even in non-narrative essays, it stands to reason that they will

talk with us about their personal lives. After all, we are already submerged

in their personal lives by virtue of having read their essays. For many of

us this kind of personal sharing is one of the allures of teaching: We want

to know that we are dealing with human beings. On the other hand, teach-

ers who hear about students’ personal lives can find themselves in serious

dilemmas about how to proceed with a student and sometimes how to

evaluate a student’s work.

Most of us can deal effectively, if not painlessly, with certain kinds

of personal problems, for example, problems of the heart. We have

learned simply to listen and not to offer advice. And we’ve learned to

steel ourselves against the appeals to pity. What we have a harder time

with are students who come ostensibly to talk with us about a paper but

who really come because they need help with a serious problem: parents

who are getting a divorce, siblings or friends who have betrayed them,

friendships that depend on drugs, sexual abuse by family or other adults,

and serious financial threats, even homelessness.

What do we do in the face of these serious issues? They are not

remotely related to comma splices and paragraph coherence, yet we cannot

teach students who are threatened by problems of such magnitude. Since

we have read our students’ papers about what they think and feel, students

recognize that we know them better than most teachers do—and even,

perhaps, better than most adults do—and they may seek us out as confi-

dants and counselors.

But we must remember that we are not trained counselors, and we

must therefore resist the temptation to offer advice. We may give the

wrong advice, seriously wrong. Of course, few teachers want to turn

their backs on students who really need help. What we must do is get

the right kind of help for them insofar as we are able to do so.

We might, for example, suggest that the student see a trained coun-

selor in the counseling center. Most colleges have such personnel, but

often students (and many faculty) do not know about them, or they

believe that these counselors are for “mentally ill” people, not someone

with problems like theirs. Often a student who is reluctant to seek such

help beforehand will go if a teacher he or she respects suggests it. The

teacher may even intervene to the extent of calling to make the appoint-





ment while the student is there. Such action conveys the teacher’s

concern. Students don’t usually think the teacher is trying to get rid of

them or sidestep the problem if the teacher has listened carefully to the

student and has explained that this problem warrants a kind of advice

that the teacher is not trained to give.

Sometimes several sessions in which the teacher only listens and

reacts sympathetically help the student think through the problem. In

serious cases, when the student refuses to seek counseling, a concerned

teacher may want to call the staff therapist or the dean, or the depart-

ment head or a dorm counselor and alert him or her to the student’s

problem—preserving confidentiality, of course.

At times, teachers must decide if what a student is telling them is

really a crisis or is a ploy to win sympathy and easier grades or exemp-

tions from deadlines. Dealing with the genuine malingerer may require

some sympathy, but usually we help this kind of student more by show-

ing firmness in requiring them to meet deadlines and practice responsi-

ble behavior. Some students must be shown that they are responsible for

the consequences or their actions or inaction. The best technique for

dealing with these types of students, however, is to make writing so

stimulating and so dynamic that they will want to do the assignments.

One of the ways to interest the lagging student is to have a conference

in which the teacher really excites him or her about writing. Such confer-

ences should also reinforce and intensify the interest of the hard-work-

ing, responsible student.

To work well, a conference must put students at ease, not on the

defensive. We should greet students pleasantly and ask how they are

doing generally. If the students have requested the conference, we should

invite them to voice the concerns that prompted the conference. Often

these will be specific questions about a specific paper. We can answer

these questions fully—but we should do so only with the student’s help;

that is, we ought to question students about how they would go about

solving the problem they’ve brought to us, but we must question them

in a nonthreatening, supportive way. These questions help us understand

where communication in the classroom is breaking down, and they help

teach the student more about independent problem solving.

More often, however, the conference is prompted not by specific

questions about a particular assignment but by the student’s vague feel-

ings that he or she is failing, is lost, is depressed about his or her

progress, or just discouraged. These kinds of conferences require more

skill than those prompted by specific questions.

First, we should try to get the students to articulate insofar as possi-

ble how they are feeling about the process of writing and why they feel


this way. Typically they say that no matter what they write, teachers

don’t like it and it’s no good, or they say that they just can’t think of

anything to say and they feel stupid, or they say that they’ve never been

any good at writing before and they don’t sense that it’s getting any

better now.

Then we can ask them to explain how they go about the process of

writing: how long they spend brainstorming, how long they spend draft-

ing a paper, what forms their revision and proofreading take. We want to

try to show them, of course, the direct correlation between their work

habits and their attitudes. In most cases students who are discouraged are

not spending enough time or they are badly misusing the time they spend

writing.

When students come in frustrated or discouraged about an assign-

ment, we want to spend the conference talking with the students in such

a way that they will feel proud of the achievements they have made in

the paper up to this point so they will feel confident in their ability to

revise the paper and excited about doing so. To this sense of achieve-

ment we can add a sense of the independence they will have in learn-

ing to use the handbook to help answer questions as they write.

To foster this positive response, we want to reinforce orally the

compliments we originally wrote in the margins of the paper. Instead of

bowling the students over with negative comments about their inade-

quacies, we want to emphasize what they have done well. We can, for

example, compliment them on choosing a uniquely interesting topic and

focusing it well, or we can talk about particular images and phrasing that

are especially evocative and original. Perhaps we can pull out a particu-

lar paragraph that has exceptionally good coherence and unity and struc-

ture, or we can comment on the excellent sentence variety in a place or

two. (Of course, sometimes these strengths in the writing have come

about accidentally, but our comments make the students aware of what

they are doing well so that they will continue to do it, whether or not it

has been an accident this time.)

Once we have made the students feel good about their achievements,

we can explain what they need to do to strengthen the paper. If they

believe that we like it up to this point and that the paper is worth work-

ing on—that they in fact have an interested reader—they will be eager

for our suggestions for improvement. Even so, these suggestions should

not be a list of errors. As much as possible, we should ask the students

to explain what they think they should do to strengthen a particular

passage, the organization, or the examples. Our gentle questioning makes

the students feel more in control of their writing and helps them become

more independent thinkers.




Often the students’ questions should be the focus of the conference

with the teacher doing little more than listening and asking other ques-

tions. The Socratic method works well with many students. Sometimes

the right question opens the student’s imagination or memory so that he

or she goes away from the meeting eager to get the new ideas down in

writing. The judicious question helps teachers avoid talking too much

and inadvertently dictating the paper. Questions also work well when

teachers see several students at once.

Whatever problems students bring to our offices can usually be

handled best by beginning with positive assumptions about their ability

to write and their interest in writing. No matter how positive we may be,

however, students who have just received a paper with a low grade

generally are anything but positive. Thus, it is a good idea to tell them

that we are happy to make appointments—but not on the day we return

papers. We should tell them that we expect them to go home and look

at our written comments and look up the references to the handbook so

that our conference with them will be really productive. Certainly if

students have taken their papers home and spent some time trying to

figure out what the problems are and how they can be solved, they are

more likely to have useful questions when we do have our conference.

Although a few students may resist our efforts in conferences to help

them improve, most will appreciate the time we spend with them and

will use our guidance to think in positive ways about their writing. It’s

human nature to enjoy personal attention, and most students thrive on

our interest in their lives and their writing—and especially the intersec-

tion of the two.

SuGGeSted readinG

Flynn, Thomas, and Mary King, eds. Dynamics of the Writing Confer-

ence: Social and Cognitive Interaction. Urbana, IL: National Coun-

cil of Teachers of English, 1993.

Hacker, Tim. “The Effect of Teacher Conferences on Peer Response

Discourse.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College 23 (May

1996): 112-26.

Morse, Philip S. “The Writing Teacher as Helping Agent: Communicat-

ing Effectively in the Conferencing Process.” Journal of Classroom

Interaction 29.1 (1994): 9-15.

Newkirk, Thomas. “The Writing Conference as Performance.” Research

in the Teaching of English 29 (May 1995): 193-215.

Patthey Chavez, G. Genevieve, and Dana R. Ferris. “Writing and the

Weaving of Multi-voiced Texts in College Composition.” Research

in the Teaching of English 31 (Feb. 1997): 51-90.




ChaPter 6

Peer-response: Opinions that Matter

Many teachers today recognize that their own painstaking comments,

made with measured tone and affirmative intention, have much less

impact on students’ writing than even the most superficial and offhand

comments by their peers. Increasingly teachers have worked diligently

to harness the power of peer feedback and to shape it to suit their peda-

gogical aims. The result of this experimentation is the realization that

generally the kind of evaluation most helpful to students combines care-

fully directed peer-response and carefully thought out paper evaluation

by the teacher.

Many teachers use peer critique as a way of “cleaning up” a draft

before it receives teacher evaluation. Whether or not peer-response

achieves this goal, it can be an integral part of student learning. Peer-

response gives students the chance to share their ideas with one another.

Many students use peer-response sessions as a means of clarifying the

assignment or the teacher’s expectations. In peer-response sessions,

students have the opportunity to be critical readers—to read for under-

standing and to respond to what they have read. By reading the work of

others, students see different models or approaches that can be used to

communicate a message. Ultimately, peer-response sessions give

students an opportunity to test the clarity and effectiveness of their

message on a real audience.

Peer evaluation, if well directed by the teacher, can rival—if not

surpass—the teacher’s criticism in terms of impact on student writers.

The teacher’s control of peer evaluation and careful direction to students

about the goals of it are critical. If teachers do not give students specific

goals, the criticism that results is likely to be vague and impressionistic

and not worth the time devoted to it. Some help with these guidelines

is to be found in section 9C of the Simon & Schuster Handbook. Follow-

ing these or similar guidelines can produce surprisingly fruitful results

that will excite students about the possibilities inherent in their work.

Such critiques work so well perhaps because students believe that their

classmates understand their vision better than we do or—heaven help

us!—that their classmates’ eyes are less clouded by matters of grammar

Chapter 6—Peer-Response: Opinions That Matter



and style and are thus more capable of keen insight. When classmates

tell a student that the thesis is fuzzy or that they don’t understand why

four different topics are included in a single paragraph, the student

usually believes the criticism and revises accordingly. Often an identi-

cal criticism from the teacher wins a shrug and a puzzled look that fore-

cast a hit-or-miss, unenthusiastic revision.

But how do we get good responses from students? And how often

in a term and at what stages in the composition process should we use

peer-response?

As with most techniques in teaching, we do not want to use

critiquing by classmates to the point that it becomes trite, predictable,

and dull. Varying the frequency and complexity of this kind of evalua-

tion helps maintain the students’ interest and helps make critiquing an

activity that the students look forward to participating in each time.

Peer-response can be employed usefully at any point in the devel-

opment of an essay. But before we use this tool, we need to establish

some ground rules. We need to remind students that what is being eval-

uated is the piece of writing, not the individual who wrote it. We need

to remind them that both taking and giving negative criticism are hard

but that honest comments are essential. We need to remind students that

the word criticism implies much more than “bad” or “wrong”; it also

implies “good” and “effective.” Most students believe criticism is a pejo-

rative term. We must show them that all effective feedback points out

strengths and discusses weaknesses of a piece of work best in the context

of the potential of the piece of writing. In other words, students should

point out the weaknesses in the writing by making positive statements

about the effectiveness that will result from revision.

Once students understand what it means to give feedback to their

peers, they are ready to practice. One good exercise in critiquing is to

have them comment only on one section of an essay—an introduction

or one body paragraph. To begin, the teacher might hand each student’s

paper to another student in the class, having requested the students’

permission to share their work. Some teachers find that students are less

inhibited by peer critiquing if they do not know the name of the author

whose work they are reading, and others believe that students should

have the courage of their convictions and directly address the students

whose work they are critiquing. I have found that having students

address one another by name in the written reviews makes them some-

what more serious and constructive in their approach.

Once each student has a classmate’s paragraph, the students need to

be given specific directions for responding. You might do this by listing




questions on the board or on a handout. Some teachers make up forms

for this kind of exercise. And, it might even be useful to have students

help compile a list of the elements they think they need help with. For

this particular exercise in analyzing strengths and weaknesses of only the

introduction or a body paragraph, the following questions might be

asked:

1. What ideas are particularly effective and interesting?

2. What seems to be the purpose of this paragraph? What is the

writer trying to accomplish?

3. What seems to be the main point of this paragraph? Where is it

located?

4. Do you need additional support or background information to

understand the paragraph’s topic sentence or thesis?

5. Do you have trouble understanding how the writer gets from

one idea to the next? Are the transitions smooth?

6. Which sentences are particularly effective? Which words,

phrases, or sentences do you find especially strong? Which

details do you especially like?

7. Are there places where the writer needs to be more specific and

less abstract?

8. Who seems to be the audience for this essay? How do you

know? What words or phrases has the writer used which suggest

the audience?

9. Do you see any grammatical or punctuation problems which

weaken the credibility of the paragraph?

10. What specific suggestions can you make to this author to help

him or her strengthen this introduction?

Students need ample time to read the paragraphs more than once and

to write full answers to these questions. They should begin their written

responses with a salutation—“Dear Sally”—and at the end of their

comments they ought to sign their names. Using names reminds the

students that they are talking to a human being who has feelings. Students

generally are not embarrassed to have their work read by classmates or to

give honest criticism if teachers explain that the students are a community

who can teach one another the way more experienced writers do in work-

shops. If teachers appeal to students in a professional way, students usually

respond enthusiastically.




If time allows, you may wish to have students critique two papers

in the same session. Doing so gives each writer two sets of suggestions,

suggesting to him or her that as brief a piece of writing as an introduc-

tion can impress readers in different ways, often widely different. Having

two or three responses to the introduction can also help students begin

to understand the concept of audience. And using only part of an essay

for a critique provides a quicker way of helping the students begin to

think critically about the writing process.

Once students understand the response process, many teachers

choose to put students into peer-response groups. These groups may be

configured in a variety of ways, but generally groups larger than four

will have difficulty giving all members feedback in an hour-long class

period. Some teachers allow students to select their own peer groups.

Other teachers assign peer groups to ensure groups are diverse yet

compatible and to include writers of varying strengths and weaknesses.

Many teachers keep the same peer groups throughout the term while

others prefer to change groups for each peer-response session. Having

the same peer groups can improve students’ confidence in one another,

but switching peer groups enables students to receive different perspec-

tives on their writing.

Teachers may choose to use peer-response at different stages of writ-

ing process. But no matter what stage of the essay’s development is eval-

uated, the process should be more or less the same: the teacher should

give specific questions for the readers to answer, and students should be

given ample time both for reading the paper several times and for writ-

ing their responses. To this end, many teachers utilize question sheets or

checklists to guide student feedback. As writers become more proficient,

teachers may require them to bring in their own questions and concerns

to be addressed in their peer groups.

Teachers can choose which method of feedback—oral or written—

works best for their class. Some teachers prefer to have students read

their work aloud to their peer group. Reading aloud encourages questions

and conversation and allows the writer to clarify points for the group.

Through conversation, students often work together to solve problems

in the writer’s draft. However, if writers do not take notes on these

conversations, they may forget important details about what was

discussed. Many instructors prefer to have students write comments on

their classmates’ draft. Written comments are easier for the writer to

refer back to when he or she is ready to revise the essay. The instructor

also can monitor written comments to ensure all students are making an

effort to give constructive feedback to each other. As with teacher




comments, students’ writing may be illegible or their comments may be

hard to understand.

Some teachers like to sit in on peer-response groups and monitor

their feedback, but others think that students perceive the teacher’s inter-

ference as threatening or as somehow diluting the impact of their peers’

thoughts. Monitoring the first critiques, however, helps teachers spot the

students who need help learning how to respond to a piece of writing.

If your campus has sufficient resources, writing center consultant or peer

tutors can be used to help facilitate peer-response groups in a classroom.

Often teachers can help students improve at giving and using feedback

by asking them to complete journal entries or writer’s memos after a

peer-response session. Students can summarize what kind of advice is

being offered in their peer group and negotiate how to use it, and teach-

ers can see which groups need additional support or training to be

successful evaluators.

Teachers who prefer not to give class time for peer feedback may

opt to have students take drafts home to critique or to e-mail drafts to

one another. Although students are certainly capable of taking others’

papers home to critique them, the process often does not work as well

at home as it does in the classroom. Students like the instant feedback

in the classroom critiques. Divorced from the presence of their class-

mates and the energy of the class, they may be less willing to take the

time required to do a careful evaluation. It is also more difficult to moni-

tor the quality of feedback students give outside the classroom setting.

To improve students’ performance on out-of-class responses, many

teachers will have students practice giving feedback in the classroom

first or will pair take-home peer-responses with in-class sessions.

In some programs teachers operate their classrooms like real writ-

ers’ workshops, at least for one or two class meetings a week. During

the workshop sessions students are asked to present their own papers to

the class for discussion. A fifty-minute period allows for about two such

presentations per session. For such classes the students who will present

their work are responsible for bringing enough copies of their paper so

that each member of the class will have one. Some teachers prefer to

have the papers distributed several days before the discussion, and others

prefer that the students read the papers a couple of times just before the

discussion.

Sitting or standing in front of the class, the student whose paper is

up for discussion explains what the purpose of the paper is and its

intended audience. The student also tells the class the specific problems

encountered in writing the essay, explaining as clearly as possible why




these trouble spots seemed to present problems. Then the student opens

up class discussion of his or her essay.

Like other kinds of peer-response, this process can benefit students

in several ways. But this kind of face-to-face discussion also requires

good preparation. Many of us have had the experience of trying to lead

a class discussion in which an apathetic class participated only through

groans and the occasional monosyllabic response to a question designed

to evoke a lively conversation. Students who are told simply to discuss

an essay written by a classmate will respond in a similarly apathetic

way, particularly if they think that grammar and usage are the focus of

the discussion. They must be prepared with a vocabulary of critical

terms, and they must be taught what kinds of features to notice in an

essay. And, as in written critiques, they need to be shown how to make

suggestions for improvement that will sound positive and affirmative, not

negative and hurtful. This vocabulary and preparation may be provided

in a handout of basic critical terms and a teacher’s demonstration of a

critique.

Some teachers using the workshop method have found that they

must pull back from the group (literally pull their chairs away from the

circle so as to be unobtrusive) and not speak at all until the end of the

class, even when long pauses tempt them to rush in and explain the

weaknesses and strengths of the paper under discussion. If the students

know that the teacher is observing, not participating, they are far more

likely to take control of the discussion.

Teachers who want to reap some of the benefits of the workshop

method without taking so much class time may try in-class criticism of

single paragraphs, perhaps taken anonymously from one or two papers

in the process of revision by class members. Even a brief exercise like

this helps acquaint students with the vocabulary they need as writers

and thinkers, and it helps reassure weak writers, who may be reluctant

to speak, that their unspoken ideas are the same as those articulated by

stronger writers in the class who do not mind speaking out.

Peer-response reinforces the important concept that writing involves

not only the writer but also the reader. And it makes students aware, as

they likely have never been before, that the ultimate reader is no longer

the English teacher. The teacher’s written comments on the paper and

the grade can help the student improve, but comments by peers

contribute substantially to students’ learning about their own writing and

that of others.




SuGGeSted readinG

Barron, Ronald. “What I Wish I Had Known About Peer-Response

Groups but Didn’t.” English Journal 80.5 (Sept. 1991): 24–34.

Berliner, David, and Ursula Casanova. “The Case for Peer Tutoring.”

Instructor 99 (April1990): 16–18.

Broglie, Mary. “Who Says So? Ownership, Authorship, and Privacy in

Process Writing Classrooms: Privacy Issues Regarding Peer-Revi-

sion Workshops.” English Journal 86 (Oct. 1997): 19–23.

Chapman, Orville L., and Michael A. Fiore. “Calibrated Peer Review.”

Journal of Interactive Instruction Development 12.3 (Winter 2000):

11–15.

Harris, Helen J. “Slice and Dice: Response Groups as Writing Proces-

sors.” English Journal 81.2 (Feb. 1992): 51–54.

Hughes, J.A. “It Really Works: Encouraging Revision Using Peer Writ-

ing Tutors.” English Journal 80 (Sept. 1991): 41–42.

Leverenz, Carrie Shively. “Peer Response in the Multicultural Class-

room: Dissensus—A Dream (Deferred).” Journal of Advanced

Composition 14.1 (Winter 1994): 167–86.

Liftig, R.A. “Feeling Good About Student Writing: Validation in Peer

Evaluation.” English Journal 79 (Feb.1990): 62–65.

McKendy, T. F. “Legitimizing Peer Response: A Recycling Project for

Placement Essays.” College Composition and Communication 41

(Feb1990): 89–91.

Sengupta, Sima. “Peer Evaluation: ‘I Am Not the Teacher.’” ELT Jour-

nal 52 (Jan. 1998): 19–28.

Topping, Keith J. “Peer Assessment Between Students in Colleges and

Universities.” Review of Educational Research 68.3 (Fall 1998):

249–76.




ChaPter 7

evaluation by the teacher: using Grading to help Studentsdevelop their Writing

Evaluation of writing presents many challenges which quite naturally

give pause to the new teacher sharpening up the red pencil to pass judg-

ment on the first set of papers. But even experienced teachers fret over

obvious inconsistencies among philosophies of grading and inconsis-

tencies between theory and application. Evaluation of writing is possi-

bly the single most difficult task required of us, yet it may well be the

most important part of our job insofar as helping individual students.

Careful evaluation has the potential not only to improve students’

writing dramatically but also to boost students’ confidence in themselves

as important members of a community of writers. As teachers, certainly

we have the power to use grades to browbeat students—to show them

every flaw in their mechanics and every crack in their logic. But, more

important, we have the power to use evaluation to foster students’ inter-

est in writing, to help them develop a sense of confidence in their own

ideas and their ability to express those ideas, to awaken their excitement

as they discover the satisfaction of finally being able to say what they

mean—and be understood by others. Whether we influence our students

negatively or positively largely depends on the way in which we go about

grading their papers.

It’s no wonder our students sometimes think their grades result from

luck or the teacher’s mood. Far too many teachers view grading as a

chore defined by vague concepts or harsh, absolute categorization of

errors. In some departments grading policies are spelled out in a sort of

“theme penalty sheet” so that the student earns grade X if he or she

avoids certain kinds of errors. This kind of absolute, negative grading

teaches the students only that they know how to write well if they

succeed in avoiding problems in grammar and punctuation. Surely this

kind of misconception is not what we wish to teach. Good writing is

much more than avoiding mechanical problems, and our methods of

grading need to make this point loudly and clearly.

Even before we begin to think about grading individual papers,

however, we must decide how to consider the whole body of work a

student does during the term. Three of the most current and common



ways are using portfolios, using a contract system, and weighting each

assignment.

� POrtfOLiO aSSeSSMent

Using portfolios to determine a student’s final grade in the course

is an increasingly popular assessment method. Although some teachers

find that, initially, at least, portfolio grading takes more time than other

methods of assessment, many agree that in the long run this technique

is worth their attention because it gives students the kind of individual

assessment that such a personal skill as writing requires. Instead of

squeezing each student into standardized notions of time required for a

paper and number of revisions needed, this method comes closest of all

forms of evaluation to personalizing grading. Therefore, it offers rich

rewards to both students and teachers alike when they see that grading

is part of a dialogue that helps each student work at an individual pace

to overcome individual problems and feel a sense of accomplishment at

having done so.

Teachers who want to use this kind of assessment, however, should

have a clear strategy of what the portfolio will contain, when and how

often they will grade it, and what the grades will mean. Some teachers

want to have all assignments in the final portfolio and will ask students

to “showcase” particular pieces that highlight their strengths. Others select

certain essays as required pieces and allow students choices about other

items to include in their portfolios. Still other teachers set a number of

papers or pages the student must include in the portfolio and allow the

students to choose its content. I prefer to allow students to choose,

because they know which papers are working well for them in terms of

interest and revision. Of course, it is important to have enough variety in

the required assignments to ensure that many types of writing skills are

finally graded, not just the one type that the student may have always

been good at. Students who are allowed some choice about what will be

assessed for their final grade seem to feel more invested in the course and

to take the grading more seriously.

When grading student work, most teachers use portfolios as a means

of giving feedback while postponing the assignment of letter grades until

the end of the course. Students usually do not like waiting until the end

of a term to get some grades. They would rather be reassured several

times during the term that the grades have some connection to what they

perceive of as the work they are doing. To address this concern, some

teachers opt to grade portfolios at midterm or perhaps even two or three

times during the term, announcing the dates on the syllabus so that

Chapter 7—Evaluation by the Teacher



students may plan their work from the first day. Such scheduling also

teaches students to be responsible about deadlines and commitments.

Teachers may also choose to use ratings, such as “Excellent,” “Satisfac-

tory,” or “Needs Revision,” or grading rubrics on essays to communicate

a students’ progress during the term while still allowing the student time

to make improvements on their work.

One problem teachers find with portfolio grading is that consistency

from student to student is more difficult to maintain in terms of the equa-

tion between letter grade and quality of work. Many portfolio-graders are

influenced by improvement and effort, especially because students who

revise over and over usually believe they are improving and that this

improvement deserves better grades. Of course, not every student who

revises improves the paper, and not all assignments are equally appeal-

ing to all students. Thus, teachers should clarify for themselves and for

their students at the outset what standards they will apply, how much

they will reward effort and improvement, and how closely they will

monitor consistency in grading overall.

� COntraCt GradinG

Some teachers like to use contracts with their students, but these

contracts take many forms. Some teachers make contracts for each grade,

contracts that spell out precisely what proficiency level a student must

reach and the amount of work which will show that level in order to

receive a specific letter grade for the term.

Other teachers like to use contracts to allow students to choose how

they want certain assignments weighted. For example, in a course which

requires six essays, a journal, ten paragraphs, and an essay test, the

teacher might allow students to decide what percentage of the final grade

(perhaps within a range) would be from the essays, what percentage

from the journal, and so on. The teacher might even allow students to

weight each essay a different percentage.

The major advantage of contracts is that they allow students to enter

into dialogue about grading and to feel that they have had a say about

something important to them. Contracts also allow students to learn the

responsibility of sticking to commitments once they are made.

The disadvantages may discourage some teachers from using the

technique, but they become relatively minor once a teacher has tried this

method once and learned from the experience. The major problem is the

time-consuming bookkeeping that must keep track of the value of each

assignment for each student, all assignments possibly having a different

weight. However, a computer program or handwritten spreadsheet will




reduce the confusion. Another problem for some teachers is the time

and tact necessary for dealing with those students who, having signed

the contract during the first few days of class, want to change it at one

time or another during the term, once the student sees how the grades

are going. I recommend not opening the Pandora’s Box of altering

contracts. Students can learn from the process of contracts that they must

make decisions and abide by them. On the other hand, some teachers

think that students are justified in requesting a change or two during the

term, because they believe that students don’t always know at the begin-

ning where their strengths and weaknesses lie. Whether a teacher decides

to alter contracts or not, he or she must have made that decision and

explained it clearly to the class at the beginning of the term.

� WeiGhted GradinG

Many teachers believe that they should decide the relative value of

assignments, because, they argue, students don’t really know enough

about the course’s goals to be able to make or enter into those decisions.

Therefore, they assign a certain percentage toward the final grade to

each assignment or group of like assignments.

This traditional method, probably the most common kind of grad-

ing in college writing courses, can, however, be more or less effective,

depending on the teachers’ methods of weighting assignments and factor-

ing in revision. In order to reward improvement, it makes sense to weight

the earlier assignments as much less than later ones and to allow revi-

sion a high percentage.

No matter how lenient or harsh our letter grades are—and there is

a good deal of leeway here—we must seek ways of grading that will help

students. Chapter five details specific suggestions for commenting on

students’ work during the writing process. As composition instructors,

we can expect to spend a great deal of time offering students feedback

on their work. The amount and type of feedback we give should depend

on what we expect students to do with it. When commenting on drafts

we expect students to revise and resubmit, we should offer detailed feed-

back about what the student is doing well and how the student can

improve. Comments that accompany grades often serve a different

purpose: justifying the letter grade we gave it. As such, the focus is less

on what to change on this particular draft and more on what the student

can do to improve his or her writing on future drafts.

Once we decide how to comment on student work, we still have to

make the difficult decision about what letter grade to assign the essay.

As with other matters of grading, this decision is sometimes made




largely by departmental consensus on what kinds of achievements merit

certain letter grades. In some departments this consensus can take the

form of the rigid “theme penalty sheet,” which dooms papers with

certain errors to the grade of F or D. Fortunately, in most cases depart-

mental consensus is meant as a guideline for the teacher, not as an

absolute set of criteria.

Though standards vary from school to school with regard to some

features of writing, in general the following standards seem to be gener-

ally acceptable guidelines. Some teachers find that handing these kinds

of guidelines to their students makes grading seem less arbitrary to

students.

a—Most teachers recognize as an A paper one which has a spark

of true originality. It has few if any mechanical errors, and it has clear

organization, smooth transitions, exceptional detail, consistent diction

and tone, and sophisticated sentence structure. Its thesis and evidence are

specific and intriguing, not dull and predictable.

b—A B paper is one in which the writer organizes the material into

coherent, well-unified paragraphs which have clear topic sentences. The

writer does not violate the tone by shifting levels of diction, nor does the

writer make serious or numerous mechanical errors. The evidence is

fairly detailed, and the sentences are somewhat varied in terms of struc-

ture and length. The thesis, while perhaps not as insightful or original

as in an A paper, is nevertheless neither dull nor obvious.

C—In a C paper teachers find evidence that the student is learning.

C is not a negative grade: it demonstrates competence. Students often

think that this grade means “mediocre” or “unsatisfactory,” but with our

positive comments about what they have done well in the paper, we can

help students take pride in the considerable accomplishment that goes

into the paper which earns a C.

A C paper communicates, but often not as clearly or specifically as

we would like. Its thesis may need to be narrowed, and the paper often

needs more detail and evidence. The paper may need better transitions

both within and between paragraphs, and some paragraphs may need

better topic sentences. A C paper is generally less fluid than more highly

ranked papers; it may be wordy or have inadequate subordination and

illogical coordination. Its sentences are often monotonous in terms of

structure and length. The paper may shift tone and levels of language.

Usually a C paper has several serious grammatical or mechanical errors.

d—A D paper generally has serious problems with both content

and conventions, problems which hinder communication. A D paper

usually has numerous mechanical errors, including some problems in




sentence boundaries (comma splices, fragments, run-together sentences)

that make the ideas unclear. Usually it lacks a clear thesis and clear orga-

nization, and its language is often much too general and dull. It offers

no real evidence to support its points. Its sentences may be wordy and

unvaried in terms of length and structure. This kind of paper often shifts

levels of language and tone. A D paper can, however, be relatively free

of mechanical errors but have so many serious problems with content

and organization that it seems unfocused and even garbled.

f—An F paper is one which has no clear thesis, no clear organiza-

tion, little specific detail, and many mechanical errors, especially prob-

lems with sentence boundaries (comma splices, fragments, and

run-together sentences). This kind of paper usually has problems with

diction and wordiness, and its sentences are unvaried in terms of struc-

ture and length. The writer often coordinates ideas which do not belong

together. Paragraphs lack coherence and unity.

Some teachers like to give split grades, that is, one grade for content

and one for mechanics. Although this kind of grading reduces the

complaints from students about not getting enough credit for their good

ideas, it also suggests that mechanics are separate from effective writ-

ing and perhaps that they are less important. As teachers we know the

extent to which writing loses credibility in our culture when it does not

follow the conventions. Thus, it seems misleading to separate the grade

in this way and, as a result, foster the notion that the conventions are not

part of the content.

Many teachers worry about discouraging students with low grades.

Some avoid putting grades on the papers until late in the term when

presumably students have learned what it takes to write an effective

paper. Some teachers use evaluation rubrics or checklists that provide

students with information about their strengths and weaknesses without

assigning the essay a grade. A colleague of mine devised a system in

which she marks essays “Excellent,” “Satisfactory,” or “Needs Revi-

sion” to encourage students who perform poorly to continue revising.

Another method teachers use is to give grades from the beginning but

stipulate that students must continue to revise papers until they are of at

least C quality. And within reason, some teachers manipulate grades so

that the standards for grading get slightly harder as the term progresses:

a C early in the term is weaker than a C later in the term.

As they mark papers, most teachers find it convenient to use a

numerical chart or symbols referring to sections in the handbook. These

numbers or symbols make it easy for the teacher to direct the student to

the appropriate rule or explanation he or she needs in order to revise






well. The Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers contains both a chart

of symbols and a numerical chart. In addition to using these numbers or

symbols, most teachers like also to write some comments in the margins,

particularly comments about whatever skill or concept the class is work-

ing on that week or about the most serious problems. Certainly teachers

should also use these marginal comments to compliment students on

mastering particular skills.

Following are two copies of a student’s paper, one overmarked and

too harshly graded and the other less heavily marked and more affir-

mative. (This comparison-and-contrast paper was the fourth essay in a

one-term composition course, preceded by a narrative essay, a cause-

and-effect essay, and a classification.) Both copies are marked with

numbers and symbols from the Simon & Schuster Handbook. The second

example is the kind of grading that seems to be most helpful in terms

of inspiring students to care about revising and continuing to learn about

writing. It asks the student questions rather than dictating changes, and

the tone of the marginal comments is friendly, not sarcastic and insult-

ing to the student.


Overmarked

Sinatra Versus Vandross

Power surges into the radio. The music blares from the speakers with inten-

sity. But what really is music? Music has many definitions according

All of them? That must be tough.to each individual’s taste. Multitudes of singers strive to fulfill these

different definitions to achieve success. Both Frank Sinatra and Luther

Vandross fulfill two of these contrary definitions of music. On the surface it

30N, 30Pappears as though they are inherently dissimilar, but upon closer

evaluation they share certain specific details in common. Comparing the

emotional quality of their music, the importance placed on lyrics, and their

42D wordyuse of rhythm, can reveal that even the most diametrically opposed singers

share important similarities.

For both Sinatra and Vandross, the utilized background music indicates

their different styles of music. Vandross’s style best fits into the category of soul

music. Vandross does not sing straight soul; however, he takes certain elements

from jazz. In some forms of jazz, instrumentation takes a secondary role as the

voice develops into the key element. Vandross uses this element to accent his

voice to become the most important element in his

spmusic. Sinatra, unlike Vandross, gears his music toward older genenrations.

His music relates back to the big band era as he uses the violin and brass sections

of the band in many songs. The violin and the piano play an important part in the

majority of his love songs while the brass section communicates the stalwart feel-

ing in others. The large band helps to make his music more diverse as his voice

cannot produce much variety. The band plays

equal to what?an equal role in complimenting Sinatra’s voice yet not overpowering it.

For both Sinatra and Vandross, the emotion communicated through their

songs plays a vital role. The majority of Vandross’s music deals with a

40sexual connotation of love. This does not mean that he directly sings of

this is not atall clear

You’re get-ting less andless clear

What are youcomparingandcontrastingin this ¶? Idon’tunderstandwhat youmean.

wordy!

if it’s background music,it has been utilized






awkward diction – 37Fsexual confrontation, but rather his singing brings physical stirring within

the listener. His voice makes the listener appreciate the emotion he or she feels.

Vandross also communicates loneliness and solitude in songs dealing with the loss

of love. Through Vandross’s voice, the listener has the

capacity to feel the loneliness and pain associated with losing a special

transition – 6Glove. Vandross has the ability to relate love to other topics as well. In the

song “A House is Not a Home,” Vandross uses this theme to present the idea of

what a real home should entail. He combines love with the idea of a home

and makes a point of the importance of having a home with love present

¶within. For Sinatra as well, the theme of love appears in many songs. In

30NSinatra’s songs, however, he emphasizes more emotional and innocent love.

hyphenSongs like “Tell Her” sing of a never ending love that needs to be renewed

31Oeveryday by telling that special person that they are loved. Indirect

reference to sexual love commonly occurs but only using subtle under-

tones. Sinatra also has the ability to relate love to inanimate objects.

Several of his most famous songs are about cities like New York and Los Angeles

and how he finds them special or unique. More frequently Sinatra’s songs deal

with lost love and reminiscing over past loves. Instead of making the listener feel

sorry for his condition like Vandross, he imparts a message

of stalwartness to hold on to hope for the future. The song “That’s Life” is

word choice? 37Fexpressly donated to this idea. This message of hope gives Sinatra a more

optimistic message than Vandross. But on the same idea, Vandross can be

considered a more realistic singer. Sometimes a listener may not want to

hear about the defiance of love’s importance which Sinatra sings about. In

this case they listen to Vandross who makes the listener come to grips with

sexist! 37I, 31S 30Ohis true feelings. Sinatra cannot do this as his voice does not allow him to

relate the pain associated with lost love on a realistic level. Vandross lets

35Athe listener relate to the pain he or she feels through the song and his voice.

This ¶ is toolong

two words

confusing

you’re awfullyabsolute here

is this reallywhat youmean?


To achieve the intended emotion in their songs, both Vandross and

30OSinatra utilize strikingly different methods. For Vandross, this is done

through his remarkable vocal ability. One can understand the emotion he

35Atries to convey by just listening to his voice. He can attain any range of

30Onotes which gives his music flavor and uniqueness. He uses this indirect

method of convey the desired emotion to the listener. Sinatra, on the other

hand, depends on his lyrics and not on vocal ability. To express himself,

Sinatra tells an emotional story through his songs. To receive the full effect

35D awkof this emotion, the complete song must be listened to. Like in a fairy tale,

the complete story makes it magical and not just the individual parts. The

lyrics play such an important role in songs such as “The September of My

Years” that the sadness of growing old would not be understood had the

wordy awklyrics not been listened to completely. Taking songs where both Sinatra and

Vandross sang the words “I love you” reveals striking contrasts in how

each conveys emotion. For Sinatra, the surrounding lyrics give these words

meaning. Taken in context, they derive their meaning. Vandross, on the

other hand, can make a person weep by saying these words. The listener is

wrong prepositionable to understand whether Vandross is reminiscing of a past love, has just

35Alost a love, or is currently in love, by singing just these three words. His

vocal ability gives him this talent.

When people listen to music, no two people hear exactly the same

thing. Singers like Frank Sinatra and Luther Vandross each fit different

definitions of music. The rhythms they use and the way they convey

wordytheir ideas may be different, yet they still share important similarities.

31O 42B spEach imparts love as their main theme for music and they also atilize

don’t split infinitive 37Fappropriate background music to properly accent their different vocal

abilities. For both Sinatra and Vandross they utilize every aspect of their music to

accent the strengths and reduce the weaknesses of their music. Even though on

dangling modifier

wordy

he’s trying toconvey bylistening?






the surface two singers may appear to be totally contrary to each other like Sina-

tra and Vandross, even the most opposite singers share important similarities.

Steve, you’ve got the beginning of a paper here—but this needs muchmore work to get it up to an acceptable level. — D


More Affirmatively Marked

Sinatra Versus Vandross

Power surges into the radio. The music blares from the speakers with

intensity. But what really is music? Music has many definitions according

to each individual’s taste. Multitudes of singers strive to fulfill thee different

definitions to achieve success. Both Frank Sinatra and Luther

Vandross fulfill two of these contrary definitions of music. On the surface it

30N, 30Pappears as though they are inherently dissimilar, but upon closer

evaluation they share certain specific details in common. Comparing the emotional

quality of their music, the importance placed on lyrics, and their use of rhythm,

can reveal that even the most diametrically opposed singers share important simi-

larities.

For both Sinatra and Vandross, the utilized background music

indicates their different styles of music. Vandross’s style best fits into the

category of soul music. Vandross does not sing straight soul; however, he

takes certain elements from jazz. In some forms of jazz, instrumentation

takes a secondary role as the voice develops into the key element. Vandross

uses this element to accent his voice to become the most important

element in his music. Sinatra, unlike Vandross, gears his music toward

spolder genenrations. His music relates back to the big band era as he uses

the violin and brass sections of the band in many songs. The violin and the

piano play an important part in the majority of his love songs while the

brass section communicates the stalwart feeling in others. The large band

helps to make his music more diverse as his voice cannot produce much

equal to what?variety. The band plays an equal role in complimenting Sinatra’s voice yet

not overpowering it.

For both Sinatra and Vandross, the emotion communicated through

Can you bemore precisehere? How dothese ideasrelate to whatyou’re exploringin this paper?

This is a goodidea, but youneed to focusa bit moreclearly

Steve, you’vegot the idea ofcomparisonand contrast,but you arelooking atdifferent kindsof things inthis ¶. Youneed to lookagain.

veryinteresting!






their songs plays a vital role. The majority of Vandross’s music deals with a

sexual connotation of love. This does not mean that he directly sings of

word chioce? 37Fsexual confrontation, but rather his singing brings physical stirring within

the listener. His voice makes the listener appreciate the emotion he or she

feels. Vandross also communicates loneliness and solitude in songs dealing

with the loss of love. Through Vandross’s voice, the listener has the

capacity to feel the loneliness and pain associated with losing a special

love. Vandross has the ability to relate love to other topics as well. In the

song “A House is Not a Home,” Vandross uses this theme to present the idea

of what a real home should entail. He combines love with the idea of a home

and makes a point of the importance of having a home with love present

within. For Sinatra as well, the theme of love appears in many songs. In

Sinatra’s songs, however, he emphasizes more emotional and innocent love.

Songs like “Tell Her” sing of a never ending love that needs to be renewed

everyday by telling that special person that they are loved. Indirect

reference to sexual love commonly occurs but only using subtle under-

tones. Sinatra also has the ability to relate love to inanimate objects.

Several of his most famous songs are about cities like New York and Los

Angeles and how he finds them special or unique. More frequently Sinatra’s

songs deal with lost love and reminiscing over past loves. Instead of making

the listener feel sorry for his condition like Vandross, he imparts a message

of stalwartness to hold on to hope for the future. The song “That’s Life” is

37Fexpressly donated to this idea. This message of hope gives Sinatra a more

optimistic message than Vandross. But on the same idea, Vandross can be

considered a more realistic singer. Sometimes a listener may not want to

hear about the defiance of love’s importance which Sinatra sings about. In

this case they listen to Vandross who makes the listener come to grips with

37I 30Shis true feelings. Sinatra cannot do this as his voice does not allow him to

transition – 6G

wordysee 30

Can yousubdivide this¶ to makemore wellfocusedpoints?

You have givensome goodexamples anddetails—canyou give evenmore?

can youmake thismoreprecise?

can you makethis lessabsolute?


relate the pain associated with lost love on a realistic level. Vandross lets

35A – misplaced modifierthe listener relate to the pain he or she feels through the song and his voice.

To achieve the intended emotion in their songs, both Vandross and

30SSinatra utilize strikingly different methods. For Vandross, this is done

through his remarkable vocal ability. One can understand the emotion he

35Atries to convey by just listening to his voice. He can attain any range of

30Snotes which gives his music flavor and uniqueness. He uses this indirect

method to convey the desired emotion to the listener. Sinatra, on the other

hand, depends on his lyrics and not on vocal ability. To express himself,

Sinatra tells an emotional story through his songs. To receive the full effect

35Dof this emotion, the complete song must be listened to. Like in a fairy tale,

the complete story makes it magical and not just the individual parts. The

lyrics play such an important role in songs such as “The September of My

Years” that the sadness of growing old would not be understood had the

awkward, wordy – see 40lyrics not been listened to completely. Taking songs where both Sinatra and

Vandross sang the words “I love you” reveals striking contrasts in how

each conveys emotion. For Sinatra, the surrounding lyrics give these words

meaning. Taken in context, they derive their meaning. Vandross, on the

other hand, can make a person weep by saying these words. The listener is

wrong prepositionable to understand whether Vandross is reminiscing of a past love, has just

35Alost a love, or is currently in love, by singing just these three words. His

vocal ability gives him this talent.

When people listen to music, no two people hear exactly the same

thing. Singers like Frank Sinatra and Luther Vandross each fit different

definitions of music. The rhythms they use and the way they convey

40their ideas may be different, yet they still share important similarities.

31OEach imparts love as their main theme for music and they also atilize

good topicsentence






37Fappropriate background music to properly accent their differing

vocal abilities. For both Sinatra and Vandross they utilize every

aspect of their music to accent the strengths and reduce the weak-

nesses of their music. Even though on the surface two singers may

appear to be totally contrary to each other like Sinatra and Vandross,

even the most opposite singers share important similarities.

Steve, Sinatra-lover that I am, I’m intrigued with your topic.You have some great ideas to support your comparison andcontrast. In a few places you need to focus your ideas moreprecisely, and some mechanical problems weakened thepaper. On the whole, though, you’re off to a great start.

I’m looking forward to the next draft! — D

wordy40


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ChaPter 8

Some ideas for assignments and Classroom activities

Before we meet our students the first day of class, we need to have

analyzed the skills we want to teach them and formulated some assign-

ments and classroom activities which will help them develop those skills.

Certainly making a syllabus (see Chapter 4 in this supplement) helps us

come to terms with how much we can realistically expect to teach and

the order in which we should introduce the skills we want our students

to master. But carefully planning our assignments and use of time in the

classroom can further ensure that we meet our goals.

For most of us, the list of basic skills we want our students to have

when they leave us includes:

1. Writing as a process.

2. Clear, varied, and concise sentences in terms of diction and

phrasing.

3. Coherent organization of paragraphs and essays.

4. Transition between and within paragraphs.

5. Different methods for developing paragraphs and essays and the

ability to make the appropriate choice of methods for a given

purpose and audience.

6. Focused topics and narrow theses.

7. Critical thinking, the ability to detect weaknesses and strengths

in the arguments of others and to support their own arguments

with appropriate evidence.

8. Basic use of the library and other resources for research.

9. Up-to-date documentation.

10. Conventional mechanics.

Certainly other, more sophisticated skills would be expected of

accelerated students, but these are the basic skills for most students in

their first college writing course. Our task is to design assignments and

activities that will teach and reinforce these skills.

Before students write anything, they need to begin thinking in terms

of the purpose of what they are writing. Are they writing to inform their

audience or to persuade their readers? Many teachers prefer to begin the



course by having students discuss both audience and purpose and their

interrelatedness. (See Troyka & Hesse, Chapter 4.) An obvious but effec-

tive way to generate meaningful discussion of audience and purpose is

to have students bring to class samples of various kinds of writing.

Teachers may direct these choices or simply ask students to bring two

different kinds of writing to class for discussion. Interesting discussions

can result from students’ assessments of the purpose and audience for

writing such as letters to the editor in a newspaper or magazine, adver-

tising copy, the preface to a book, directions for assembling a toy or an

appliance, a poem or a piece of fiction, a sales letter, an article in a teen

magazine, an article in a technical journal, and so on. Class discussion

of audience can include speculation about the educational level, gender,

race, age, and perhaps even the social and economic levels of the

intended readers for these various pieces.

An effective exercise to follow up this discussion is to have students

choose one piece of writing that they have brought into class and to

have them rewrite it, or part of it if it is long, for a different kind of audi-

ence. For example, a student might choose to rewrite an article about

general nutrition that is aimed at retired Americans so that it would

appeal to teens. In struggling to rewrite the article, the student would

have to grapple with important choices of vocabulary level, sentence

structure, and tone.

Many teachers are finding that letter-writing and journal-writing can

help students understand audience and purpose. A good way to help

students learn to be comfortable in the class at the beginning of the term

is to pair each student with one or two others and have the students write

letters to one another following specified instructions that will help you

achieve your purpose. For example, you might ask the students to write

about what points in the class discussion confused him or her and spec-

ulate on the causes of the confusion. Similarly, using a journal for a

group of five or six students for the entire term might afford the students

to learn something about audience and purpose if you specify the kinds

of issues and topics the group is to address each week. I have found that

these work best if I grade only for the ideas and only mark major

mechanical errors. Students naturally enjoy writing to their peers and

reading what their classmates think, and we should design assignments

that take advantage of this kind of writing that seems more like pleasure

than work.

Another effective exercise, especially useful early in the term, is to

ask students to write a paragraph that gives directions to a carefully spec-

ified audience (a babysitter, a mechanic, a parent, etc.), directions which

Chapter 8—Some Ideas for Assignments and Classroom Activities





explain how to do something, and then ask them to rewrite the directions

for a totally different, perhaps more general audience. You may even ask

students to write an analysis of the kinds of changes they made and the

reasons for them.

This same kind of exercise works well in helping students under-

stand purpose. Too often students have the mistaken impression that

certain kinds of topics are informative—always—and that other kinds of

topics are persuasive—always. Students usually gain valuable insight if

we have them write a paragraph or brief essay which is informative in

its purpose and then have them rewrite it to make it persuasive. A writ-

ten analysis of the changes students made in this revision may also help

them see the critical importance of determining purpose before they

write.

In the handbook, Part 9, students can look at the differences in commu-

nication between the disciplines or in real-world communication and how

the different audiences and purposes change the style and content of the

communication. Students can explore how different disciplines talk about

similar topics or issues. Students can also see how their communication

changes when they move from the private writing (letter writing, e-mails,

journals) to public writing (résumés, reports, business letters).

Some teachers ask students to identify the purpose and intended

audience as part of the students’ plan for the essay. They may even ask

the students to explain how their choice of purpose and audience will

Title Sinatra Versus Vandross January 30, 2012 Steven Feyl

Comparison-and-Contrast Essay Dr. Julian, English 11K

Audience: This essay is written for a friend on my hall, Eric Fuller. At

the beginning of the year we had extensive conversations about each other’s

taste in music.

Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to take an unbiased position on

the topic to show Eric that even in our different opinions about music, there

also are similarities.

Thesis: Comparing the emotional quality of their music, the importance

placed on lyrics, and their use of rhythm can reveal that even the most

diametrically opposed singers share important similarities.

Difficulties in writing the essay: The chief difficulty in this essay came

with research. I know a lot about Frank Sinatra but relatively little about

Luther Vandross. Eric Fuller gave me help with this as he gave me one of

Vandross’s tapes and directions about what to look for in his music. Gram-

matically, linking verbs still gave me the most trouble. I also had trouble

making the essay flow together with proper transitions.


affect other choices they must make as writers—choices of vocabulary

level, tone, sentence structure, paragraph structure, and so on. Other

teachers ask students to write the intended audience and the purpose in

the upper corner of the first page of the essay. Even this simple act

emphasizes to the students the importance of these decisions.

An example of a cover sheet which identifies audience and purpose

is this title page for the essay given in Chapter 5 of this supplement:

No matter what method of organization a teacher chooses for the

writing course, some attention to purpose and audience are essential

early in the term.

Some teachers prefer to organize their course by theme. They may

ask students to write several papers on a subject of general interest to

the students. Organizing the course by topic provides teachers an ongo-

ing opportunity to have students explore differences in purpose and audi-

ence.

Using this approach, the teacher might ask students to write an

informative essay on a topic which the students have specialized knowl-

edge of, rock music or clothing fads, for example. The students would

tailor the essay to whatever audience they chose. Then the teacher might

have the students expand the essay into a research project and change

the audience significantly. Next the teacher might have the students make

the paper persuasive, for a totally different audience than that of the first

two essays. Other variations are possible and instructive. Combining this

topical approach with a rhetorical approach also works well for some

instructors.

Many teachers prefer to organize their course by rhetorical type. In

this organizational plan the teacher’s most important decisions are choos-

ing the order in which to present the types of development and making

appropriate assignments for each.

Beginning with narrative and descriptive writing puts students at

ease because these kinds of development draw on the students’ own

experiences and feelings. Although some students have a hard time find-

ing something to say even about themselves, most students can write a

personal narrative more easily than an essay developed by other meth-

ods. Beginning with personal narrative helps weak writers who are intim-

idated by the writing process. Because they are writing about something

they know well, they do not have to struggle with both form and content

at once, at least not to the degree that later papers will require.

A good beginning assignment is a topic like “Until I experienced X,

I had never understood Y.” If the event (X) being described is limited to

something which happened in a couple of hours, the student has a




manageable narrative chunk to control in the essay. A useful exercise is

to have each student write three versions of this topic sentence, each

version completing the blanks with a different experience. Then teach-

ers—or classmates—can choose the topic that will lend itself best to an

interesting narration.

While the students are working on this essay, however, the teacher

can teach several skills at once. As students begin to brainstorm in an

effort to narrow their topics, they should discuss the purpose of the essay

and the intended audience. On all outlines and drafts of the paper,

students should write the intended audience in the corner as well as the

level of formality dictated by that choice. Thus when classmates critique

the essay, they can comment on whether or not the writer is consider-

ing the needs of the audience that he or she has chosen.

In addition to audience and purpose, a narrative essay as a first essay

is a good place to begin teaching various related kinds of paragraph devel-

opment. In class students can practice developing paragraphs by chronol-

ogy. We can show them the differences between chronological narrative

paragraphs, chronological process paragraphs, and chronological climac-

tic paragraphs.

A narrative essay also gives us the opportunity to talk about topic

sentences in narrative and descriptive writing—to say that they are not

always stated but that they can be. A useful classroom exercise is to take

a hypothetical version of the topic they are working on and have the

class break the narration down into segments that could become para-

graphs. They then can write topic sentences for each segment. The class

can do this assignment independently and then discuss their versions, or

the class can collaborate on an outline and topic sentences for the sample

topic, with the teacher writing their suggestions on the board.

The narrative essay is also a good place to begin a discussion of

descriptive detail. It’s a good time to make the point that no piece of

writing is entirely narrative or descriptive or expository or argumenta-

tive but that we classify according to the dominant mode. We can ask

them to imagine the lack of interest they would create in a version of

“Little Red Riding Hood” if they were allowed to tell only what

happened and not to describe the big, bad wolf or the dark forest.

In discussing the relationship between narration and description, we

can begin to emphasize the need for specific, original detail in writing,

a point that we need to make over and over during the course. One good

way to help students think about detail is to do a classroom exercise in

which each student must write five sentences about the classroom, one

sentence evoking each of the senses (taste, touch, smell, hearing, and




sight). After students share their sentences, it’s fun to have them do

sentences again, this time making similes and metaphors. Exercises

requiring all the senses help them realize that good description means

doing more than simply saying how something looks. Having done this

exercise, we can even insist that the narrative essay have sentences evok-

ing each of the senses at least once. Such an arbitrary, artificial exercise

impresses upon students the need to create for their reader the world

which is part of narration.

Moving from narrative writing to the descriptive essay, we can show

students that although descriptive essays often relate events, their

primary goal is to convey a sense of place and mood. A good topic is

something like “Why X-place makes me feel Y-emotion.” Some teach-

ers like to have students describe a place on campus, looking for the

unusual features that make it unique. Having students write an in-class

description of the classroom or of a common place can make it easy for

the teacher to talk about cliches and the need for fresh, specific detail.

Good choices for the third paper are comparison-and-contrast writ-

ing or classification. Both are a little harder for the students than narra-

tive and descriptive writing because they require some analysis, but they

are less difficult at this point than, say, cause and effect or definition or

argument.

Compare-and-contrast is a type of development that most students

have been taught in high school; thus they are usually receptive to learn-

ing a more sophisticated version of it. This type of development offers

a lot of flexibility with regard to the kind of topic, depending on what

skills we want to teach along with it.

We can appeal to the interests of the class with this kind of essay,

by having art students, for example, compare and contrast paintings or

statues by the same artist, or engineering students compare and contrast

methods for solving some kind of problem. Obviously, teachers who are

using a reader can easily have students compare and contrast essays with

regard to content or style. Most students enjoy comparing a movie with

its sequel or a book with the movie made from it, and they enjoy

comparing television shows or magazine ads or fast-food restaurants—

any topic, in fact, which draws on what they experience.

A topic which works well for the teacher who is interested in teach-

ing stylistic elements early in the course is to have students compare

and contrast the styles of two movie reviews. This assignment can teach

several important skills: it can teach students how to use the library to

find movie reviews, it can teach them about conventions of quoting,

paraphrasing, and summarizing, and it can teach them about elements of

style.




Teachers can also couple comparison-and-contrast writing with defi-

nition. A good assignment is to have students compare and contrast defi-

nitions of the same word in several dictionaries. This assignment helps

acquaint students with various kinds of dictionaries. Now that students

use computers which have spell-checks and thesauruses, it’s more impor-

tant than ever that we help them understand how to use a dictionary and

why they should want to. Many students are unaware of the differences

between abridged and unabridged dictionaries, and few of them have had

any experience with the OED. Thus a comparison of a couple of dictio-

naries or definitions teaches much more than the method of comparison

and contrast.

Classification works well after comparison and contrast because the

idea of comparison and contrast is implicit in classification. Certainly

topics like “types of horror movies” or “types of golf swings” work well,

but students also enjoy classifying groups of people. If we allow them to

write on such topics as “types of drivers” or “types of basketball fans,”

we can teach them about the dangers of stereotyping and the need for

qualifying our generalizations.

Since the organization of a classification essay is implied by the

topic, the time we normally would have to devote to explaining struc-

ture—obviously important with comparison and contrast, for example—

can be devoted to work on transition between and within paragraphs and

varieties of introductions and conclusions. This assignment also gives

students further practice in using effective descriptive detail.

Equally useful because of its relatively simple organization is the

process essay. This kind of essay provides a perfect way to teach atten-

tion to audience. We can have students explain a process in the second

person and have them rewrite it into the third person. We can have them

assume that the audience is somewhat familiar with the process or is

not familiar with it at all and do a version suitable in each case. Partic-

ularly useful for weak writers, process writing can really boost the under-

standing of transitions and assumptions made by the writer.

As a prelude to argumentation, many teachers find it helpful to do

a definition essay. Students believe that if they don’t know the meaning

of a word, they should simply look it up in a dictionary. To correct this

misconception, we must show them that disagreement about definitions

of abstract terms is at the root of many issues. We can ask them, in fact,

to find editorials to share in class that argue about terms like pornogra-

phy or freedom or democracy or liberal without defining the terms.

Before we ask students to write a definition of one of these kinds of

terms, though, having students write paragraph-length definitions of a slang




term or newly coined term like yuppie or airhead can teach them about the

subtleties of definition. Within this paragraph they can practice citing the

dictionary meaning (more practice in quoting accurately) and expanding it

by giving examples, defining in terms of negatives, comparing the term

with terms closely related to it, exploring the source of the quality or thing,

explaining how our culture generally defines the term, and stating, finally,

their personal definition.

As an essay assignment, we can have the students choose from a list

of abstract terms like pornography, art, fun, or selfishness, or we can give

them more practice with comparison-and-contrast writing by having them

compare and contrast often-confused terms like right and privilege, self-

ishness and self-esteem, or hero and celebrity. In making these kinds of

assignments, we want to emphasize that in argumentative writing, careful

writers define their terms early in their arguments and do not shift the

meaning of these terms. Some careful attention to audience and purpose

in definition is also important.

Argumentative writing requires a lot of preparation by the teacher,

but it allows us much flexibility in teaching some secondary skills. Many

teachers prefer to teach argument only in the context of a research project

since students usually know too little about most issues to argue their

positions without research. But whatever kind of argument topic we

decide to assign, we need to do some preliminary work with the class

to discuss the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning,

kinds of acceptable evidence, fallacious thinking, and definition of terms.

Summary skills fit well into a unit on argumentative writing. Writ-

ing summaries requires students to have a clear understanding of what

they are reading. Summary writing also serves to develop paraphrasing

skills. Before students critique the arguments of others or develop posi-

tions of their own, they should be able to accurately summarize what

they have read.

Far too many students believe that if something is printed it is good

and true, and, therefore, one of our first chores is to explain that all

sources and all arguments are not equal. We must communicate that the

quality of a writer’s argument reveals much about the usefulness of the

information he or she presents.

One good way to begin teaching students about the relative merits

of arguments is to bring in to class some letters to the editor from the

local newspaper. These nearly always contain fallacies, often memorable

ones. After going through the basic kinds of fallacies, we can ask

students to look for further printed examples of fallacious thinking. This




assignment also reinforces the importance of attention to audience and

purpose.

A useful kind of essay to have the students write at this point is a

cause-and-effect essay that will require some research. This assignment

allows us the opportunity to teach students to distinguish between suffi-

cient and contributory causes, and it is a good opportunity to emphasize

the dangers of hasty generalization.

Students can also learn much about argument by writing critiques

of arguments. A good exercise that can be done in two stages to teach

the difference between summary and evaluation involves such a critique.

We can give students a set of brief newspaper arguments as the raw

materials for a couple of essays—the point/counterpoint arguments that

appear daily on the editorial page of USA Today work well for this. In

the first of these essays, we may choose to teach the students to summa-

rize the main points each writer makes and point out the fallacies and

other weaknesses in each argument. The students should also consider

the audience and purpose each writer seems to intend. With this assign-

ment students practice comparison-and-contrast technique, and they must

come up with a thesis that is nonevaluative. They must also continue to

develop their ability to quote accurately and to handle quotations grace-

fully. Once they have done the essay summarizing the arguments of the

two editorials, students should then be assigned a paper evaluating the

arguments and persuading readers that one is a better argument than the

other.

Assigning a full-fledged argument paper requires some careful

thought by teachers. If we want to offer students a useful alternative to

the traditional, argumentative, library paper, we can have them do some

research of a primary nature. A useful topic is to have students tackle

some school issue, interviewing appropriate authorities, polling students

with their own questionnaire, and observing and analyzing the problem.

Then they can support their findings with secondary material.

Similarly, students can do an interesting argumentative paper by

investigating a particular kind of job or career and arguing its strengths

and weaknesses. To do this essay, they might shadow someone who has

that kind of job, interview others who are in the profession, and read

about that field, including government predictions about the profession.

These kinds of assignments are useful not only because they teach

argumentative skills but also because they help make the point that the

kinds of writing and research students are doing do not end with grad-

uation but that research, argument, and the writing process are impor-

tant to us all throughout our lives.




Similarly, in assigning more traditional library projects, we ought to

encourage our students to write about other disciplines. We should help

them see writing as a life skill, not something one does for English teach-

ers. Forcing students to write a paper on Keats’s poetry simply because

they are registered in an English class is folly: Our own partiality to

Keats’s poems should not blind us to the fact that students will pursue

writing projects with real enthusiasm only when they are interested in

the topic. Encouraging a biology major to write about the greenhouse

effect will help him or her learn more about the writing process—and

its continuing role in our lives—than forcing down another paper on

Hamlet or Greek mythology. Presumably a few of our students will

propose literary topics.

Whether or not we choose to organize our course by rhetorical type,

these assignments can be modified to suit classes organized in other

ways, for example, those emphasizing research skills, language, or para-

graph development and sentence structure. And in addition to using

rhetorical types for essays, they can be applied to paragraphs to

strengthen the skills the students are learning, and some work with

sentences also helps both stylistic and grammatical problems as well as

punctuation.

One useful method of reviewing mechanics is to present “Oops!”

sentences to the class each week, that is, a list of sentences we take from

their own papers to illustrate problems with mechanics that the class as

a whole is having. These are particularly good supplements to the hand-

book because, unlike the handbook, they present several problems at

once. Students seem to enjoy going over these sentences because they

are “real” in a way that the handbook’s exercises are not.

Whatever method of organization teachers choose, the best teach-

ers are always looking for new assignments and new ways to improve

those they’ve found to be helpful. We need to keep files of particularly

effective and ineffective sentences, paragraphs, and essays. We need to

collect effective and ineffective arguments. We need to pay attention to

our students’ interests, always thinking how we can merge their inter-

ests with our goals.




SuGGeSted readinG

Bizzell, Patricia. “Contact Zones and English Studies.” College English

56. 2. (Feb. 1994): 163–69.

Berzenyi, Christyne A. “How to Conduct a Course-Based Computer

Chat Room: Enabling a Space for Active Learning.” Teaching

English in the Two-Year College 28.2 (Dec. 2000): 165–74.

Black, Rhonda S., Thomas W. Sileo, and Mary Anne Prater. “Learning

Journals, Self-Reflection, and University Students’ Changing

Perceptions.” Action in Teacher Education 21.4 (Winter 2000):

71–89.

Capossela, T.L. “Students as Sociolinguists: Getting Real Research from

Freshmen Writers.” College Composition and Communication 42

(Feb. 1991): 75–79.

Fick, V.G. “A History-Based Research Paper Course.” Teaching English

in the Two-Year College 17 (Feb. 1990): 34–35.

Friedman, Eric D., Lisa Haefele, and K.M. Keating. “An Electronic

Discussion List in an Undergraduate Writing Course.” Computers

and Education 24 (Apr. 1995): 191–201.

Gillis, Candida. “Writing Partners: Expanding the Audiences for Student

Writing.” English Journal 83. 3 (March 1994): 64–67.

Gordon, Heather G. “Using a Reading Experience Journal.” Teaching

English in the Two-Year College 28.1 (Sept. 2000): 41–43.

Hourigan, M.M. “Poststructural Theory and Writing Assessment:

‘Heady, Esoteric Theory’ Revisited.” Teaching English in the Two-

Year College 18 (Oct. 1991): 191–95.

Lent, Robin. “‘I Can Relate to That . . .’: Reading and Responding in the

Writing Classroom.” College Composition and Communication 44.

2 (May 1993): 232–40.

Moxley, Joseph M. “Reinventing the Wheel or Teaching the Basics:

College Writers’ Knowledge of Argumentation.” Composition Stud-

ies Freshman English News 21. 2 (Fall 1993): 3–15.

Pullman, George L. “Rhetoric and Hermeneutics: Composition, Inven-

tion, and Literature.” Journal of Advanced Composition 14 no. 2

(Fall 1994): 389–412.

Rankin, Walter. “The Cyberjournal: Developing Writing, Researching,

and Editing Skills Through E-mail and World Wide Web.” Educa-

tional Technology 37 (July/Aug 1997): 29–31.




Raymond, R.C. “Personal and Public Voices: Bridging the Gap from

Composition to Comp 102.” Teaching English in the Two-Year

College 17 (Dec. 1990): 273–82.

Roemer, M.G., et al. “Portfolios and the Process of Change.” College

Composition and Communication 42 (Dec. 1991): 455–69.

Sipe, Rebecca Bowers. “Virtually Being There: Creating Authentic

Experiences Through Interactive Exchanges” English Journal 90.2

(Nov. 2000): 104–11.

Spivey, N.N. “The Shaping of Meaning: Options in Writing the Compar-

ison.” Research in the Teaching of English 25 (Dec. 1991):

390–418.

Sullivan, Patrick. “Using the Internet to Teach Composition.” Teaching

English in the Two-Year College 28.1 (Sept. 2000): 21–31.

Swartzendruber-Putnam, Dawn. “Written Reflection: Creating Better

Thinkers, Better Writers.” English Journal 90.1 (Sept. 2000): 88–93.

Tucker, Lois P. “Liberating Students Through Reader-Response Peda-

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the Two-Year College 28.2 (Dec. 2000): 199–206.

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Across Cultures.’ ” Computers and Composition 15.3 (1998):

331–46.



aPPendix

further Suggestions for reading

No matter how hectic the pace in our classes, we must—as profes-

sionals—try to keep up with the scholarship in our field. In the last

twenty years much useful information about the theory of teaching

composition has appeared, information that can enrich our teaching

significantly if we can eke out the time to delve into the theoretical

underpinnings of what we do. Recent scholarship has also made avail-

able a wealth of practical and theoretical books and articles of a more

general nature that those appended to chapters.

Adams, P. D. “Basic Writing Reconsidered.” Journal of Basic Writing

12 (Spring 1993): 22–36.

Arnold, Jane. “Keeping Language Journals in English Composition.”

Teaching English in the Two-Year College 26.1 (Sept. 1998): 71–74.

Carrell, P. L., and L. B. Monroe. “Learning Styles and Composition.”

Modern Language Journal 77 (Summer 1993): 148–62.

Cope, Bill, and Mary Kalantzis, eds. The Powers of Literacy: A Genre

Approach to Teaching Writing. Pittsburgh: UP of Pittsburgh, 1993.

Branch, Kirk. “From the Margins at the Center: Literacy, Authority, and

the Great Divide.” College Composition and Communication 50.2

(Dec. 1998): 206–31.

Duesterberg, Luann M. “Theorizing Race in the Context of Learning to

Teach.” Teachers College Record 100.4 (Summer 1999): 751–75.

Dwyer, Herbert J., and Howard J. Sullivan. “Student Preferences for

Teacher and Computer Composition.” The Journal of Educational

Research 86 (Jan/Feb 1993): 137–41.

Feris, Dana R. “Student Reactions to Teacher Response in Multiple-draft

Composition Classrooms.” TESOL Quarterly 29 (Spring 1995):

33–53.

Fischer, Elizabeth A. “Prescriptions for Curing English Teacher Split

Personality Disorder.” English Journal 89.4 (Mar 2000): 40–45.

Fox, Thomas. “Repositioning the Profession: Teaching Writing to

African American Students.” Journal of Advanced Composition 12.

2 (Fall 1992): 179–93.




Hawhee, Debra. “Composition History and the Harbrace College Hand-

book.” College Composition and Communication 50.3 (Feb. 1999):

504–23.

Heilker, Paul. “Nothing Personal: Twenty-Five Forays into the Personal

in (My) Composition Pedagogy.” Writing Instructor 12. 2 (Winter

1993): 55–65.

Hindman, Jane E. “Reinventing the University: Finding the Place for

Basic Writers.” Journal of Basic Writing 12.2 (Fall 1993): 55–76.

Johns, A.M. “Written Argumentation for Real Audiences: Suggestions

for Teacher Research and Classroom Practice.” TESOL Quarterly 27

(Spring 1993): 75–90.

Jordan Henley, and Barry M. Maid. “Tutoring in Cyberspace: Student

Impact and College/University Collaboration.” Computers and

Composition 12.2 (1995): 211–18.

Keyser, Marcia W., and Laura R. Lucio. “Adding a Library Instruction

Unit to an Established Course.” Research Strategies 16.3 (1998):

221–29.

Lacina-Gifford, Lorna J., and Neelam Kher-Drulabhji. “Preparing to

Teach a Class by Internet.” College Teaching 44 (Summer 1996):

94–95.

Lindemann, Erika. A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers. 3rd ed. New York:

Oxford, 1995.

Mirskin, Jerry. “Writing as a Process of Valuing.” College Composition

and Communication 46 (Oct. 1995): 387–410.

Murphy, James J., ed. A Short History of Writing Instruction from

Ancient Greece to Twentieth-Century America. Davis, CA:

Hermagoras, 1990.

Nelson, Jennie. “Reading Classrooms as Text: Exploring Student Writ-

ers’ Interpretive Practices.” College Composition and Communica-

tion 46 (Oct. 1995): 411–29.

Oblinger, Diana, and Sean C. Rush. The Future Compatible Campus:

Planning, Designing, and Implementing Information Technology in

the Academy. Anker Publishing, 1998.

Radencich, Marguerite C., Kathy Echardt, and Rebecca Rasch. “Univer-

sity Course-Based Practitioner Research: Four Studies on Journal

Writing Contextualize the Process.” Research in the Teaching of

English 32 (Feb. 1998): 79–112.

Appendix—Further Suggestions for Reading



Scott, J. Blake. “The Literacy Narrative as Production Pedagogy in the

Composition Classroom.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College

24 (May 1997): 108–17.

Shafer, Gregory. “Composition for the Twenty-First Century.” English

Journal 90.1 (Sept. 2000): 29–33.

Spack, Ruth. “The (in)visibility of the Person(al) in Academe.” College

English 59 (Jan 1997): 9–31.

Troyka, Lynn Quitman. “The Phenomenon of Impact: The CUNY Writ-

ing Assessment Test.” Writing Program Administration 8 (Fall-

Winter 1984): 27–36.

Whitaker, E.E. “A Pedagogy to Address Plagiarism.” College Composi-

tion and Communication 44 (December 1993): 509–14.

Wilson, Smokey. “When Computers Come to English Class.” Teaching

English in the Two-Year College 27.4 (May 2000): 387–99.




Part two:

Collaborative writingby Patricia Kelvin and Scott a. Leonard,

Youngstown State University

� teaChing CoLLaborative writing

This is a manual for practitioners, for the hard-working teacher striv-

ing to give students an understanding of rhetoric and the writing process.

Whether you have been teaching composition for years and are ready to

try something new or you are new to the teaching of writing, we hope

this manual can refresh and renew your sense of excitement about teach-

ing. The student comments you will read in this chapter are quoted (with

the names changed) directly from the “process logs of memos” that we

ask each student to keep for their own, as well as our, evaluation. You

will also find some collaborative assignments that have worked in our

classrooms. Some of the ideas presented here may work for you in your

environment while others will not. But they should be a springboard

from which you can dive into your own pool of ideas. While we have

mentioned some of the best-known scholars working in the field of

collaborative learning and writing throughout our text, we have compiled

a more extensive bibliographic essay at the end for those who would

like to read further on the subject.

Collaborative writing can be an extremely rewarding experience for

both teacher and student. When things work well, students gain confi-

dence in their ability to write and to work with a team. The teacher will

feel energized working with a class of active, enthusiastic learners. What

could be better than a writing pedagogy that encourages students to

discuss every dimension of writing from topic selection to word choice?

What more can the writing teacher want than a way to encourage

students to view effective writing as a process within their conscious

control? Collaboratively written papers, like single-authored texts, go

through a series of drafts. But, unlike single-authored texts, collabora-

tive papers will actively integrate concepts of audience, tone, planning

and purpose into the writing process because at every step students must

explain to one another what they think the paper needs and why.


� why teaCh StudentS to write together?

Collaborative Learning Is Helpful to Students

The basic premise of what John Trimbur, Kenneth Bruffee, and

others have called collaborative learning is that peer influence is a

“powerful educative force” (Bruffee 638). It is the conversation of

students working together that disseminates information more surely and

erects conceptual scaffolding more efficiently. In the context of the group,

the internalized conversation of human thought becomes the externalized

authority of the collective. The pedagogy that has developed from these

assumptions has transformed both classroom architecture and the

teacher’s role. Those accustomed to a teacher-directed lecture or discus-

sion classroom might wonder whether organizing students in small groups

to discuss course content can lead to anything but idle chat. But those who

have assigned small group exercises that give students hands-on practice

in generating paper topics, or in appropriately punctuating works-cited

entries, or in identifying the cohesive devices that published writers

employ, know the power of collaborative learning. Providing students

with opportunities to talk and work together in small groups allows them

to remember and exchange points of view about what they read for class,

to develop concepts more extensively than they could on their own, and

for weaker students to learn from their stronger peers. Indeed, collabo-

rative learning is excellent pedagogy because it organizes and focuses

the natural human impulse to create knowledge through small-group

discussion even as it fosters learning by doing. Those instructors who

use response groups in their classes already know the value of collabo-

rative learning. Collaborative writing takes the process even further.

Collaborative Writing Is Good Pedagogy

Asking students to write together takes advantage of the substantial

benefits derivable from collaborative learning. Student groups of two or

more authors working on a single document are able to combine their indi-

vidual strengths, tackle large and complex projects, share information, chal-

lenge each other to think longer and harder about the demands of a writing

situation, and model for one another the learnable skills of writing. In

groups, students can also divide the work of reading, writing, organizing,

and editing.

For almost a decade now, we have observed that writing collabora-

tively impels students to think about the learning process in ways that

individuals writing alone might not. Because writing groups must nego-

Part Two—Collaborative Writing


tiate everything from meeting times to paper organization to word choice,

the individuals within those groups must explain what they think will work

for a paper and why—a phenomenon that makes every aspect of text

production an occasion for discussion, questioning, and information-shar-

ing. In addition, because students must arrange work time in advance,

they tend to procrastinate less and work with a specific sense of what they

want or need to accomplish at a given time. Thus, most students, having

a limited time to work on a project each week, will begin to see their

project as a series of tasks, and pace their work rather than do everything

they have time for the night before it is due.

Moreover, our students have often told us that they enjoy the expe-

rience of writing and researching together. One student remarked that it

felt good having “someone to talk to about [a] project—about how to do

it and what to say.” The collaborative writing classroom frequently

buzzes with energetic conversation, joking, and the excitement of discov-

ering just the right words for a complex idea. But even when all is quiet,

or when the conversation is not so jovial, students derive many benefits

from the experience. For example, our students frequently report expe-

riencing what cognitive psychologists have called decentering effects. As

one young woman put it, “working with others in this quarter has really

opened my eyes to different perspectives on how to write and on life in

general.” Other students confirm what many researchers have long

suggested: Collaboration is good for students because it allows them to

pool their resources. “Jim was our researcher,” reported Allison in her

process log, “while Kim’s editing skills really helped us out at the end.”

Collaboration Is Typical Work after College

Learning and writing together is more than just good pedagogy; it

is the ideal preparation for our students’ careers after college. Lunsford

and Ede (1990), after surveying seven professional organizations, report

that approximately half of all writing in the workplace is, broadly

defined, collaborative. Newspaper editorial boards, for example,

routinely engage in “peer response” critique and in group brainstorming

when determining the position their paper will take on a given issue.

Such technical fields as computer science, engineering, or pharmaceu-

ticals consider the planning and writing and editing of multi-author docu-

ments standard procedure. Small groups of workers in such nontechnical

fields as insurance, psychology, and social work also share the work of

creating a wide variety of written products. When Patal from public rela-

tions, Chen from economics, and Jastrow from product pricing sit down

to draft a corporate report, they pool their expertise to accomplish that

Why Teach Students to Write Together


task. Writing teachers whose pedagogical goals include helping students

prepare for careers are better served by incorporating practice in writ-

ing together rather than by teaching only as though they subscribed to

the Romantic ideal of the inspired poet-prophet, alone in his or her

garret, struggling to put sublime visions to paper. After all, even poet-

prophets like Wordsworth and Shelley benefited greatly from sharing

ideas and manuscript copy with their friends.

Collaboration Affords Several Advantages

Students can undertake more complex projects when they write

together than when they work alone. As writing instructors, we like the

fact that, even in a ten-week quarter, collaborative writing projects can

be considerably larger in scope than traditional single-writer assign-

ments. Not only can group members divide the workload but they can

also tackle several tasks simultaneously. As Jeanine wrote in her process

log:

After leaving your office, we decided how to split up the work.

I had a wedding to attend this weekend and Randy had to work

the Memorial [Golf] Tournament. Our time was very tight as

the end drew near. (So melodramatic!) [sic] For a remedy to this

problem, Randy and I thought it would be a good idea for three

of us to work on the ethics paper while the others worked on

the revision to our earlier paper.

Students writing together can emphasize their strengths rather than

their individual weaknesses. Unlike many individual projects in which

students’ deficiencies stand out, group projects allow students to

contribute what they are best at while at the same time learning, from

their peers, ways to improve areas in which they are weak. As Jenny

wrote in her post-paper analysis memo,

It took a long time to decide how we were going to do this

paper because each of us had different ideas, and we really

didn’t want to let them go. But finally we decided that Glenn

was faster in the library and so he would do the research. I

would do the writing, [and] Mel would be the technical

expert—he got everything into the computer. We actually got

a draft done two days early and we all worked on the revision.

I surprised myself by coming up with some better ideas for

digging up the research and I had to admit that Mel and Glenn

improved the way I’d worded the draft.



Collaboration also encourages social interaction and promotes

understanding of and respect for others. We find that collaborative learn-

ing and writing provide students with a sense of community so often

missing in large general-education classes. Most of our students begin

the term as strangers, but often become friends as well as coworkers.

Dan and Frank were Air Force officers in training, majoring in engi-

neering. Eliza, the third member of their group, was a Singaporean

national in Hotel Management. She wrote,

I do enjoy being in the group and I thank you ... for putting me

in this group. It amazes all three of us that we did not have any

major disagreements with one another. . . . For this meeting I

brought some “hot roasted peas”—a Chinese delicacy for them

to taste and they really enjoy it. [sic] They are good friends and

colleagues to work with.

In addition, collaborative assignments promote originality because

each group’s approach to an assignment will be as unique as the group

that generates it. While we did not begin teaching our students to write

collaboratively as a way of discouraging recycled papers from other

classes or generic “frat file” themes, we have since discovered that

having our students work in groups has virtually eliminated plagiarism.

We are continually encouraged to find that students working in groups

work harder at topic selection because they must arrive at an approach

on which everyone is willing to work.

� Creating a CoLLaborative CLaSSroom

Reshape the Classroom Landscape

Have you ever wanted to re-create a room? Your garden? Yourself?

Creating a collaborative classroom gives you that personal and profes-

sional opportunity—imagine sowing an annual garden where you once

had only perennials. Like the carefully planted linear rows of the tradi-

tional formal garden, the traditional classroom features rows of desks that

face the front of the room where the instructor directs classroom activi-

ties. By contrast, the collaborative classroom is more like a country garden

where the aesthetic is not rigidly constrained but is allowed to flower

randomly and exuberantly. Desks are no longer always and only arranged

in rows but can be clustered around the room to allow student groups

space to talk among themselves. The collaborative classroom is an active

and noisy place rather than a quiet and passive one. But the alternative to

Creating a Collaborative Classroom


orderly formality is not unproductive chaos; rather, the noise you hear is

the sound of knowledge being created.

Teaching in the collaborative classroom, then, works better with

desks that can be moved. Ideally, the collaborative classroom will have

round tables and moveable chairs, an arrangement that allows students

to work together or singly and to have room enough to spread out and

share their in-class assignments, research materials, and drafts. (After

all, how many resources can be laid out on the typical student desk?)

Interactive Web space, such as those found in a Pearson MyLab or

Blackboard, can enhance collaborative classrooms by creating a virtual

meeting place outside the classroom. The overall effect of these class-

room changes is to direct students’ attention away from the teacher and

toward themselves and their peers.

Rethink the Role of the Writing Teacher

The traditional model of the teacher posits one who directs, plans,

assigns, grades, controls, and judges, and positions the instructor at the

center of activity as the decision maker, the authority, the expert. Obvi-

ously, most of us excelled in traditional classrooms, even if some did not

thrive in such learning environments. But if the goal of our instruction is

to equip students with a working knowledge of sound rhetorical principles

and compositional strategies in the surest and most efficient way possible,

it should not matter to us whether we drive the car or lay the road. The

role of the teacher in a collaborative classroom is considerably different

from that conceived in the traditional model. In the collaborative model,

the teacher provides the theatre and drafts the script, but the students take

center stage. Standing in the wings, the teacher of collaborative writing

facilitates, encourages, advises, and nurtures students who can learn by

doing in a semi-structured environment.

Does the teacher of collaboration simply walk away from her

students and leave all learning entirely in their hands? Emphatically no.

While some theoretical positions assert the importance of decentering

authority in the collaborative classroom, complete decentering is impos-

sible. So long as a teacher’s assessments of papers are the most author-

itative response they get, and so long as he or she retains the power to

assign permanent grades, the instructor has all the power that matters to

most students.

Rather than looking to an impending Students’ Paradise where all

traces of hierarchical teacher-student power relations have been erased,

we prefer to think of the teacher in the collaborative classroom as shar-



ing power and using her or his authority to motivate students and to

construct a learning environment that will encourage students to grow

as thinkers and as writers. In our own teaching practice, we generally

find ourselves playing one (or more) of three roles: the reassuring

listener (counselor); the dispenser of information and clarifier of assign-

ments (teacher); and the mediator of disagreements (referee). The teacher

may well have the ultimate institutional authority, but he or she can also

work with students on invention and organizational strategies in nondi-

rective ways, negotiating evaluative standards that recognize students’

own measures of success.

Encourage Students to Take Responsibility for Learning

The most exciting and professionally liberating part of teaching

collaborative writing is that we stop managing and directing the flow of

information and conversation in our classrooms and start creating a

dynamic learning space in which students take the responsibility for

learning. In the collaborative learning environment, the teacher moves

away from the chalkboard or the overhead projector and organizes

students into groups that work together on the many aspects of the writ-

ing process. Suddenly, students must be responsible to one another.

Teacher-centered classrooms place the onus on the instructor to present

information that we hope our students will absorb, albeit passively. But

in a classroom where students work in small groups requiring them to

create solutions to the problems they identify, the burden for learning is

instead placed on the learners.

� teaChing CoLLaboration: ConCePtuaL

voCabuLary and grouP behaviorS

Remind Students as They Work Together that CollaborativeGroups are Groups of People

While it may sound obvious, one must always remember that, like

the individuals who compose them, collaborative groups are unique and

human. Students differ in degree of motivation, type of learning style,

and overall skill level. Accepting these differences and adjusting one’s

expectations appropriately will decrease the instructor’s frustration.

Equally obvious and important to remember is the fact that collabora-

tive writing groups are social in nature. Some students (and some writ-

ing teachers) worry that joking around, passing campus gossip, or

sharing information about friends and family is counterproductive.

Teaching Collaboration: Conceptual Vocabulary and Group Behaviors


However, seemingly off-task chat is not only normal to collaborative

groups, it is absolutely necessary. People who have developed a friendly

working relationship can be candid with one another. It is very hard to

tell a stranger that his or her ideas or writing need work. Therefore, the

writing teacher should encourage social interaction within groups but

prepare them beforehand for the adjustments that individuals will need

to make in order to work successfully with others.

We teach our students the following “Ten Commandments” of

working together:

i. Commit yourSeLf to the SuCCeSS of the grouP. When it

is just you, you can decide whether or not you want to work hard on a

project or come to class. But you do not have that luxury when you work

with a group. When you miss class or a group meeting, you owe your

group the courtesy of a phone call. And you should make up any time

lost to the group.

ii. remember that eaCh member of your grouP iS an

individuaL. Getting to know each other’s strengths, capabilities, and

personalities will help your group immensely.

iii. reSPeCt the diverSity of abiLitieS and baCKgroundS

in your grouP. These differences may be, at times, frustrating, but

diversity is actually the greatest benefit of working in a group.

iv. aSSume a different identity when you worK in a

grouP. Your identity as a member of a group differs from that of the

solitary scholar. When your groups writes or speaks, it is “we” and “us,”

not “me” and “I.”

v. aLLow PLenty of time for CoLLaborative worK. It

takes longer to work with someone else than it does to work individu-

ally—but the product is invariably stronger. Give your group time for

spontaneous, informal talk; many times, this is where the best ideas

come from.

vi. aCCePt Some ConfLiCt. More creative solutions are found

with some conflict than without it. However, focus your disagreements

on ways of approaching a task and arriving at a satisfactory solution and

not on individual personalities or abilities.

vii. diSCuSS ConCernS and fruStrationS oPenLy with

eaCh other. It is best to work problems out as they occur rather than

to allow them to fester, unattended, until a crisis brings them out. If

members’ work habits or attendance bother you, tell them so in a

nonthreatening way.

viii. maKe it a grouP ProjeCt to find a SoLution to

grouP ProbLemS. If the group cannot find a solution, talk to the

instructor immediately.



ix. LiSten to eaCh other and aSK CLarifying QueStionS.

Many problems are simply matters of poor communication.

x. ComPromiSe. Face it, you simply will not get your own way

all the time.

Teach Group Roles

The traditional top-down management model of group behavior

designates one person the leader and all other group members as follow-

ers. Typically, the leader solicits information from the followers, decides

what the group should do, and organizes the rest of the group to imple-

ment the plan. However, the top-down management approach is rarely

successful in the classroom because not all self-appointed (or even

elected) leaders have true leadership qualities, and not all followers are

completely sanguine about their subservient roles. Furthermore, in the

collaborative writing classroom, the top-down management model often

inhibits members of a student group from making rhetorical and compo-

sitional decisions. In a writing course, everyone needs to learn how to

organize, to choose an appropriate topic, and to develop a workable

approach to a task. Consequently the instructor in the collaborative writ-

ing classroom should work hard to assure that responsibility for projects

is equally shared. More often than not, when someone “takes charge” a

general breakdown in communication and motivation results. For that

matter, vote-taking and a “majority rules” approach to decision making

can cause disaffected group members to drop out of the process. Every-

one has to buy into the topic and the process, or it is no longer a group

effort.

Appropriate behaviors for successful group work can be learned.

They should not be regarded as intrinsic personal qualities, despite

conventional practice. Rather, behaviors should be thought of as

contributing to the group’s success or detracting from it. First, we teach

students to identify and practice a wide range of positive and negative

roles that a member of a group might play. We stress that these roles are

not permanent, but will vary during a group meeting as well as from day

to day.

Early studies by social scientists (notably Benne and Sheats) have

identified three kinds of behaviors associated with group member

performance: group-building roles, group-maintenance roles, and

group-blocking roles. We have modified their lists of roles to apply to

the writing classroom.



Group Building Roles

the initiator

� suggests new or different ideas for discussion

� proposes new or different approaches to the group’s process

(for problem solving or for writing)

the eLaborator

� elaborates or builds on suggestions made by others

� gives relevant examples

the teSter

� restates problem

� evaluates the group’s progress toward completing assignments

� looks for holes in the plan

� pulls together or reviews the discussion

the taSK-deSigner

� raises questions about member preferences for styles of work-

ing

� suggests the tasks that the group will need to accomplish its

goals

the reSPonder

� evaluates written work with suggestions for revision

Group Maintenance Roles

the faCiLitator

� makes sure all group members have a chance to speak

� supports the contributions of others

the vibeS-watCher

� focuses on the group’s process

� mediates differences of opinion

� reconciles points of view

� calls for a break if discussion gets too warm

the timeKeePer

� focuses on task completion

� maintains the forward progress of the meeting

� when necessary, shifts the group’s work back to accomplishing

its stated goals



Group Blocking Roles

the aggreSSor

� deflates status of others in group

� disagrees with others aggressively

� criticizes others in group

the bLoCKer

� stubbornly disagrees with and rejects others’ views

� cites unrelated personal experiences

� returns to topics already resolved

the withdrawer

� will not participate

� daydreams during group meetings

� carries on private conversation within group

� is a self-appointed taker of notes

the reCognition SeeKer

� tries to show his or her importance through boasting and exces-

sive talking

� is overly conscious of his or her status

the toPiC jumPer

� continually changes the subject

the ControL freaK

� tries to take over the meeting

� tries to assert authority

� tries to manipulate the group

the LobbyiSt

� tries to get the group to work on his or her own special inter-

ests

the CLaSS CLown

� wastes the group’s time by constantly showing off and telling

funny stories

� acts with nonchalance or cynicism

the boor

� talks endlessly and irrelevantly about his or her own feelings or

experiences

the deviL’S advoCate

� when he or she is more devil than advocate



Giving students the conceptual vocabulary necessary to identify and

discuss both positive and negative group roles is essential for healthy

collaboration. We provide the “Ten Commandments” and the Roles List

as handouts. For students to try out these behaviors, we conduct the

following role-playing exercise early in the term.

We print out several copies of the Roles List, cut them apart, and

number enough roles to place at least one builder, one maintainer, and

one blocker in groups of three to five. (Say, we have a class of twenty-

four. We number building roles from one through eight, maintaining

roles from one through eight, and blocking roles from one through eight.

We will, of course, repeat some roles.) Students draw a slip of paper

with a role on it and look for the others in the class who share the same

number (all the ones work together, all the twos, etc.).

Telling the students not to reveal their roles, we offer them a humor-

ous prompt for discussion (such as coming up with a nonviolent sport to

replace football; developing unusual ways to use the library after hours for

fund-raising, and the like). We give them five to ten minutes to talk about

the prompt while playing their assigned roles. We then repeat the exercise

with new groups, sometimes enlarging the groups to expand the numbers

of roles.

Afterwards, we ask the class to discuss what happened. They find

not only that they can recognize the behaviors but that they can assume

unfamiliar roles. They also learn how disruptive a blocker can be and

how little progress takes place when no one assumes a group-building

role. While we reiterate the need for everyone to work on group-build-

ing behaviors, we suggest that for each meeting, one member take on the

facilitator’s role, one the vibes-watcher’s, and one the timekeeper’s.

Rotating these tasks from meeting to meeting helps group cohesiveness

and minimizes antagonism.

Other Useful Group Behaviors

We have found that groups manage their time better if they set goals

for each meeting—preferably at the end of the previous meeting. Our

more successful groups usually agree to an agenda in advance of a meet-

ing and then the timekeeper checks that the previously established goals

have been met before the group plans its agenda for the next meeting.

When groups discover that they have diverged substantially from the

agenda, they can take that occasion to review the group’s goals and

discuss whether adjustments are necessary.

During all group meetings, everyone should take notes. Too

frequently, one of the group’s female members is directly or indirectly

assigned “secretarial” duty. Alternatively, one person offers to take notes



in order to control decision making. We require everyone to record the

group’s activities and decisions. At the end of each meeting, group

members compare notes to assure that they all agree on what happens

next. To encourage everyone to take responsibility for keeping track of

what is going on, what got said, what got done, and when the group will

meet next and why, we usually assign a post-paper memo or journal in

which students are asked to report what happened at all group meetings.

This memo serves as more than a diary; it also provides an ideal occa-

sion for students to reflect upon the writing process, group interaction,

and the ways in which their project evolved from topic selection to final

draft.

About Conflict

A number of researchers distinguish between procedural, affective,

and substantive conflicts (particularly Putnam, 1986, and Burnett, 1993)

as important sources of both positive and negative friction among group

members. If the collaborative project is to move forward, substantive

conflict, which comprises negotiations about the scope of the project, the

nature of the problem, possible solutions, and the form and content of

the written product, must occur. Frequently, though, students confuse

this vital form of conflict with its destructive counterfeits, affective

conflict and procedural conflict. Affective conflict occurs not at the level

of ideas, but between individuals who are either pitted against one

another in a bid for control of the group or who simply rub each other

the wrong way. While teaching consensual group behaviors can mini-

mize conflict arising from a naked power grab, it is virtually impossi-

ble to mitigate personality conflicts short of reassigning one or more

members of a group. Procedural conflict issues from misunderstandings

over who is responsible for what or what the group’s next move should

be. Discussions emanating from procedural conflict can be quite produc-

tive if everyone has an equal say. Groups that work to mitigate against

affective conflict usually emerge from the process stronger and with a

clearer sense of direction.

Substantive conflict originates in a group’s discussion of the form

and content of its essay. This form of conflict—even if it is quite spir-

ited—can be the most productive of all. Students who argue with one

another for or against the inclusion of illustrative examples, the posi-

tioning of information within an essay, and which issues to cover or to

exclude are not necessarily fighting. Rather, they are learning about how

to write effectively by testing ideas out on their peers. Obviously, group-

maintenance roles are extremely important in preventing substantive



conflict from degenerating into counterproductive interpersonal

exchanges. The communications expert needs to insure that everyone

has a chance to voice an opinion and the nurturer needs to draw atten-

tion to the strengths in everyone’s ideas. Writing instructors should

actively encourage lively debate among coworkers who know that they

are being heard and appreciated for what they bring to the group.

Responding to Peers in the Collaborative Group

The value of the peer response group is well established in compo-

sition pedagogy, and some even consider the peer response group as

synonymous with the collaborative writing group. However, the work of

the collaborative writing group goes beyond responding to the single-

authored drafts of fellow students. In the collaborative group, students

develop topics and approaches to writing as well as doing the writing

itself. Peer response is a continuous action. Collaborative groups inte-

grate the benefits of peer response into a group’s writing process.

Students cowriting a document must explain specifically to one another

what features of a draft require revision and why.

Responding to and Revising Each Other’s Work

We have found that the following advice makes a good handout to

guide individual responders and collaborating writer/readers:

� Feel free to evaluate and make changes to each other’s work.

� Remember that it is very difficult for people to relinquish

ownership over anything they have written. Here are some

suggestions for making this process easier:

� As a writer, try to create an objective attitude toward your

work. People are responding to the words on the page, not to

you as a person.

� As a reader/responder/reviser, the best rule is The Golden

Rule: “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” A little

sensitivity will go a long way in dealing with your peers’ writ-

ing.

� If you recommend changes in something someone else has

written, be sure to explain to the writer how and why you

changed it. If you do not, you risk alienating that person from

your team.

Collaborative groups, like individual writers, can lose sight of the way

their writing reads to others. When entire groups exchange papers for



response, they will develop a greater sense of writing for a “real” audi-

ence if they know that others will be responding to their work. Those

who are teaching more than one composition class might exchange

papers across classes, which usually minimizes the “kid glove” attitudes

with which some students appraise the work of their classmates.

Groups can also form a revision collective with members develop-

ing specific areas of expertise for a given assignment. For example, the

members of each group can divide the Handbook’s revision checklists

(section 2u) so that all questions are addressed. As an added advantage,

having beginning responders work through scripted response sheets like

these will help them avoid engaging in either unnecessarily harsh

critique (“What a dumb idea!”) or unhelpful vague praise (“Sounds great

to me!”). On responding days, teachers should direct the focus of

comments. It is not appropriate for students to pinpoint typos and usage

errors in the first draft when they should be addressing such crucial

global issues as organization, point of view, and sufficiency of included

information. By the second or third draft, students can pay attention to

usage, word choice, and transitions. As a means of building your

students’ repertoire of response techniques, you can—after some prelim-

inary explanation—ask them to build their own lists of issues they

should check for at each stage of the drafting process.

� aSSigning grouPS

Assigning Groups Is Too Important to Trust to Luck

Although group assignment has received little research attention,

teacher lore reveals a number of methods by which students are grouped:

dividing students alphabetically; pulling names from a hat; counting

students off by threes, fours, or fives; requesting student preferences;

classifying students by academic major; or assuring a strong and weak

writer in each group, to name a few. These more-or-less random meth-

ods can be very useful for breaking the ice (see below), however, when

assigning groups for major projects we consciously try to put students

together in ways that will assure the highest possible level of group

success—both academically and interpersonally. In class on the first day

of the term, we sample writing abilities by asking students to write us

letters in which they discuss:

� their reason(s) for being in the class and their expectations from

it,

Assigning Groups


� their level of motivation for the class,

� their previous experience with writing, and,

� their career expectations.

A week later, we ask students to write a more formal memo to us telling

us what to know before placing them in groups, paying particular atten-

tion to (a) work and academic schedules, work habits and style (e.g.,

driven vs. laid-back), (b) previous experience with groups and attitudes

about groupwork, (c) other relevant personal data (e.g., whether students

think themselves shy or likely to dominate a conversation), and (d) any

preferences they might have for working or not working with particular

students in the class. After students prepare an initial draft of these

memos, we require private conferences which give us a chance to discuss

their writing and the information in the memos, and also to let us get to

know them better.

In addition, during the first two weeks of class, we introduce small

group activities and role-playing exercises for students to learn success-

ful collaboration techniques. These in-class activities also provide oppor-

tunities for us to observe how students work together—who is quiet,

who is assertive, who stays on task, who gets sidetracked, and so forth.

Toward the end of the second week, we assign groups of two to five

members according to the following priorities:

� Student schedules should permit at least two hours other than

class time per week in which all can meet. Often this consideration

supersedes all others. After all, students must be able to work together

on shared work. Even if groups were to meet in class only, students

could work toward the group’s goals by completing individual respon-

sibilities outside class and then merging their work during class time.

Sometimes students may choose to “meet” online; however, this strat-

egy also requires a time commitment outside of class time.

� Students should be similarly motivated. Hard workers with high

grade motivation should not be placed with those who cannot or will not

spend adequate time for the class or who are simply passing. Many theo-

rists believe that strong students should be identified and placed with

weak students to encourage peer mentoring. While we find the idea

philosophically noble, we have repeatedly found that differing motiva-

tion levels create the most significant roadblocks on the journey to

success. Highly motivated weak students have the potential to do well

and learn a great deal on their own whereas unmotivated students of

whatever ability level are the source of most student complaints about

collaboration.



� Students are not placed with those they had asked not to work

with—generally a result of their having worked together in a prior class.

If possible, students are placed with students they do ask to work with.

� Students with special needs (e.g., nonnative speakers, returning

older students, shy students, minority students) are placed with those

that intuition suggests might be more accepting of them.

In general, we find that large groups (four to six members) work

best for in-class discussion-oriented activities whereas small groups (two

or three members) work best for multi-draft writing assignments.

Because writing with others—especially at first—generates numerous

procedural questions, we “roam” the classroom spending time with each

group listening and/or participating as needed. We also require each

group to attend a private faculty-office conference for each major assign-

ment. Most groups, however, ask for more than one conference.

Determining Group Longevity

In our ten-week quarters, there is barely enough time for students

to get to know each other, let alone to build the comfort and trust neces-

sary to create effective working relationships. Thus, barring catastro-

phes, we prefer to keep student groups together for the length of the

term. Some teachers vary group membership so that students can bene-

fit from exposure to a range of work styles and personality types.

However, we have found that such logistical considerations as time

availability outside of class usually make a general reshuffling of writ-

ing groups unworkable. To give our students the benefits of working

with a wide variety of others, we “scatter” the members of collaborative

writing groups when we work on in-class group nonwriting activities.

What to Do about Ungroupable Students

We always emphasize the necessity of collaborative work and

outline in our syllabi, and, during the first class meeting, the unique

demands it will place on students (e.g., responsibility to others, required

work outside of class, the understanding that writing takes longer with

a group than writing solo). Even so, we have occasionally found

students for whom working in collaborative groups outside of class

poses an exceptional burden. We remember, for example, one student

who, in addition to a seventeen-quarter hour academic load, spent four

to five hours of road work a day training for an Olympic bicycling

event. He could spare only one hour, one day a week, to work with his

Assigning Groups


group. Obviously, a student who cannot meet with others outside the

classroom will be unable to contribute fully to his or her group. In this

particular case—and the principle applies more widely—the student

was allowed to undertake individualized, scaled-down versions of the

class’s writing projects and thus to fulfill the course requirements.

More frequently, we have encountered students who perform so

poorly that they pose a significant liability for their groups. We have

had students who seemed almost pathologically driven to subvert the

group’s efforts through habitual tardiness, failure to complete promised

tasks, or by being chronically critical or obstinate. Usually we resolve

these difficulties by allowing the problematic student to work alone, so

the cooperative students are not penalized or forced to carry the entire

workload. Altering evaluation strategies is another method for dealing

with difficult group members. In some cases, having separate grades for

group process and product may be effective in enabling all to receive the

evaluation they deserve. One of my colleagues has had students evalu-

ate themselves and their group members, including self-reporting the

percentage of work or support they each contributed toward the final

project. Final project grades were then adjusted accordingly to reward

those who contributed most or penalize those who did not do their fair

share.

Developing Group Ground Rules

Urge each group to develop its own drafting process. Some groups

are happier if each member drafts a separate section of the document

which the group will merge later as a complete draft. Other groups prefer

to have each member draft the entire document, with the group picking

and choosing the best parts of each. Still other groups prefer to huddle

around a single computer and write the entire document together from

scratch. Groups whose members have a hefty campus commute appre-

ciate the ability to conduct at least some of their work independently or

by telephone, e-mail, or online conferencing. We have even had groups

who faxed sections of their papers to each other. Troyka & Hesse’s hand-

book offers guidelines for collaborative writing in section 2x.

In any case, student groups should develop their own work styles,

determine their internal management rules, and allocate tasks however

they see fit. The instructor can monitor these arrangements by asking

students to keep a detailed, confidential log of each group meeting—both

in and out of class. The quality of these logs varies of course: high-

achieving students might write pages; low-achieving students might

write but a few paragraphs, generally focusing on tasks rather than ideas

or behaviors.



� aiming the grouPS toward SuCCeSS

Success in the Collaborative Writing Classroom

No matter how many drafts a group project undergoes, at some point

the text must be evaluated. But what measures of success are appropriate

to a collaborative project? In the traditional writing classroom, the answer

is straightforward enough. If a text is logically organized, well articulated,

presented from an interesting point of view, and more or less free of

mechanical errors, it can be considered a success. In the collaborative writ-

ing classroom, the issue of what constitutes a “good paper” is more compli-

cated. Naturally, a final draft of a collaborative project featuring the above

hallmarks of a well-written paper is—at least at the discursive level—

successful, but in the collaborative classroom one teaches both how to write

and how to work well with others. For this reason, we consider both peda-

gogical emphases during grading. Some groups collaborate very well

together, but for a variety of reasons produce a less than perfect product.

Other groups produce an excellent product, but do so by subverting the

aims of collaboration. Because we believe the goal of the collaborative

writing classroom is to teach both collaboration and writing, then success

can only be defined as a combination of good collaboration and a well-writ-

ten document. Thus, while grading, we consider a student text “good” only

when produced by a truly collaborative group.

Obviously, our increasingly grade-conscious students want to know

what, exactly, an “A” paper is—especially when they learn that “good

collaboration” is a class requirement. We include our students in the process

of defining an excellent collaborative paper by asking them to create a list

of discursive features and group behaviors that distinguish an “A” paper.

First the small groups draw up their lists, and then prioritize them. The

class discussion that follows can provide an excellent occasion to talk about

what makes a piece of writing interesting to a reader and what kinds of

group behavior constitute good collaboration. As groups report what they

came up with, we write their ideas on the board and by the end of class

have a list of criteria that the students agree should apply to the final eval-

uation of their writing. This exercise is important not only because it allows

collaborative groups input into the grading process, but also because

students remind one another of the criteria for a good paper and good

collaborative techniques as they work together.

Introduce Collaborative Work Sequentially

An informal survey of collaborative assignments in the writing class

indicates that they generally fall into four broad categories:

Aiming the Groups Toward Success


� brief aSSignmentS, perhaps short textbook problems, that

can be completed within the classroom, usually within one or

two class periods. For example, the Handbook’s exercises in

the sections on purpose [1b] or tone [1d] can be performed

collaboratively and result in a brief written summary of find-

ings.

� Short eSSayS or brief reSearCh PaPerS of relatively short

duration but which require that groups meet outside class.

� As preliminary exercises for extended research papers, collab-

orative groups can be sent to the library to do exploratory

research on their topic. After consulting all information resource

systems, students can collaboratively write a report that

discusses their topic’s major issues.

� major ProjeCtS, such as multi-part reports, which are long-

term assignments of several weeks’ duration requiring extensive

nonclassroom work for completion. (See below for examples of

major collaborative projects.)

� term-Long ProjeCtS, whether quarter or semester, which

are the focus of a course. Ideally, term-long projects should be

undertaken in the second of a two-term sequence after students

have had several opportunities to write with others.

We find that teaching collaboration works best if it is introduced

gradually and sequentially over the course of the term. In the beginning,

we assign short-term projects that minimize logistical difficulties and

give us an opportunity to assess individual and group dynamics. In addi-

tion, several short-term assignments, undertaken early in the semester or

quarter when the class is focusing on group roles and peer response tech-

niques, gives students a chance to adapt their customary approaches and

behavior patterns to the requirements of collaborative group work before

embarking on longer assignments. These brief, out-of-class assignments

can also serve as group invention exercises, providing students with an

occasion to gather and organize information even as they refine their

paper topics. At last, after several brief in-class assignments and at least

one short out-of-class exercise, students should be sufficiently comfort-

able with their group members’ working styles and the unique require-

ments of collaborative writing to embark on a major project. In our

classrooms, major projects take about three weeks to complete, which

allows time for two or three drafts and for at least two in-class peer

response sessions. While we think it is important to ease students into

collaborative writing, we also think that students should work on several



assignments simultaneously. Life is rarely one discrete task after another,

and being required to turn in drafts of major projects even as they begin

short writing tasks relevant to their next major project teaches them to

manage their time and intellectual activity.

Breaking the Ice

It is important for the instructor in the collaborative writing class-

room to recognize the essential nature of writing teams. Therefore, it is

good practice to allow a little time at the beginning of each class meet-

ing for groups to chat. (At first, you might have to explicitly tell students

that they have about five minutes to catch up on group gossip before

class gets rolling.) Before groups are assigned—and certainly right after

they have been—it will be necessary to orchestrate some ice-breaking

exercises that will give individual students a chance to meet one another

and to find out that collaborative writing can actually be fun. Here are

some ideas for getting the ball rolling:

Warming Up: In-class Collaborative Assignments

� Students compile the group’s schedule and phone list.

� Students interview each other and report back to the group what

they have discovered. This can also lead to the enumeration of exper-

tises, equipment, or capabilities that each member brings to the group.

� While students understand the concept of audience in a general

way, they also find writing for others intimidating. The following collab-

orative exercise can help students overcome this anxiety and simulta-

neously explore the concrete characteristics of an audience.

� Divide the class into groups of three to five.

� Ask your class to envision a group of refugees rescued from the

primitive conditions of nomadic life and brought to a modern

American city. Even after being shown how to operate the

lights and faucets in their apartments, the refugees remained so

innocent of the technologies that we take for granted that they

washed their clothes by soaking them in the sink and then

pounded them with heavy objects—just as they had done by

river banks for generations.

� Ask each group to craft a set of instructions that would tell the

refugees how to wash and dry their clothes using a modern

washer and dryer. Students will have to bear in mind that they

cannot take what they would consider “common knowledge”

for granted. Even simple commands like “open the lid” or

Aiming the Groups Toward Success


“check the lint filter” will require careful explanation—perhaps

even illustration.

In this exercise, the social nature of the interaction forces students

to articulate and practice what they know about audience needs. By

visiting each of the groups as they work, you can gather a few repre-

sentative comments demonstrating what your students already know

about their audience to share with the entire class when it comes time

to synthesize what was learned during the activity.

Create an Ongoing Discussion about Writing Projects

Another way that the collaborative writing instructor can point

student groups toward success is to require numerous individual writing

assignments that ask students to reflect consciously on what they are

learning as a result of writing with others. We usually require three kinds

of analytical writing from our students in addition to the brief, short,

and major assignments described above:

1: the worK PLan—a descriptive essay that specifies the group’s

paper topic and outlines the way they anticipate addressing it. The work

plan takes the form of a collaboratively produced memo addressed to the

instructor which spells out how the work will be organized and the labor

divided. Work plans should specify which paragraphs and/or sections each

group member will write, who will type the drafts, who will make copies

(if required for peer response work), who will proofread, and who will be

responsible for the paper getting in on time. In addition, the work plan can

be used to encourage students to think about group roles—who will act

as facilitator, or questioner, or idea person. There are several advantages

to this assignment:

� by introducing “first-timers” to collaborative writing through a

comparatively short, concrete project, you give them a chance

to adapt to each others’ working and writing styles with mini-

mal grade pressure;

� by asking group members to assign themselves specific tasks

during the drafting process, you encourage them to think in

detail about how they will organize their writing in advance;

and

� by getting students to commit to a plan of action, you can eval-

uate and respond to the “do-ability” of their projects before too

much time and energy has been expended on ideas that will not

work. While a work plan constrains students to plan their writ-

ing in advance, it need not suggest—as traditional outlines



sometimes do—an inviolably rigid structure into which all ideas

discovered during writing must fit. In fact, for another short,

graded writing task that encourages a critical awareness of the

writing process, you can ask students to write a follow-up

report that analyzes the ways in which producing the final draft

differs from the work plan.

2: the CoLLaborative Log—an ongoing diary of what the

group is doing even as they do it. The collaborative log should articu-

late the group’s agenda for each meeting and should report on who came

to the meetings, what each person contributed, and evaluate the degree

to which the group’s agenda was met. To insure that students keep their

collaborative logs up, the instructor can collect them for review about

halfway through a major project. As an alternative effort to keep abreast

of developments within the group, we have occasionally asked that

students write progress reports based on their collaborative logs.

3: the PoSt-PaPer anaLySiS—a synthesis and analysis of how

and to what degree the group’s project changed from the time of the

work plan until the day the final draft was handed in for evaluation. The

post-paper analysis (one of our students renamed this paper the “post-

mortem”) should also summarize how the student felt about the work his

or her group did. Does the writer consider the group’s effort to be good

collaboration? What grade does the student think the paper deserves and

why? Should everyone receive the same grade?

These writing assignments tend to represent all of James Moffet’s

“modes of discourse” from the basic recording and reporting of experi-

ences in collaborative writing groups (as formalized by the collaborative

logs) to generalizing and theorizing (as made available in the postpaper

analyses and work plans, respectively). The collaborative writing class-

room as we have envisioned it requires many different written products,

and the assignments have been created to teach the “content” obtaining

to the writing classroom while at the same time encouraging students to

make how they write an object of reflection and analysis. Thus, we can,

through one series of short writing assignments, reinforce classroom

discussions of readers’ needs and Moffet’s modes of discourse, gather

“insider” information into the workings of collaborative groups, and give

students plenty of practice in writing.

Leave Room for Innovation and the Imagination

Recent research on small group dynamics suggests that the quality and

number of ideas generated by invention is enhanced by having group

members first engage individually in such prewriting activities as mapping,

Designing Collaborative Writing Assignments That Work


clustering, and focused free-writing before coming together for group brain-

storming. During group brainstorming, collaborative groups should select

a “scribe” to record all reactions and ideas that surface as the group works

on an assignment. Before the group pursues its topic any farther, have its

members repeat the individual-first, group-second prewriting process on

the new, narrower idea.

If you are lucky enough to be in a classroom equipped with tables

and moveable chairs, you can supply each group with large sheets of

butcher paper so its members can map out invention topics while seated

around a table. Group mapping also works if your room has multiple

chalkboards. Just be sure your groups are supplied with enough chalk to

map their ideas at one of the boards. When students map together they

can pool their resources for generative topic ideas and organizational

strategies.

� deSigning CoLLaborative writing

aSSignmentS that worK

Selecting a Topic

In general, we think that students rather than instructors should select

paper topics. Student motivation is stimulated when they are allowed work

on subjects that pique their interest. Of course, the teacher can point

students in productive directions. We find that supplying students with a

general purpose or genre provides them with a lens through which to focus

their interests. Thus, instead of handing students a menu of paper topics,

we assign papers dealing with specific themes (see below). For example,

the paper on public policy asks student groups to gather as much infor-

mation as possible on any issue that is an object of law. Within the large

purpose of reporting all sides of a public policy debate—or the history of

a public policy that directly affects them—students have the freedom to

select any of a hundred topics ranging from legislation concerning drink-

ing and voting ages to proposals for solving the nation’s growing health-

care crisis to the debate surrounding gays in the military. The principle of

using topic selection to encourage student motivation can also apply within

the groups themselves. Thus, you will want to emphasize to your students

the importance of choosing a topic that everyone in the group agrees to.

Consensus rather than majority rule is the key to successful collaboration.

A student left out of the initial decision may feel no subsequent commit-

ment to the group effort.



Once groups have selected a topic, we ask each group to write a well-

developed audience profile. Have the groups articulate exactly whom they

would expect to read their work. For example, if the group decides to

write a paper on the parking problem on campus, group members should

be clear about whom they see as their primary audience. Do they perceive

a secondary audience for their writing as well? What can they assume

their primary and secondary audiences know and do not know about the

parking problem? How much background will they need to include in

their paper to be sure that their readers fully understand the issues they

raise? What kind of tone is appropriate for the audiences they have iden-

tified? Writing a statement of purpose for their writing can be a useful

preliminary to tackling a major project: for example, “This paper will

persuade the administration to schedule classes in a way that minimizes

parking lot overcrowding at eight in the morning.” Alternately, the indi-

vidual members of the group could write separate statements of purpose,

comparing and combining them afterwards.

The Teacher’s Role in Drafting

As described above, the teacher in the collaborative learning and

writing environment moves to the periphery of the learning activity in

order to allow students to step up and take responsibility for their educa-

tions. This in no way minimizes the importance of the teacher. The

instructor must create an environment hospitable to collaborative learn-

ing by creating a variety of in-class and out-of-class exercises that will

give students hands-on experience with the vast array of principles and

skills that conduce to good writing. Though working around the edges of

classroom activity, the teacher must be alert to the sometimes subtle

signals that a group is struggling, and must then decide when and if to

intervene. The teacher must also be able to move from group to group,

and be ready to suggest alternatives, answer questions, point students

toward useful resources, or simply to share a joke. If much of the collab-

oration takes place online, the teacher may need the ability to “lurk” in

some group conversations and activities.

Thus, even punctuation lessons can be an opportunity for student

interaction. Instead of defining such abstract notions as what commas

are and why participle, infinitive, and absolute phrases need them

[42C], the teacher can set a task that will require students in groups to

read, review, analyze, and use the comma rule information in their

Handbooks. Or students can identify such sentence-level units as

restrictive and nonrestrictive elements [42F], coordinate adjectives

[42E], and transitional and parenthetical expressions [42G] in their

own writing. To encourage them to synthesize and apply the abstract

Designing Collaborative Writing Assignments That Work


information in the Handbook to their own, very concrete writing,

students also could be asked to create short documents that report how

many of which kind of unit they discovered and whether or not a

comma should be used in such a case. Thus even learning punctuation

rules can be fun when students learn, analyze, and apply their new-

found knowledge together. Ask each member of a group to be the

“expert” on a particular mark of punctuation: commas, periods, semi-

colons, colons, quotation marks, and so forth. In proofreading, let each

“expert” find the errors and explain to the writer how to correct them.

On successive papers, have the students rotate the punctuation assign-

ments, so that each gains expertise in all areas of punctuation. For

underprepared students, starting with just commas, say, or periods, is

less intimidating than learning and applying all punctuation rules at

once. Peer discussion and reinforcement of the rules provides a more

effective learning experience than asking individual students to correct

teacher-marked errors.

Modify Assessment and Grading

Some instructors assign a single grade to the entire group; others

assign grades individually, and others use some combination of the two

methods, each student receiving both a group grade and an individual

grade. While it is typical practice to assign grades based on the techni-

cal quality and discursive maturity of the final text, the success of a

collaborative assignment should derive from other bases as well:

� the completion of the project

� the finding of an appropriate solution or resolution to the prob-

lem or case

� the group’s equitable allocation of work or tasks

� nonwritten aspects of the completed project (such as oral

presentation, visuals, and the evaluation and presentation of

numerical data)

� the students’ sense of successful completion

� the students’ having learned something about group processes

Whether an instructor measures these factors in formal assessment

or informally for course development, we believe that each represents

an important part of what is taught through the collaborative project.

We have heard it jokingly suggested that teaching collaborative writ-

ing will diminish an instructor’s workload by having students work

collaboratively. Would that it were true! We have found that even



though the collaborative method causes the exchange of twenty-five

individual papers and drafts for eight or so collaboratively produced

papers and drafts, the time it takes to evaluate collaboratively produced

papers evens the scale. And, of course, instructors must also judge the

information they gain from all those smallish writing assignments that

help students analyze and synthesize the writing process.

Creating Prompts That Encourage Analysis, Synthesis, and Self-reflection

For the collaborative writing instructor, the most demanding expen-

diture of creative energy is planning writing assignments that can accom-

plish many goals simultaneously. As discussed above, the writing

instructor must deploy a wide range of writing assignments—and at the

right time—in order to teach students how to collaborate effectively and

how, when collaborating, to write with precision and power. Despite the

difficulty of creating workable prompts, we usually follow a few general

principles:

� Prompts should lay out an activity that encourages conversa-

tion, information exchange, and speculation, and that results in

a written product.

� Prompts should ask students either to analyze a content-oriented

issue in a sample text or synthesize the group’s discussion of

the prompt.

� Prompts should make it the students’ responsibility to discover

what principles apply to a given problem. It defeats the purpose

of collaborative learning if you tell them what they will find if

they look closely enough at the situation you have drawn to their

attention. Likewise, prompts should ask students to engage in an

activity that gives them practice using a particular concept (e.g.,

the audience analysis and discovering purpose exercise described

above).

� Prompts should solicit self-reflection. Individuals should be

urged to respond personally to the situations and issues that

your prompts bring into focus.

In addition to this general advice about creating prompts, we further

suggest that you avoid leading groups into discussing and writing about

volatile, irresolvable subjects. Collaboration works when students can

share and develop concepts and ideas. Positions set in stone are rarely

amenable to any kind of modification, and an inability to negotiate a posi-

Diagnosing Problems in the Collaborative Group


tion on an issue will likely make negotiation of writing processes impos-

sible as well. Topics like abortion, gun control, religious beliefs, or family

values do not work very well as discussion or paper topics because—

despite our students’ natural attraction to them—they are not conducive

to the development of congenial relations among group members nor to

the development of balanced papers.

� diagnoSing ProbLemS in the CoLLaborative

grouP

Collaborative learning, collaborative writing, and collaborative

projects are extraordinarily useful, but not unproblematic, tools for the

teacher of writing. As teachers new to collaborative writing soon learn,

despite their best efforts, sometimes collaborative projects simply do not

work. While the benefits of collaboration in the writing classroom are

manifold, it is important to be aware of what we call “collaborative

breakdown.” Because the dynamics of each class can vary widely, moni-

tor each group’s progress.

Among the clues to incipient breakdown are:

� Individual student anxiety as interim or final deadlines

approach;

� A group’s inability to decide what to do or how to do it;

� Students asking to change groups or have an assignment modi-

fied; and

� A work load that seems inequitably distributed.

To increase the likelihood that the instructor will learn of any prob-

lems in time to intervene, part of every collaborative project should

include individual assessments by the students. These can take the form

of conferences, journals, or the memos and/or progress reports we

referred to above. Equally important, the instructor should schedule

group work on regular class days so that he or she can sit in on each

group to evaluate how well they are functioning.

Watching for the Five Fields of Dissonance

In our studies of student collaborative work, we have identified five

major causes of trouble: 1) logistical difficulties; 2) personality conflict;

3) differing cognitive abilities; 4) differences in epistemological devel-

opment; and 5) differences in social background. While these vexing

spirits can rarely be cast out by the instructor, being able to identify



them may permit a teacher to modify an assignment or better evaluate

its success.

the LogiStiCS of CoLLaboration. Perhaps there are a fortunate

few instructors who have no students who are working at least one job

to make ends meet and gain work experience while they are in school.

But many of us expect that at least half our students will have one or

two part-time jobs in addition to their full-time class load. In some cases,

students have family responsibilities, too. In one of our early collabora-

tive writing classes, Chuck reported, “Tom, Michelle, and I all work

different hours, and getting together to write out drafts of our paper was

impossible.” Competing demands on our students’ time may make it

impossible or extremely difficult for them to work outside the classroom

as a group and, as we have already mentioned, the instructor should

make every effort to minimize scheduling conflicts. Providing interac-

tive Web-based tools can help students work around differing schedules

and time constraints.

differenCeS in Cognitive abiLity. Another area of difficulty

that can work against successful collaboration is differing cognitive

maturity. Cognitive development specialists tell us that the composing

process comprises a tremendous variety of mental operations, ranging

from understanding the assignment, to remembering relevant facts, to

imagining and seeking to meet the needs of an audience, to organizing

data in such a way that it may be presented in a clear and logical manner

(e.g., Flower and Hayes, 1984), but it also includes the basics of liter-

acy—reading and writing. Thus, when we speak of the cognitive matu-

rity of a writer or a group of writers we are referring to the facility with

which that writer or that group can usefully conceptualize and execute

the requirements of a writing task. And of course, not all students are

created with equal abilities. Some students will be able to conceptual-

ize problems and propose solutions posed by and directed toward a writ-

ing task more adequately than their facility with the language will allow

them to demonstrate on paper. Conversely, there are writers who are

extremely facile with the language, but whose thinking is nevertheless

superficial.

In the context of collaborative work, a form of cognitive dissonance

occurs when students with varying levels of cognitive maturity tackle a

problem together—a situation which holds both pedagogical promise

and peril. The promise is that students, regardless of maturity, can learn

problem-solving techniques and efficient strategies for reading, writing,

and organizing more effectively from one another than from a textbook

or a teacher (Daiute, 1986). The peril lies in the fact that cognitive disso-

nance frequently leads to frustration and impatience, and even to the



formation of factions or the dissolution of the group itself. The more

cognitively mature student may become impatient with her less advanced

group members and usurp control of the project.

ePiStemoLogiCaL deveLoPment in ConfLiCt. In his study of

Harvard students, William G. Perry (1970) proposed a nine-stage scale

of epistemological development along which the individual moved from

dualism—an authoritarian, black-or-white view of the world, to multi-

plicity—the recognition of other points of view; and finally a commit-

ment in relativism—taking a personal stand while also accepting other

points of view. Epistemological dissonance occurs when different

members of a group are at different stages along Perry’s continuum. The

problem for classroom collaboration is not only that students may be

operating at different epistemic levels, but also that students cannot

comprehend the “ways of knowing” of their co-members. The dualist,

regardless of the sophistication of his or her writing abilities, cannot

understand how the group can develop alternative solutions to a prob-

lem. A student at the multiplistic stage may be able to recognize views

other than his or her own, but be unable to evaluate their relative

strengths. Achieving consensus can be difficult when a member of a

group does not know how to compare and choose among alternative

solutions that may appear to have equal merit. Such a student may bow

to the loudest voice or, unsure of his or her own position, say simply “do

what you guys want to do.” Even a student who may have attained the

upper reaches of Perry’s scale (and we do not believe that “a commit-

ment in relativism” is the likely endpoint for most individuals) may not

tolerate the dogmatism or apparent “wishy-washyness” of the less epis-

temologically advanced student and may react either by withdrawing

from the group or by attempting to dominate it.

PerSonaL diSSonanCe. Most instructors know when they have a

personality problem in class. A student’s aberrant behavior or argumen-

tative stance manifests itself early in the term. In a work setting, such an

individual would be weeded out—or at least pruned—early in his or her

employment history, but rarely is a student so disruptive that he or she is

ejected from class. Yet even a small disruptive element is antithetical to

group process, and a perverse streak may totally sabotage a group’s work.

Other personality problems are the aggressive student whose personality

force dominates the other students and the shy or quiet student who is

unable to present his or her views or is unable to take on the parts of the

assignment that he or she is best suited for. Related to this phenomenon

is the dissonance that can arise from students who have differing levels

of motivation. Students who need high GPAs in order to qualify for schol-



arships in their majors will not appreciate being grouped with students

who are taking your class credit/no-credit. Some students want to put

forth the least amount of work possible while others take great pride in

each task. Even without considering grades, students do not always come

to class with the same priorities and degree of commitment. The instruc-

tor cannot change a student’s personality or supply motivation, but she

can teach students about the ways in which personality and motivation

factors can affect group interaction. The teacher can also consider these

factors when assigning groups—when logical considerations do not

completely dictate groupings.

SoCiaL diSSonanCe. This little-discussed area of interpersonal fric-

tion can be defined as the clashing work behaviors that derive from differ-

ing socioeconomic backgrounds and which influence task representation,

work ethic, and degree of imagination or risk-taking. Rather than view-

ing the matter in stereotypical terms—“working class attitudes,”

“women’s ways of knowing,” etc.—we see this area of dissonance as

deriving from differing “dialects of behavior.” Although what we have

called the “dialect of behavior” shares much conceptually with a

“discourse community,” we believe that the behavioral dialect encom-

passes more than shared discourse. It was only after teaching at three

very different institutions that we became aware of the considerable

differences in response that could be engendered by the same assign-

ments. For example, in responding to an ethics case regarding a corrupt

politician, students in Arcata, California, and Columbus, Ohio, saw it as

only the behavior problem of one individual. Students in Youngstown,

Ohio, on the other hand, assumed mob connections and a general corrup-

tion in politics. In Arcata, environmental concern among students is taken

for granted; in Columbus, it is much less widespread. As another exam-

ple, in the Youngstown area, positions of authority and responsibility are

accorded considerable deference. Thus, on second reference in a news-

paper, a lawyer is identified as “Attorney Smith.” Professors with doctor-

ates are always “Dr.” In both Columbus and Arcata, “Dr.” is usually

reserved for physicians and dentists, and attorneys are not accorded

special status.

Behavioral dialect may also account for the degree of comfort a

student experiences with hierarchical or nonhierarchical structures; the

degree to which a student resists responsibility for her or his education;

and the expectation the student has for the location of authority—all of

which have implications for the decentered, nonhierarchical, shared-

authority collaborative classroom. Such social factors can cause collabo-

rative breakdown when members of a group do not share the same

behavioral dialect or when a shared behavioral dialect does not permit



satisfactory completion of an assignment. Interestingly, factors attrib-

utable to behavioral dialect often supersede attitudes or behaviors

predicted from class, ethnic, or gender theory.

Mediating Conflict

While there are many potential sources of collaborative break-

down in the writing classroom, those considering teaching collab-

orative writing for the first time should know that complete

breakdown is the exception and not the rule. Most groups instinc-

tively compensate for tensions and imbalances—if for no other

reason than they want to pass the class. But most frequently, collab-

orative groups demonstrate that human beings are thoroughly social

animals with considerable reserves of tolerance, understanding, and

humor to smooth their ways to successful completion of a shared

task—whatever the perceived reward. This table distills responses

that experience has shown can help teachers of collaborative writ-

ing nurture students’ innate social strengths:FIELD OF DISSO-NANCE INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE

LOGISTICAL

• Acknowledge students’ scheduling diffi-culties by showing flexibility on due datesand course expectations.

• Allow in-class group work time.

• Set up online conferencing sites

• Arrange groups with consideration forschedules.

• Solicit students’ self-appraisals and prefer-ences.

PERSONAL

• Provide alternative models for behavior ingroups (suggest such roles as “ideaperson,” “elaborator,” and “group scribe”)to minimize reliance on traditional leader-follower paradigm.

• Be willing to give a disruptive personalityan individual assignment rather than insist-ing on group participation.

• Recognize that all students are not createdwith equal abilities nor does their cogni-tive development proceed at the samepace.



fieLd of diSSonanCe inStruCtor rePSonSe

COGNITIvE

• Graduate the complexity of assignments overthe course of the term to permit what develop-ment can take place to take place.

• Group students at different cognitive levels onlywhen motivation appears equal.

• Accept that students’ intellectual contributionsmay not be equal.

EPISTEMIC

• Recognize that students at the lower end of thedevelopment scale cannot perceive the views ofthose in positions above them.

• Because students at the lower end of the epis-temic scale may be incapable of responding toopen-ended assignments or assignments inwhich a group is expected to develop its ownapproach, be prepared to provide explicit direc-tions.

SOCIAL

• Develop awareness of and adjust to localknowledge.

• Provide in-class opportunities for encounteringand discussing other perspectives, other norms.

� aSSignmentS that worK

Some Field-tested Prompts To Get You Started

Ultimately, the only way to learn how to teach writing in a collab-

orative classroom is to devise the best syllabus you can and give it a

whirl. All of the advice presented in these pages derives from years of

trial and error, and while we have had some spectacular failures along

the way, we do not think that those classes where failures occurred

learned less about writing that those we conducted according to the more

traditional model. Collaborative writing, like democracy, may be the

worst way to teach writing—except for all other ways of teaching it.

What follows are several assignments that have proven winners in many

collaborative writing classes. We hope that, like us, you will be amazed

at how creative students can be when they are fully engaged in the learn-

ing and writing process.

Research Paper 1: Thinking Green

Everyone is talking about our deteriorating environment—deforesta-

tion, strip mining, acid rain, overfishing, overfertilization, the difficulties

of disposing of toxic and nuclear wastes. But what are the facts? What do

Assignments That Work


you really know about any environmental issue? Where does your infor-

mation come from? How reliable is it? This assignment lets you gain some

expertise in at least one area of environmental concern and draw your

own conclusions.

What information you will need: Once you have decided on a topic,

you will need to dig up information on at least three issues: 1) the

physics of the problem—how the environmental impact occurs; 2) the

biology of the problem—what happens to the plants and animals affected

by the problem, and 3) the socioeconomics of the problem—the human

activities and needs that occasion the environmental impact. (Some

papers will also have to consider the “chemistry of the problem”—what

chemical compounds are released as a result of the environmental impact

and what chemical reactions result from this release.)

How you actually organize the paper will, as always, be dependent

on the logic that best explains your chosen topic. However, generally

speaking, the reader can understand the biology of a problem better than

he or she already understands why the affected organisms are in harm’s

way in the first place. It may be, though, that you find it more sensible

to explain the socioeconomics of the problem you are studying even as

you relate how that problem occurs. In any case, you will need to work

out a provisional strategy and present it in your work plan.

Editorial

As stated in the syllabus, you will work collaboratively with several

other students to develop and write a persuasive essay on a subject upon

which you all agree. To get to this point, you will need to do some

legwork.

SteP 1: Write brief papers (approximately 350–500 words) in which

each of you explains the significance of the issue you have chosen.

SteP 2: Each member of the group will write a paper explaining the

facts of the issue.

SteP 3: Divide the group. One half will write a pro paper and the

other half, a con paper.

SteP 4: Finally your group will reach consensus on the issue and

write a persuasive essay advocating the position you have agreed on. You

will use secondary sources to build your case. (If students struggle to

come to consensus on a position, they may try to develop a Rogerian

argument instead.)

grading: Significance: 3 points, Facts: 5 points, Pro/Con: 7 points,

Final Essay: 10 points—for a total of 25 points.



As you have learned from the editorials that you have read and those

shared in class, educated opinions are the basis of strong persuasion,

and facts are the basis for educated opinions. Persuading others to follow

the course of action you advocate—whether voting for a candidate,

contributing to the United Way, or wearing seat belts—requires that you

not only provide sound reasoning but that you consider the audience

you are trying to persuade and the purpose you have in persuading them.

While it may be said that “everyone is entitled to his or her opin-

ion,” everyone is not entitled to have that opinion listened to. There are

good opinions and bad ones; part of your job in this assignment is to

determine which opinions are valid and which are not.

In general, opinions whose credibility relies on higher authority (the

government, the Constitution, the Bible, etc.) are not arguable and only

rarely can they be used to bring about change in the hands of the edito-

rial writer. Thus, any argument you wish to advance that uses the Bible

or other religious work as authority will probably be inappropriate in

this class. Rather, your job is to seek out the facts that explain and

issue—taking great care in the source of those facts—sort through those

facts, write opinions that support each side of an issue (for example, on

using or not using motorcycle helmets) and then write an editorial, or

public policy statement, on that issue—a fact-based persuasive essay.

Pick a subject all of you are content with. Obviously, any topic on

which you cannot be objective is out: no gun control, abortion, prayer

in the schools, or anything else which causes members of the group to

raise their voices. Instead, select a subject which is interesting, which is

under contention, and for which information is readily available.

A good editorial runs about 500 to 750 words, almost never more.

However, an explanation of the facts and a discussion of opinion may,

in fact, run a lot longer. One of the jobs of the editorial is to distill those

facts to educate the reader.

While your facts and opinion essay must be documented, the final

editorial should not be.

Research Paper 2: How Public Policy Is Created

It is easy to criticize government officials: to say they are crooks,

they don’t keep promises, they aren’t principled, or they just do not use

common sense. But these easy criticisms fail to consider the difficulty

of creating laws that are simultaneously intelligent, fair, and politically

possible. The question remains: What influences shape public policy?

What information is considered? What pressures do special-interest

groups exert? How do such abstract and occasionally relative moral

Assignments That Work


values like right and wrong figure in the making of public policy? The

ultimate goal of this assignment, then, is to pick a public policy issue,

to figure out what is being said about it and by whom, and to explain to

your readers how power, fact, opinion, and belief have influenced (or are

influencing) law and behavior.

What information you will need: Choose an area of public policy

that interests you, read all you can about it, and write a report that

explains what you found out. The possibilities are almost endless—

health care, gay marriage, America’s role in Iraq (or anywhere else),

standardized testing in public schools, campaign finance reform, “sin

taxes” on items, such as alcohol or cigarettes, stem cell research, drug

testing of athletes—you name it! But watch it! This is not a persuasive

paper; you will not be arguing one point of view or another. Instead,

you will be presenting all the points of view on a given issue in a way

that fairly represents them.

Stuck for ideas? Read through the front sections of the Washington

Post or the New York Times or Los Angeles Times for the last couple of

weeks and see what public policy issues they are discussing. Your group

should find something you think is crucial.

Organizing your research: You will probably find it most logical to

begin by discussing the problem that the public policy you are investi-

gating has been proposed to solve. What is its history? What is its social

impact? Who is affected? What would the proposed policy do to change

the status quo? What is the hoped-for result? It would be all right to

give more weight to the legislative history of your issue than its social

effects, but you must discuss some of both.

� more about CoLLaboration

While collaborative writing has become an important focus of

composition studies in the past ten years, the idea of an individual’s

copyright to “intellectual property” is relatively new. The history of writ-

ing extends back five thousand years, but the notion that a solitary indi-

vidual can create “original” written work and then possess that work as

property has only existed for a little over two hundred years (cf. Ede and

Lunsford, 1–6). Prior to the seventeenth century, books frequently

compiled the written work of others and only infrequently cited the orig-

inal writers. Prior to the seventeenth century, written ideas, like talk,

belonged to everyone in a linguistic community. Indeed, before mass

literacy and the widespread availability of inexpensive printed materi-

als, written ideas were only available to most through oral transmission.

These communal notions about intellectual property gradually changed



as it became increasingly possible for individual writers to achieve fame

and fortune through their pens. Yet, even as novelists, poets, and play-

wrights became increasingly more concerned with the ownership of their

words, the industrial revolution created its own species of corporately

owned language (Ede and Lunsford, 5). Throughout the nineteenth

century and into our own time, written discourse in science, business,

and industry has become a corporate product. Most scientific reports

rely on the work and ideas of teams of researchers. Corporations

frequently distribute information to shareholders and the public that

acknowledges no one but the company.

Today our students are bewildered by the range of views on intel-

lectual property. While software companies and the music and movie

industries wage international war on copyright “pirates,” those same

companies ask their employees to imagine their individual efforts as

contributions to a large team. One might well create a new software

program for Microsoft, but one should not expect authorship credit.

Preparing for their careers, students pass through an academic estab-

lishment that is deeply concerned that students do their own work.

Plagiarism and cheating are represented as moral bankruptcy while the

sharing of information is discouraged. Graduate students in the sciences

might well find themselves conducting experiments and writing reports

for senior scientists for which they receive no name credit in institutions

where they could be expelled for passing off the words of others as their

own. English majors could easily find themselves taught to value the

individual genius and unique creative power of virginia Woolf in classes

entitled “Woolf and the Bloomsbury Circle.”

It is in this conflicted context that recent research on collaborative

writing has been conducted. Beginning as early as 1963, Derek J. de

Solla Price noted the increase in the number of scientific articles written

by large teams. From the mid-sixties until the early seventies, Price

(1963), Hagstrum (1964), Clarke (1964), Price and Beaver (1966), Zuck-

erman (1967), Weinberg (1970), and Crane (1972) identified the research

and reporting practices of those working in the sciences and social

sciences. In 1973, Kenneth Bruffee introduced the fledgling discipline of

composition studies to “practical models of collaborative learning.”

Response to Bruffee’s early work was slow in emerging, however. In the

1970s, composition studies were largely preoccupied with the claims of

“expressivist” and “writing-as-process” schools of thought—both of

which emphasized the importance of the individual’s voice, ideas, and

composing processes. It was not until the early 1980s, when Richard

Gebhardt (1980) and John Clifford (1981) each published essays

discussing the ways in which collaboration affects writing pedagogy, that

More About Collaboration


a large number of researchers began to examine collaborative learning

and writing from the compositionist’s point of view.

Since the early 1980s, research on collaborative writing has divided

itself into three main strands: 1) studies and analysis of collaboration in

“nonacademic settings”; 2) defining and describing models of collabora-

tion; and 3) the interpersonal dynamics of collaborative groups. Begin-

ning with Faigley and Miller’s “What We Learn Writing on the Job”

(1982), it is clear that research into the collaborative activities of those

working outside the academy has become the most important research

site. Odell and Goswami’s Writing in Nonacademic Settings (1985) is

perhaps the most logical starting place for those interested in off-campus

collaborative activity. Introduced in Odell and Goswami’s collection are

several oft-cited essays on collaborative writing research, including Paul

Anderson’s “What Survey Research Tells Us about Writing at Work” and

Paradis, Dobrin, and Miller’s “Writing at ExxON ITD: Notes on the Writ-

ing Environment of an R&D Organization.” Yet, despite the historical

importance of Odell and Goswami’s collection, the “seminal” text on

collaborative writing is Ede and Lunsford’s superbly researched Single

Texts/Plural Authors (1990), which presents a history of notions of

authorship, statistical information on what kinds of writing really are

done in the world outside the academy, and a rationale for a collabora-

tive pedagogy. Other important texts on nonacademic collaboration are

Lay and Karis’s Collaborative Writing in Industry: Investigations in

Theory and Practice (1990) and Burnett and Duin’s Collaboration in

Technical and Professional Communication: A Research Perspective

(1995).

The second important area in collaborative research is composed of

those studies which consider the various kinds of collaboration. While

many of those investigating what collaboration is and how it works do

their work in nonacademic settings, the emphasis on models of collabo-

ration can derive from any research base. Killingsworth and Jones’s and

Couture and Rhymer’s 1989 studies, for example, pay particular attention

to defining what workplace collaboration is and when it occurs, while

Beard, Rhymer, and Williams focus their 1989 essay on how properly to

assess collaborative writing groups. Several essays describing nonacad-

emic models for collaboration, including those by Debs and Selzer, can

be found in Fearing and Sparrow’s collection Technical Writing: Theory

and Practice (1989). One can also find important essays discussing

conceptual frameworks for understanding collaboration in Forman’s New

Visions of Collaborative Writing (1992). Other useful texts discussing

models of small groups are Hare’s somewhat dated Handbook of Small

Group Research (1976), Swap’s Group Decision Making (1984), and



Hirokawa and Poole’s Communication and Group Decision Making

(1986). Those particularly interested in how collaborative models drawn

from industry have been translated into collaborative writing pedagogy

should consult Phillips’s Teaching How to Work in Groups (1990).

The last major area in collaborative writing research investigates

the “sociology” of small groups. In addition to the aforementioned

collection by Forman, one will find a good overview of relevant small-

group dynamics in Blyler and Thralls’s Professional Communication:

The Social Perspective (1993). Included in this volume is Burnett’s

“Conflict in Collaborative Decision Making,” which those new to teach-

ing collaborative writing should find valuable as a summary of research

into how conflict can either mediate or enhance the quality of collabo-

rative efforts. Our own “Fields of Dissonance in the Collaborative Writ-

ing Classroom” builds on Burnett’s work by presenting an even more

complex picture of the small-group working dynamic. In addition to

small group “conflict,” gender studies perspectives have also been

brought to bear on research into collaboration. Lunsford and Ede’s

“Rhetoric in a New Key” (1990), for example, distinguishes between a

predominantly male “hierarchical mode of discourse” and the predom-

inantly female “dialogic mode.” Lay’s “The Androgynous Collaborator:

The Impact of Gender Studies on Collaboration” (1992) also asserts the

importance of gender in determining interpersonal dynamics in groups,

suggesting that attention must be paid to gender stereotyping when

students evaluate their collaborative groups. Raign and Sims’s 1993

“Gender, Persuasion Techniques, and Collaboration” amplifies the issues

raised in Lunsford and Ede and also in Lay. In addition to these impor-

tant articles, Nadler, Nadler, and Todd-Mancillas’s Advances in Gender

and Communication Research (1987) provides a good starting point for

those interested in exploring communications theory, gender, and

language.

Still other researchers have urged the importance of incorporating

self-monitoring strategies into collaborative work—most notably,

Forman and Katsky’s article discussing the importance of groups remain-

ing aware of both writing and group processes (1986). To build a solid

general background in how small groups work we suggest reading

around in Morse and Phelps’s Interpersonal Communication: A Rela-

tional Perspective (1980), Klauss and Bass’s Interpersonal Communi-

cation in Organizations (1982), Rolloff and Miller’s Interpersonal

Processes: New Directions in Communication Research (1989), Ross’s

Small Groups in Organizational Settings (1989), Napier and Gershen-

feld’s Groups: Theory and Experience (fifth edition, 1993), and Frey’s

Group Communication in Context (1994).

Works Cited


worKS Cited

Beard, John D., Jone Rymer, and David L. Williams. “An Assessment

System for Collaborative-Writing Groups: Theory and Empirical

Evaluation.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication 3

(1989): 29–51.

Bruffee, Kenneth. “Collaborative Learning: Some Practical Models.”

College English 35 (1973): 634–42.

–––. “Collaborative Learning and the ‘Conversation of Mankind.’ ”


Burnett, Rebecca E. “Conflict in Collaborative Decision Making.”

Professional Communication: The Social Perspective. Eds., Nancy

R. Blyler and Charlotte Thralls. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE, 1993.

144–62.

Burnett, Rebecca E. and Ann Hill Duin. Collaboration in Technical and

Professional Communication: A Research Perspective. Hillsdale,

NJ: Erlbaum, 1995.

Clarke, Beverly. “Multiple Authorship Trends in Scientific Papers.”

Science 143 (1964): 822–24.

Clifford, John. “Composing in Stages: The Effects of a Collaborative

Pedagogy.” Research in the Teaching of Writing 14 (1981): 37–53.

Couture, Barbara and Jone Rymer. “Interactive Writing on the Job: Defi-

nitions and Implications of ‘Collaboration.’ ” Writing in the Busi-

ness Professions. Ed. Mura Kogan. Urbana, IL: National Council of

the Teachers of English, 1989.

Crane, Diane. Invisible Colleges: Diffusion of Knowledge in Scientific

Communities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972.

Daiute, Collette. “Do 1 and 1 Make 2?: Patterns of Influence by Collab-

orative Authors.” Written Communication 3 (1986): 382–408.

De Solla Price, Derek J. Little Science, Big Science. New York: Colum-

bia University Press, 1963.

De Solla Price, Derek J. and Donald Beaver. “Collaboration in an Invis-

ible College.” American Psychologist 21 (1964): 241–63.

Ede, Lisa and Andrea A. Lunsford. Single Texts/Plural Authors: Perspec-

tives on Collaborative Writing. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois

University Press, 1990.

Faigley, Lester and Thomas Miller. “What We Learn from Writing on the

Job.” College English 44 (1982): 557–69.



Fearing, Bertie E. and W. Keats Sparrow. Technical Writing: Theory and

Practice. New York: Modern Language Association, 1989.

Flower, Linda and John R. Hayes. “Images, Plans, and Prose: The Repre-

sentation of Meaning in Writing.” Written Communication 1 (1986):

120–60.

Forman, Janis. New Visions of Collaborative Writing. Portsmouth, NH:

Boynton/Cook, 1992.

Forman, Janis and Patricia Katsky. “The Group Report: A Problem in

Small Group or Writing Processes?” The Journal of Business

Communication 23 (1986): 23–35.

Frey, Lawrence R. Group Communication in Context: Studies of Natural

Groups. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1994.

Gebhardt, Richard. “Teamwork and Feedback: Broadening the Base of

Collaborative Writing.” College English 42 (1980): 69–74.

Hagstrum, Warren O. “Traditional and Modern Forms of Scientific

Teamwork.” Administrative Science Quarterly 9 (1964): 241–63.

Hare, A. Paul. Handbook of Small Group Research. New York: Free

Press, 1976.

Hirokawa, Randy Y. and Marshall S. Poole. Communication and Group

Decision Making. Beverly Hills: SAGE, 1986.

Killingsworth, M. Jimmie and Betsy G. Jones. “Division of Labor or

Integrated Teams: A Crux in the Management of Technical Commu-

nication?” Technical Communication 36 (1989): 210–21.

Klauss, R. and B.M. Bass. Interpersonal Communication in Organiza-

tions. New York: Academic, 1987.

Lay, Mary M. “The Androgynous Collaborator: The Impact of Gender

Studies on Collaboration.” New Visions of Collaborative Writing.

Ed. Janis Foreman. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1992. 82–104.

Lay, Mary M. and William M. Karis. Collaborative Writing in Industry:

Investigations in Theory and Practice. New York: Baywood, 1990.

Lunsford, Andrea A. and Lisa Ede. “Rhetoric in a New Key: Women and

Collaboration.” Rhetoric Review 8 (1990): 234–41.

Moffett, James. Teaching the Universe of Discourse. Boston: Houghton

Mifflin, 1983.

Morse, B.W. and L.A. Phelps. Interpersonal Communication: A Rela-

tional Perspective. Minneapolis: Burgess, 1980.

Nadler, Lawrence B., Marjorie K. Nadler, and William R. Todd-Mancil-

las. Advances in Gender and Communication Research. Lanham:

University Press of America, 1987.

Works Cited


Napier, Rodney W. and Matti K. Gershenfeld. Groups: Theory and Expe-

rience. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.

Odell, Lee and Dixie Goswami. Writing in Nonacademic Settings. New

York: Guilford, 1985.

Perry, William G. Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the

College Years. New York: Holt, 1970.

Phillips, Gerald M. Teaching How to Work in Groups. Norwood: Ablex,

1990.

Putnam, Linda L. “Conflict in Group Decision Making.” Communica-

tion and Group Decision Making. Eds., Randy Y. Hirokawa and

Marshall S. Poole. Beverly Hills: SAGE, 1986. 175–96.

Raign, Kathryn Rosser. “Gender, Persuasion Techniques, and Collabo-

ration.” Technical Communication Quarterly 2 (1993): 89–104.

Rolloff, M.E. and G.R. Miller. Interpersonal Processes: New Directions

in Communication Research. Beverly Hills: SAGE, 1989.

Ross, Raymond S. Small Groups in Organizational Settings. Englewood

Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989.

Swap, George and Associates. Group Decision Making. Beverly Hills:

SAGE, 1984.

Thralls, Charlotte and Nancy Roundy Blyler. Professional Communica-

tion: The Social Perspective. Newbury Park: SAGE, 1993.

Trimbur, John. “Consensus and Difference in Collaborative Writing.”


Weinberg, Alvin M. “Scientific Teams and Scientific Laboratories.”

Dædelus 99 (1970): 1056–75.

Zuckerman, Harriet. “Nobel Laureates in Science: Patterns of Produc-

tivity, Collaboration, and Authorship.” American Sociological

Review 32 (1967): 391–403.



Part three

Using Portfolios for Learning and assessmentby Laurel Black, St. John Fisher College

� IntrodUctIon

I began using portfolios the first semester I ever taught. As a grad-

uate student enrolled in a summer course to train teaching assistants, I

was overwhelmed by all that I had to learn in such a short time. We

spent part of one class talking about portfolios as an option for grading.

The professor was experienced at using portfolios, and I’m sure what he

told us was much more complex than what I got out of his presentation.

However, all I heard in my anxiety about grading papers was that I could

let students revise as often as they wanted and not grade them until the

final portfolio. They could pick some papers to put into a folder, I’d

average the grades of the pieces, and the whole scary grading process

would be over in one fell swoop at the end of the semester when I was

more secure in my ability to evaluate writing. It wasn’t much, but it was

a plan.

I went into that semester without any real theoretical understanding

of portfolios, nor any sense of structuring my class around any goals

other than to avoid embarrassment and confrontation. I didn’t think of

portfolios as part of a larger context of assessment issues. My first-year

students were also new to portfolios and saw the revision and selection

process—and the deferral of grades—as a wonderful improvement over

high school English. They responded enthusiastically and evaluated the

course highly. I decided I would keep using portfolios—they had done

the job for me. However, as colleagues asked me questions about how

I constructed my class, I realized how little I had thought about the rela-

tionship between the shape of my course and my pedagogical beliefs,

that I had never thought seriously about the connections between assess-

ment and goals, and that I couldn’t explain and didn’t understand the

theory undergirding the practice of portfolios.

I am still using portfolios in almost every class I teach. My students

still respond enthusiastically to them; we are both still learning about writ-

ing and assessment through their use. Recently, one student told me, “It’s

hard work to put one of these together, but you know, it’s kinda cool, too,


to work like this.” What does “like this” mean? What are portfolios, and

how are students and teachers prepared to work with portfolios? What

follows helps define portfolios but is not “definitive”: one of the hallmarks

of portfolios is their ability to be shaped to meet the demands of local

contexts. It is important to remember that writing portfolios are constructed

in a context, usually a classroom. This context helps shape portfolios. In

fact, Sandra Murphy (“Portfolios and Curriculum Reform,” 1994) asks us

to consider the way in which a “portfolio culture” is developed in a class-

room. Each institution, each class presents its own challenges. Thus my

suggestions for preparing students to work with portfolios and my advice

to help instructors avoid problems aren’t all-encompassing. If you choose

to use portfolios as part of your classroom, however, they should help you

understand better the opportunities and difficulties they present. A major

component of using portfolios in teaching today is helping students incor-

porate computer skills into writing, evaluating, and designing their port-

folios. Troyka & Hesse’s Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers offers

many kinds of help integrating computers into the writing process, espe-

cially Chapters 3–7, 19, 21–23, and 63–64, which discuss how comput-

ers shape the writing process, planning, shaping, drafting, and revising,

research (including online research) and documentation, business and

public writing, oral presentations incorporating multimedia, document and

Web design. If a teacher wants to emphasize a particular subject area in

the portfolio, Troyka & Hesse’ offers chapters on writing in various disci-

plines (Chapter 58), writing about literature (Chapter 59D–H), and writ-

ing in the social and natural sciences (Chapter 60).

� What Is a PortfoLIo?

As an object, a portfolio is simply a collection of items. In fact,

Peter Elbow writes that a portfolio is “nothing but a folder, a pouch—

an emptiness: a collection device and not a form of assessment” (in New

Directions in Portfolio Assessment, 40). In fact, a teacher may use port-

folios in her classroom and not change much in her practice at all—

students simply collect their writing at the end of the semester, allowing

the teacher to see the body of work all at once.

But portfolios are most often defined by the activities involved in

constructing them; they are most often seen as part of a process that

eventually results in a product. What are often called the defining

features of portfolios (Yancey, “Portfolios for the Writing Instructor,”

84) are actually the defining features of the work of constructing port-

folios, work done by both teacher and student. The features usually

considered in defining a portfolio include collection, selection, revision,

Part Three—Using Portfolios for Learning and Assessment


reflection, presentation, and evaluation. Yancey also includes commu-

nication among her list of features; this is certainly part of portfolios, just

as it is part of any text. While these features are easily listed separately

as products—that is, a student could say, “Here is a selection of my writ-

ing”—they are inseparable in practice. When a student presents a port-

folio that is a selection of work completed over the course of a semester

or unit, all of the processes listed above have gone into its construction.

The portfolio provides teachers with a holistic view of the student’s abil-

ities and strengths.

Collection

Students collect materials for a portfolio. Often, everything a student

has written is collected in what is called a “working portfolio”: first notes

for a paper, journal entries connected to essays, drafts, revisions,

responses and evaluations from teachers and peers, and all other related

materials. I’ve had students save notes passed in class, letters to a girl-

friend, and hard copy of electronic mail correspondence—all writing that

they felt was important or representative of the kinds of writing they do

by assignment or choice.

Selection

From the messiness of this writer’s portfolio the student is usually

asked to select materials for a “showcase” or “presentation” portfolio.

When portfolios are used for assessment purposes (they need not be, as

Edward White and Peter Elbow [New Directions in Portfolio Assess-

ment] point out), it is usually the presentation portfolio that is evalu-

ated. When students select particular pieces for a presentation portfolio,

they may follow guidelines set for them by the teacher (who may be

following guidelines set for her by a department or university), or they

may select pieces based on principles they themselves have determined.

It may be that a teacher and student have negotiated the selection prin-

ciples, or perhaps the class as a group has worked with the teacher to

determine how pieces will be selected.

Revision

While the pieces that have been culled from the working portfolio

may be presented “as is,” it is often the case that students will revise at

least some of the chosen pieces before they are presented. They may

What Is a Portfolio?


revise to meet specific criteria, or they may revise in response to earlier

suggestions offered by peers or their teacher. In many classrooms, work

on the remaining pieces in the working portfolio is excluded from the

presentation portfolio, and students focus on the selected pieces instead.

The portfolio grading system and use of computers in the writing process

encourage students to spend more time revising. (See Part Seven of this

teacher’s manual for detailed help with computers and revision, and see

Troyka & Hesse’s Chapter 5, “Essential Processes for Writing.”)

Students also may revise because the purpose of the portfolio has

changed or the audience for the piece has changed. For example, a

student may rework a piece drawn from a child psychology course to

present it as part of a portfolio for an English class.

Reflection

Reflection appears to be a crucial defining feature of a writing port-

folio and of the learning that we hope will take place as students

construct a portfolio. Whether the portfolio is specifically for assess-

ment, learning, or both, a piece of writing that could be considered

reflective distinguishes a writing portfolio from a simple collection in a

folder. In some cases, students write an introduction to their portfolio that

goes beyond simple description of the portfolio’s components, while in

other cases, students assess themselves and their writing. The form of

the reflection may be a single piece or may involve “memos” attached

to each piece in the portfolio. For many teachers and students, writing

reflectively is a new experience and an exciting part of a portfolio-based

course. (See Appendix B and C for samples of reflective assignments.)

Presentation

Students present their portfolios to someone. That someone may be

a teacher, a peer, or even themselves, especially if the portfolio is being

used as a learning portfolio and not for formal assessment. In present-

ing a portfolio, students acknowledge that they have written in a social

context, that readers—or the writer’s concept of potential readers—of the

portfolio have shared in some way in its construction. Even when a port-

folio is a learning portfolio, the student is attempting to understand what

the portfolio “re-presents” about herself or himself as a writer. This

feature, too, separates a portfolio from a simple collection in a folder.

Students usually take great pride in designing their portfolio, an act that

underscores for both the student and teacher that this collection is special



(see Troyka & Hesse’s Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers, Chap-

ter 7, on designing documents and Chapter 4 on audience and purpose).

The more students are able to use the computer’s design features, the

more excited and proud they usually will be. A word of caution: students

may at times spend more time and effort in designing attractive final

products than in revising those products into final drafts. Reinforcing

the importance of demonstrating their strengths as writers may remind

students to balance the time spent in developing and revising the port-

folio’s content with the time spent preparing it for presentation.

Evaluation

Not all portfolios are evaluated formally. However, in most writing

classrooms, a final portfolio will be evaluated by a teacher and possibly

also by peers. Grant Wiggins (see the Works Cited section of this chap-

ter’s bibliography) argues that criteria for evaluation of any performance

be clear and available to the student before he or she attempts that perfor-

mance. As students select and revise pieces for a portfolio, they are prob-

ably taking those criteria into account, practicing evaluation on their

own.

These processes are interconnected. In selecting pieces to showcase

or present, a student evaluates and reflects; in revising, a student also

evaluates and reflects; and in both selection and revision, the knowl-

edge that this portfolio will be presented to someone will be a part of

the process. A student may return to the original “working portfolio”

collection after working for some time on a piece and ultimately reject-

ing it; the process begins again as he or she reflects on this decision and

selects another piece from the working portfolio to revise and present to

a reader for response and/or evaluation.

� Why Use PortfoLIos?

Increasingly, portfolios are used as a means of showcasing our work,

providing a rich picture of our strengths and weaknesses. Beyond the

classroom, portfolios are useful tools for placement and program eval-

uation. Portfolios can be used to assess ourselves as instructors or even

to assess departments or institutions.

When I chose to use portfolios, the rationale I offered my students

was that a final grade based on how well they wrote at the end of the

semester—instead of an average of grades over the course of a semes-

ter—was a more valid grade. I still feel that’s right, although as I

Why Use Portfolios?


confessed earlier, that’s not why I came to use portfolios. Many teach-

ers (particularly at the high school level) are required by administrators

to use portfolios; this is also sometimes the case with new teaching assis-

tants who must, at least initially, follow departmental guidelines. I have

continued to use portfolios because they are a central part of a classroom

that is student-centered, process-oriented, and focused on active and

collaborative learning, and they lend themselves to learning and assess-

ment. I like, too, that portfolios create a space for diverse voices to be

heard, that they change the way time is used in the classroom and in

learning, and the ways they support a sense of the social nature of writ-

ing and learning.

Diverse Voices

Because portfolios are shaped by the local context, particularly the

classrooms in which they are constructed, they permit teachers to adapt

assessment to the students. Teachers of developmental, nontraditional,

and ESL students often come to portfolios because they feel portfolios

change the whole nature of the classroom, making it less frightening for

their students. Portfolios allow students to develop their abilities before

being graded on them, and they enable teachers to avoid giving “discour-

aging” grades earlier in the term to students whom they are trying to

encourage. Pat Belanoff (in New Directions for Portfolio Assessment)

points out that in many classrooms, nontraditional students—students

of diverse backgrounds, cultures, and language—outnumber “traditional”

college students. We cannot assume any longer that our students are

homogeneous and that traditional ways of teaching and assessing are a

match for every classroom. Portfolios are a way of allowing diverse

voices to be heard. Sandra Murphy (in New Directions for Portfolio

Assessment) suggests that particularly for students whose native language

is not English, portfolios reduce some of the stress associated with the

structure of traditional ways of teaching and assessing writing where

one essay follows another in quick succession and the demand for each

is perfection.

Portfolios are used to demonstrate progress, to showcase writing, to

evaluate students’ writing and thinking, and to encourage collaborative

learning and reflection. Colleagues have asked me why the same things

can’t be achieved without using portfolios; my response is that they can,

but it is often more difficult for both teacher and student. There are a

number of reasons why this is so.



Time

Portfolios change our sense of time in significant ways. Because

portfolios are at the very least collections of work, they must be

constructed over an extended period of time. This is very different from

an essay that must be written by Monday (and too often is composed on

Sunday night!), followed by another two weeks later, followed by

another one. . . . Because portfolios are usually selections of work, they

require that students examine their work as it appears over time; this

consideration helps them understand what it is they have learned and

how what they’ve learned has manifested itself in writing. They are

constantly looking both backward at what they have collected and

forward toward the portfolio they will create.

When students have little time to think about each essay, when they

feel pressed to create, they often fall back on what they are most famil-

iar with, continuing to use the time-honored strategies that have gotten

them decent grades in the past, ignoring what we are trying to teach

them about writing in this new collegiate setting. Because students begin

a portfolio course knowing that not all they write will “count” in the

usual way (but all of it can be acknowledged), they often feel free to

explore and experiment. Thus some pieces will count for a grade, but all

pieces can count for learning. They have the freedom to decide how

much time they will spend on these different pieces and processes.

“Why can’t I achieve the same thing by allowing students to revise

all semester?” teachers ask. Certainly, knowing they have that option

relieves some of the pressure on students. However, receiving grades on

their essays often reduces the motivation for students to continue learning

and revising. Those satisfied with the grade generally do not revise even

if the piece would benefit from revision, and those dissatisfied with their

grade often revise with the expectation that any change will result in a

higher grade. In addition, many writers, particularly those least familiar

with the demands of college-level writing, have difficulty writing each

essay, let alone juggling revisions of multiple essays. Generally portfolios

provide opportunities for learning reflection and student choice that other

assessment methods do not allow.

Most teachers will admit that student writing often improves if the

students have time to think over what they’ve written and how their

audiences responded to it. Portfolios are one way of creating that time

for students. It also changes the way we teach and respond. When the

decision about what and how to revise rests more firmly with the student,

our responses to writing as teachers may be less geared toward a grade.

We can develop comments that help students learn and improve rather

Why Use Portfolios?


than ones that justify the grade we gave. In other words, our assessment

becomes more formative and less summative. We are not simply “putting

off” grading; we are grading when the “time is right.”

Collaboration

Because students must make decisions about what to include in a

portfolio, they must pay attention to what their peers and teacher say

about their writing. In this way, collaboration is fostered. In cases where

the choice of portfolio contents is left largely to the student, portfolios

may vary greatly in their shape. If students share their portfolios with

one another in peer response groups which are part of most process

classrooms, then writers must explain the kinds of writing they’ve

included and help focus discussion in order to receive the level of

response that will help them revise. In essence, they must teach their

peers about their writing. This kind of interaction encourages active

learning on the part of students; they must make critical decisions about

their writing, educate peers and teacher about those decisions, and accept

responsibility for the quality of the writing.

If we see writing as performance—like art, theatre, or dance—then

portfolios offer one of the best ways to judge that performance (Black,

et al., “Connecting Current Research,” 1994). Portfolios are complex

documents which reflect the complexity of the act of writing. Further-

more, they can be firmly a part of the classroom context, rejecting local

standards and concerns. They speak to teachers’ and students’ needs to

learn and assess in ways that standardized tests and externally gener-

ated assessments and criteria do not.

� PreParIng to Use PortfoLIos

New teachers often inherit or are given syllabi that reflect someone

else’s sets of beliefs or purposes. When they try to integrate portfolios

that reflect their own beliefs into the preexisting curriculum, or when

they try to tack on to a course a portfolio designed for a different purpose

or even simply a different section of the same course, they are likely to

find a mismatch. Sometimes, teachers have not thought through clearly

what is implied by their practice.

But for portfolios—or any kind of assessment—to support learn-

ing, it is important to be able to answer some questions for yourself

before your students ask them of you.



When students enter the classroom and read for the first time through

a syllabus which states they will be working all semester toward a final

portfolio, many of them will be confused and not a little anxious, partic-

ularly if they are new to college anyway. It is helpful to provide them with

some guidelines, even if those have not been fully worked out yet. They

want to know something about what a portfolio is and why they are

constructing one; they want to know what it might or should include, how

they will organize it, and how it will be assessed. They want to know who

will read it.

In order to answer the seemingly simple questions students might

pose, an instructor must deal with some thorny issues beforehand. What

are the goals for my course? How do these reflect institutional goals?

What purpose does my course serve? What purpose does the portfolio

serve? What do I believe about learning and writing? How does the port-

folio I want my students to construct reflect my beliefs?

Pedagogical Beliefs

As mentioned earlier, it’s entirely possible for a teacher to use port-

folios and change very little that he or she does in the classroom.

Students could still be assigned topics to write on and modes to write

in; could still work individually without discussing writing with peers;

and could place all their work in a folder with their name on it and

submit it to their teacher, who would average all the grades together and

give the student a final grade. The instructor controls all learning from

the beginning. However, what I’ve tried to point out above is that the

features of portfolio use—and their benefits in terms of learning—come

about when students are permitted to share in their learning. What would

the portfolio described above communicate about the beliefs of the

teacher and the structure of the classroom?

Clearly, portfolios can be designed to serve a number of purposes,

and when we consider how we will shape the portfolios that are parts

of the courses we teach, we must consider not only what our goals are

for the course, but what we believe about learning; we must examine

our pedagogical theory. As Sandra Murphy points out, portfolios not

only allow students to demonstrate skills or explore issues in depth,

they also reflect our theoretical perspectives on teaching and learning

(“Portfolios and Curriculum Reform,” 1994). She describes several

kinds of portfolios and how they reflect differing beliefs. A behavior-

ist portfolio, for example, would manifest the belief that learning is

both observable and measurable as a set of discrete skills; such a port-

Preparing to Use Portfolios


folio might be a collection of skills in the form of worksheets. In a

classroom where the focus is cognitivist, that is, focused on the

processes by which we think and learn, portfolios would be constructed

to demonstrate the student’s ability to collaborate, reflect, self-assess,

revise, etc. They would be evaluated not just for evidence of these

processes but the level at which they are performed. So, for example,

in an institution where there is concern about first-year students’ abil-

ities to punctuate properly, two teachers may use portfolios to address

those concerns, but in one case the portfolio may show little evidence

of “skills and drills,” instead seeing skills as inseparably part of vari-

ous learning processes, while another portfolio may focus more on

worksheets and exercises.

One Course Among Many

In designing a course that uses portfolios, we need to think, too, about

possible connections among courses. First-year English classes are often

considered “service” courses, or may be part of a sequence of

writing/English courses. In institutions with strong writing across the

curriculum and writing in the disciplines programs, the first-year writing

course may be interdisciplinary in nature, filling more than just a niche in

the basic skills or “core curriculum” of the institution (see Troyka & Hesse’s

Chapters 58–60 on writing in the disciplines). Just as any individual assign-

ment within a course is part of a larger context of assignments and learn-

ing, each course is part of a larger context of learning. In such cases,

teachers must ask themselves questions beyond their own, personal peda-

gogical goals. These are institutional questions. Does my course prepare

students for another course? A series of specific courses? How will my use

of portfolios affect student learning and colleagues’ expectations for my

students when they enter those courses? These are questions that are best

discussed in a large forum with all involved faculty. In reality, however, that

rarely takes place. Teachers must consider all stakeholders in the assess-

ment. Peter Elbow points out that portfolios

help us demand the high quality that we want or some other

constituency wants: the hard texts themselves, “the real thing,”

the bottom line. We don’t have to accept ineffective writing and

justify it to ourselves or to colleagues with defensive talk about

the lovely process that lies behind it. On the other hand . . . port-

folios reward students for using a good writerly process: to

explore a topic in discussion and exploratory writing; to compli-

cate their thinking; to allow for perplexity and getting lost; to get



feedback; to revise; and to collaborate. (New Direction in Port-

folio Assessment)

Yet I have heard complaints from colleagues that portfolios “distort”

what a student is capable of doing. These colleagues are concerned that

the time allowed for revision, the collaborative nature of the writing

process, and the selection of texts for evaluation produces grade infla-

tion—what I am grading in each portfolio is the work of all my students,

and not all the work at that. This complaint may seem at first wrong-

headed, but for someone in a field that does not focus on the processes

by which they learned to write, in a field where collaboration is less

visible and where it is not the writing that is extensively revised but the

activities that lead up to the writing, the complaint is very real and must

be discussed seriously. This is a case where discussions among faculty

as well as discussion in the classroom about contexts for writing and

disciplinary expectations is important.

� UsIng PortfoLIos

Sandra Murphy lists a number of purposes for portfolios, ranging

from

tracking student development over time, showcasing student

response to a range of assignments, evaluating student work

across the curriculum, motivating students, promoting learning

through reflection and self-assessment, and evaluating students’

thinking and writing processes, to program implementation,

program assessment, evaluating curriculum, or establishing exit

requirements. The possibilities are multiple. (“Portfolios and

Curriculum Reform . . . ,” 1994, 179–80)

Clearly, the portfolios designed to meet the purposes listed above will

each be different. A portfolio used to place students into the proper course

level will likely contain writing that is similar to the kinds of writing taught

in the courses under consideration. A portfolio to demonstrate development

over time would include writing from a student’s earliest courses as well

as from later courses, and perhaps from courses in a variety of disciplines.

A number of models exist, but portfolios need to grow out of the local

context. Regardless of how portfolios are to be used, instructors need to

make decisions about content, the kinds of choices available for students

as they construct their portfolios, how portfolios will be organized, and

how they will be evaluated.

Using Portfolios


Contents

The contents of a portfolio reflect its purpose and the classroom it

grows out of. For example, in a writing course offered for developmental

writers, the emphasis of the portfolio might be progress. Rather than

constructing a portfolio that showcases only her best work, a student might

include her first paper and papers written midway and at the end of the

semester. She might also include journal entries that reflect development,



english 372

Poetry

Your portfolio must include at a minimum:

� Five poems

� Two critiques of classmates’ poetry

� A revised, two-page section of your critical essay

� A reflective essay

Other items you could include:

� additional poems

� materials generated from your class presentation

� additional critiques

� entries from your writer’s log

drafts of papers showing increasing sensitivity to the needs of readers,

and written critiques of others’ papers that show how she has learned to

constructively respond. If she is required to self-assess, she may not focus

on how her final papers deserve an “A” by some outside standards, but

on how much she has learned over the semester and how a reader might

see that demonstrated in the artifacts in front of him. She might discuss

what has been difficult for her to learn and what she wants to get out of

the next course she will take.

Such a portfolio will be very different from one constructed by

students near the end of their college work who are showcasing their

writing for potential employment or graduate school. Such a portfolio

would be much more product-oriented than process-oriented, focusing

on achievement rather than development. It might include a reflective

essay which explores career and life goals, examples of different types

of writing—technical, business and professional, “academic,” reports,

creative writing, journalism or scientific writing—that are important to

the field which the student wishes to enter, and even a resume or cv.

A sample of portfolio contents for a course in creative writing

follows.

The portfolio contents shown here reflect both my attempt to create

in the class a culture of poetry, and the students’ desires to keep the

focus squarely on the writing of poetry and their development as poets.

Responding to poems, speaking about and teaching poetry, and writing

critically—extensive reviews, an examination of a particular aspect of

poetry, or exploring an issue in poetry—seemed to me to be part of the

life of a professional poet in this country. My purpose in the portfolio

was for students to present their abilities to write in the range of genres

and purposes typically visited by a poet. My students, however, wanted

to emphasize in their portfolios their creative writing and their ability to

reflect upon their work. Many included several more poems, much draft

material, and extensive reflective pieces.

Reflection

In the portfolio guidelines above, I ask students to include a reflec-

tive essay. Many find this both the most difficult and most interesting

piece they write for the portfolio. Writing reflectively is often a new expe-

rience for students. Some students may have kept diaries, but a diary isn’t

necessarily reflective; it may simply list the day’s activities without

comment. Reflection can take a variety of forms. In some cases, the

reflective essay acts as an introduction to the portfolio. In such an

instance, the student’s reflection usually touches on most of the items

that will follow. The student may discuss the organizing principles she

used to construct the portfolio, the relationship between pieces, the

purpose she sees her portfolio serving, or may answer direct questions

from the teacher. The reflective piece may be entirely separate from the

introduction. A student might then focus more on one aspect of her writ-

ing or development rather than touch on all the pieces we’ve read. If the

reflective essay is placed last, she can assume certain kinds of knowledge

on the reader’s part, gained from their experience of the rest of the port-

folio. Reflection doesn’t necessarily involve evaluation; it may be more

descriptive, comparative, or ruminative. However, many teachers ask

students to engage in some self-assessment in their reflective piece.

Using Portfolios


It is important to consider the kind of “reflection” you want students

to engage in, to consider the purpose of the essay as part of the portfo-

lio and as part of the whole learning process. Students may need exten-

sive practice in writing reflectively for different purposes; such practice

can be built into the curriculum through journal entries, writer’s memos,

self-evaluations, among other methods.

Choice

One crucial issue in portfolios is choice. Who will decide what consti-

tutes a portfolio and who will decide the criteria by which it will be eval-

uated? For students to feel they have ownership over their learning, they

must be actively involved in making those choices. A portfolio driven by

a constructivist pedagogy, Murphy notes, provides “a means for engaging

students in self-reflection and for acknowledging their role as collabora-

tors in the learning process” (“Portfolios and Curriculum Reform . . . ,”

1994, 190). In most courses, the teacher sets the goals before the students

even settle into their seats, before they even register for the class. When

that happens, it’s difficult for students to consider themselves “collabora-

tors” in their learning. Yet it is possible to accommodate students’ goals,

as well as allow students choices in how they meet the goals you have set

for them. If one course goal is for students to understand the political and

ethical dimensions of their writing and the writing of others, for example,

not every student needs to demonstrate that in the same way. Making

choices is part of active learning. Students benefit most when they solve

problems connected with constructing their portfolios, when they make

critical decisions about the shape and quantity of the contents, when they

articulate and explore the beliefs and goals that shape their individual port-

folios. If all the important decisions have been made and room for choices

has been narrowed to almost nothing before students even begin to under-

stand what a portfolio is, then many of the perceived benefits of portfo-

lio learning and assessment that convinced a teacher to use portfolios have

been lost. When developing the syllabus for a portfolio course, then, it is

important to consider how student voices will be heard as each set of

choices must be made.

Organization

The organization of the portfolio may also be a matter of the

student’s choice. The order in which items are to be read can be signifi-

cant. Perhaps the student wants to emphasize his understanding of his



writing process; he might ask us to read first the notes, then the drafts,

then the final version for each essay. Perhaps another wants to empha-

size that each essay selected has an important connection to a particular

issue or concern of the student. She might then organize the portfolio in

a circular way, one that emphasizes the recursive nature of her thinking

and the items that provoked it. Students often use a table of contents,

which may be annotated; they may also use an introduction which not

only tells readers what they will be reading but explains the organizing

principle and develops a context for reading.

Evaluating Portfolios

How will you evaluate a portfolio? What will the criteria be? Will

the criteria assume that development or progress will take place? Or will

development be given credit in some way, as many students request?

What would development look like on paper? Are the criteria under-

stood by everyone? For example, if “understanding the writing process”

is part of the criteria, does that mean a theoretical writing process—

collecting and generating ideas and information, developing that infor-

mation alone and with peers, focusing the topic more tightly, ordering

material to meet the needs of the audience as well as the writer, contin-

uing to develop and revise the writing and still meeting an external dead-

line—or the writer’s own process, which may be very different? How

would a student demonstrate such an understanding? Through self-

assessment? Through responses to peers?

Often as teachers we are so imbedded in the language and assump-

tions of our fields that we forget that once we, too, didn’t know what

these words meant. And sometimes, we have never articulated these

understandings to ourselves, let alone students. Such articulation is,

however, more than just a valuable exercise. It is an important part of

demystifying evaluation and opening up the process to those being eval-

uated. Students may even be involved in establishing criteria for evalu-

ation, particularly if their goals for the course have been built into the

portfolio. Some teachers who use portfolios ask their students to partic-

ipate in the final assessment process, as they have been involved

throughout the semester in many ways in their peers’ effort to construct

a portfolio.

Typically, portfolios are evaluated holistically. That is, each piece is

not graded separately, but all of them together present a picture of the

writer. A journal entry, which may have errors in punctuation and

spelling, missing words, sentence fragments, and other differences from

conventional written English, may be an important part of a writer’s

Using Portfolios


strategy of demonstrating the ability to generate, develop, and support

ideas. Seen in a later form, perhaps an essay, the ideas have been shaped

to fit an audience and presented following the conventions of standard

written English. Which piece is more important? How do you separate

out the journal entry—the generative material—from the product in the

portfolio? Such variety in form, purpose, and audience among pieces in

a portfolio demands a holistic reading.

Some teachers who use portfolios create a rubric that they share

with students. In such a rubric, defining features of an “A” portfolio are

described, as are the features of portfolios that fall into other grade

ranges. (See Appendix D for one such rubric.) Students and teacher can

refer to the rubric as they are constructing the portfolio and afterwards,

as grades are being anticipated and assigned. Some teachers use the

reflective essay as an integral part of evaluation. If a student makes a

claim in such a piece that she has improved her ability to organize a

long essay, then the teacher may look for evidence in the rest of the

portfolio to support such a claim.

At some institutions, portfolios are read by an instructor other than

the student’s or a group of instructors. In such cases, the student’s

instructor can act as a coach rather than a grader; it radically changes the

teacher/student relationship. Others use a process called “team-grading”

or group grading. Instructors exchange portfolios according to a set

pattern. Each portfolio may receive multiple grades. Discrepancies

between grades are usually resolved through discussion or an additional

reader. This method reflects the complexity of reading and grading any

written texts, but especially a document as varied in its parts as a port-

folio.

� PreParIng stUdents for PortfoLIos

When the use of portfolios has radically changed the ways in which

students participate in learning and writing, even the most familiar prac-

tices may be altered, may seem strange or unfamiliar. For example,

because I want students to pay attention to one another and to empha-

size the social nature of the classroom, I ask students to arrange their

desks in a circle. While this doesn’t automatically keep students from

only addressing me, it works much better than when students are

arranged “theatre style” and see only the backs of the students in front

of them. But this simple change is problematic for many students, and

often it takes weeks to teach them that when they come into class, they



*I borrowed this wonderful assignment from John Gaughan several years ago.

should automatically place their desks in a circle. If this small change

is so difficult, imagine how difficult it is for students to understand the

changes in writing, learning, and assessment that can take place in a

portfolio culture!

While the use of portfolios is becoming more widespread, it is still

a new concept for many students. We must remember as teachers that if

we want students to perform in certain ways and at a particular level at

the end of the semester, we must give them practice throughout the

course. We cannot reasonably expect students to understand and apply

criteria for evaluation without exposure and practice, nor can we expect

them to write a reflective essay to include in a portfolio without any

exposure to the various forms such writing can take. Also we need to

ensure we are giving feedback on their performance throughout the term

so that they are not surprised or dismayed when they receive their final

portfolio grade.

Introductory Portfolios

One way to begin is with introductory portfolios.* These portfolios

include items that introduce the student to his or her classmates. Students

select a small number of items that represent various aspects of their lives

or selves and write a brief introduction to the items. Often, these items

include a photo of the student and family and friends; awards; an exam-

ple of something the student collects; something to represent the student’s

career goals. One of my students brought in a large wall map to repre-

sent her interest in geography; another brought in a can of children’s

band-aids to represent her goal of becoming a pediatrician. Another

brought in his hockey skates, and yet another brought in a corn-husk doll

made for her by her grandmother.

As students share these portfolios, they ask each other questions

about the items and what they represent; the student whose portfolio is

being discussed begins to articulate more clearly her criteria for selec-

tion. After sharing is through, students can reconsider items—based on

their peers’ responses, would they choose something different if they

could do it again? They consider what they included in their written

introductions. Now that they have heard the responses evoked by the

items in their portfolios, would they introduce them differently? As a

class and individually, they begin to learn about collection, selection,

revision, presentation, and evaluation. This is an example of portfolios

for learning, not assessment.

Preparing Students for Portfolios


Writer’s Memo

Most students are used to handing in essays without generative or

draft materials, as if the piece had written itself or sprung from their

pens or computers fully developed. Usually, too, students hand in essays

without any accompanying explanation of their intent, their process, their

successes and failures in the piece as it stands. And typically there’s no

reason why they should; after all, the teacher assigned it, gave them the

topic, and knows more about their writing and why they would write

such an essay than they themselves do. But in a portfolio culture, where

decision making and problem solving are part of the learning environ-

ment, drafts and discussions of essays are important. Jeffrey Sommers

(1989) champions the use of “writers’ memos” which explain what the

student was intending to accomplish by writing this portfolio, what

process she used in constructing it, where she encountered difficulty and

where it was easiest, what her concerns are, and what she would like the

reader to focus on. In writing such a memo, the student looks back

through the drafts that preceded the essay the teacher sees. In reflecting

on her process and articulating her choices, she begins to understand the

power the writer has over her work. In expressing her concerns about

the piece, she is working with criteria for “good” or “bad” writing and

is learning to evaluate her own work. Such writers’ memos function to

prepare students to write reflectively at the end of the semester as they

provide a context for reading their portfolios. (See Appendix B for a

sample writer’s memo assignment.)

Mini-Portfolios

Some courses lend themselves to mid-semester portfolios and unit

portfolios. These are ways of practicing the process of putting together a

portfolio in miniature and with less anxiety. Mid-semester portfolios ask

students to go through the same processes that they will engage in at the

end of the semester. Although students have less to select from and those

pieces are unlikely to have been extensively revised, a mid-semester port-

folio provides a momentary point where learning and assessment clearly

come together. It helps to highlight the structure and process of their learn-

ing, something particularly important for new students. Unit portfolios help

students reflect on learning at points throughout the semester when mate-

rial changes. They are particularly effective in content courses. I have used

them myself in first-year literature courses, asking students to construct

portfolios organized around a single text or perhaps two texts. Such port-

folios have contained journal responses, class notes, one or more formal



essays, notes on the reading, responses to study questions, and other mate-

rials. One student included as part of her discussion on her learning process

a copy of the cover of the Cliffs Notes for the text we were reading—she

had purchased it in hopes of “sounding more intelligent,” but found it disap-

pointing after our class discussion. Another included a copy of the playbill

for a play she was performing in as part of her discussion of why she chose

to work with a dramatic text rather than a poetic one.

Rubrics, Scoring Guides, and Team-Grading

Students need practice in evaluating writing if they are going to be

asked to make decisions on selecting “best” works or in revising their

own or responding to others’ work. They can participate in describing

in a rubric what “good” writing includes and then modifying that

description depending upon the assignment. They can also read and

respond to writing in “team grading” sessions. Typically, writing that

has already received a grade from teachers is distributed to students for

discussion and grading following the guidelines of a rubric. The teacher

explains what grade the paper received and why after students have

offered their grades. As the discussion continues, students and teacher

can begin to articulate what “organized” or “focused” or “creative” mean

both in the context of the classroom and in terms of external standards.

Students can respond, assess, and evaluate each other’s portfolios

and essays. Although most students are reluctant to give a grade, at least

initially, they will place writing into categories such as “young,”

“teenaged” or “mature” (see Appendix D). They can assess with the

assistance of rubrics which they have helped to design. And with a vari-

ety of sample portfolios and papers that they have discussed during team

grading, they can offer suggestions for improvement. “Well, this one got

a B from the teachers and we gave it a B+ and the writer does this,” they

might say. “You might try that in here.” Having practice in writing

memos, the author whose work is under discussion can help focus the

responses, can explain with more clarity his intent and difficulties.

Students can also participate in creating the final guidelines and

criteria for evaluation. Even if the teacher had initially established crite-

ria, it may well be that the course has shifted in focus, or that the goals

that students articulated have shifted the course to some extent. It has

been my experience that when I ask students what an “excellent” port-

folio should include, should look like, and should communicate, they

demand far more of it than I would. If they have had practice all semes-

ter, they will likely have internalized many of the criteria that the teacher

Pitfalls and Problems in Portfolio Use


has offered them. They will have some of their own as well, and as a

teacher, I have always learned important things from listening to what

my students value in writing. (Appendix A includes evaluation ques-

tions.)

In such a course, the defining features of the process of creating a

portfolio are foregrounded again and again. The structure of the course

itself and the theory that drives the practice are often on display and

under question. Using portfolios often means giving up some of the

control traditionally exercised by the teacher. But it is usually an even

deal. When control is shared, so is learning.

� PItfaLLs and ProBLems In PortfoLIo Use

Borrowing Portfolios: Make Your Own Recipe

When teachers share stories of “what worked in my class” with each

other, it’s always tempting to simply take a strategy that was successful

in one class and apply it to another. But as I’ve pointed out above, a port-

folio—even one designed for another section of the same course—

reflects a whole set of beliefs about teaching and learning. Without a

serious consideration of what you believe and what goals you have set

for the course, it is unlikely that you can simply tack on a portfolio

designed by another teacher and find success. The most successful port-

folios grow out of the local context: the beliefs, goals, and abilities of

the teacher and students who will construct them.

Supporting Portfolios with Course Design

Another difficulty is designing a course to support portfolios. Port-

folios flourish in courses with a lot of writing and interaction. In a liter-

ature course that involves a great deal of lecture, a limited amount of

group work, and a midterm and final, the foundation for portfolios is

shaky. In order to make choices in selecting pieces for a portfolio,

students must have a sufficient body of work to select from. If students

write only three papers over the semester, there are few tough decisions

to make when they are asked to select two of them for a portfolio. For a

portfolio to include writing other than formal essays, for example, jour-

nal entries, drafts, responses to study questions, critiques of peers’ work,

writing from other courses, or even texts that aren’t written—videotaped

peer group work, perhaps—students must have the opportunity to produce

such texts. They also need to produce them in a quantity sufficient to



give them practice in such writing—and presumably then, the opportu-

nity for improvement over time—and to give them a large enough collec-

tion to be able to select examples to include in a final portfolio. Thus, if

students are asked to write critiques of each other’s work only once

during the semester and the rest of the time they respond orally, yet in

the final portfolio they are asked to demonstrate that they can respond

constructively to a peer’s text, they will either have to submit their first

written critique (quite probably not their best work) or make arrange-

ments to submit an audio- or videotape of their performance.

What is important to remember here is that portfolios cannot simply

be “added” to a course. Assessment and curriculum dance with one

another in tight steps. They drive one another. If in a traditional litera-

ture course the lectures all “teach to the test,” which is a single-sitting,

timed, final exam, then in a course where students will construct a final

portfolio, we must teach to that form of assessment, too. Opportunities

for practicing the kinds of writing that will be required in the final port-

folio must be built into a syllabus. If a portfolio is to be sensitive to

student goals and writing desires, then the syllabus must be flexible

enough to support that as well. If you are going to offer students the

chance to place a text of their choice in the portfolio, it’s important to

remember that the chosen text might be a poem or short story they wrote.

Will there be time built into the syllabus for such personal or experi-

mental writing? Will there be time built in for the revision and reconsid-

eration of texts at points throughout the semester?

Lost Drafts and Papers, Erased Disks

Most instructors hear at least once a semester: “I left my paper in the

library and someone took it” or “I had the whole thing done and then my

disk went bad.” This problem is magnified when a student loses a whole

portfolio or the working portfolio from which she will select material for

presentation. Encouraging students to back up their work and to print up-

do-date hard copies of their revised pieces is a good first step. Another

solution is to ask students to submit copies of drafts and papers to you as

they work on them or turn them in. This produces its own logistical prob-

lems, even when using disks. Similarly, students can team up in a “buddy

system” and submit copies of all their materials to at least one other student.

Some campuses may have the resources for students to develop and store

electronic portfolios.



Muddy Waters: Grading Portfolios

Reading a portfolio is not entirely unlike reading a single essay, but

it does present some additional challenges. When we read a single essay

or paper, we may find we have formed an opinion about the writer’s

skills very early in our reading, perhaps in the opening paragraphs. This

opinion may well be correct, particularly if the paper is short; after all,

in a five paragraph theme we will have read one-fifth of the paper after

one paragraph! But a portfolio often contains many pieces, and those

pieces may vary widely in their quality.

It is tempting to read an introductory portfolio essay and feel confi-

dent in your evaluation of the writer’s abilities. But it is likely that within

the next few pieces your evaluation will shift back and forth. An insight-

ful journal entry may prompt us to expect the next piece to be a wonder-

ful paper; we may discover, however, that the student had difficulty

making a transition from informal to formal writing. We also know as

readers of many papers at one sitting that if we read a merely competent

essay right after a very poorly written essay, the competent essay may

receive a higher grade than it otherwise would. It is important to practice

reading portfolios to get a feel for the ways in which these “glow” and

“roller coaster” effects within portfolios influence our grading (Sommers

et al., 1993). The ability to withhold judgment is crucial when reading

portfolios. In some ways they are like collages; they do not always have

the same kinds of coherence that single essays do.

Holistic grading is unfamiliar not only to most students and many

faculty, but also to some administrators. This may present a problem. Will

you as the instructor be able to explain holistic grading well enough to

satisfy a student unhappy about a grade? A student’s parents if necessary?

If a grade is challenged, will the departmental administrators—the depart-

ment chair or the Writing Program Administrator—support a holistic port-

folio grade, that is, a “C” for an entire body of work? If you are in the

position of “pioneering” portfolio use, you may find it necessary to acquaint

some of your colleagues or administrators with your grading practices.

Developing clear grade descriptions or rubrics can help you clarify for

yourself and others what a “C” means on a portfolio. Even though you are

grading holistically, you need to have criteria upon which you are making

your judgments. Just as we expect students to support assertions with

evidence, it is wise for teachers to note evidence the student provided for

meeting or not meeting the grading criteria.



Reading the Writer, Not the Writing

There is another aspect of reading portfolios that is also important to

remember. Most of us have found ourselves at one point or another really

offended by what one of our students has written. We may have found

ourselves judging and grading the student more than the writing. When we

draw back a bit and think about it, we realize that we are reading just one

paper, probably not a very long one at that, and the student’s views are

probably much more complex than what appears in the essay. Portfolios,

however, provide us with not just a more complete picture of the writer’s

abilities, but of the writer him- or herself. The more complete and complex

the picture, the more likely it is that we will respond to some aspect of the

portfolio that is not part of the agreed-upon criteria. It becomes easier to

“like” or “dislike” the author of a portfolio, and more difficult to maintain

the kind of professional stance—that tightwire act we juggle all the time

when we respond honestly to our students and their work—that we need

to draw on when grading.

Reflective essays are especially sites where the personal aspects of the

writer/student/teacher/evaluator relationship may become even more

complicated than usual. As Glenda Conway (1994) and Nedra Reynolds

(1994) point out, it is in a reflective essay (often used to both self-assess

and introduce the portfolio) that students try most apparently to negotiate

that relationship. They are aware keenly of their audience, but the multi-

ple purposes of the essay often become entangled. Depending upon the

assignment for the essay, students may be compelled to discuss their weak-

nesses as a writer, even though the portfolio is supposedly their best work.

They may feel compelled to compliment the teacher (I really liked the

way you responded to my work, I think you could relate to me), evaluate

the course (I’m weak because I didn’t get any practice in this area), or even

adopt a stance that sets them apart from their classmates and teacher (while

you want this portfolio to showcase work, I want to emphasize effort and

progress). Given that reflective essays are often introductory essays and

likely to be the first substantive materials in a portfolio, they are often

given more weight and importance than other pieces. They set the tone and

establish the relationship between reader and writer. This is very prob-

lematic when the reader must also actually grade the portfolio. Practice in

writing reflectively, attention to issues of audience, and attention to the

final portfolio’s shape are important. One solution is to place annotated

tables of contents or clearly introductory essays first and reflective essays

last. Another is to examine the ways in which description becomes eval-

uation. Finally, Conway suggests that each teacher examine the ethics of

asking students to draw attention to weaknesses in such an essay.



Grading Logistics: Dealing with the Paper Load

I have heard colleagues say they don’t use portfolios because there

is too much to evaluate during the last week of a semester—the grading

load is overwhelming. Often, these same colleagues have never used port-

folios, but they see as unwelcome the prospect of reading three essays and

many other pieces from each student when their own desire to assess

fairly and completely combines with the fast-approaching deadline for a

final grade. It has not been my experience, however, that grading portfo-

lios takes much more time than grading final essays and then averaging

together the grades for various essays, quizzes, etc., completed over the

course of the semester. In fact, I’ve often found that I have more difficulty

assigning a final grade I feel comfortable with when I am considering

one piece of writing as the major source of that grade: final exams often

count for 40 percent or more of the final course grade. I am reading

responses to the same questions over and over, trying to distinguish one

from another by the time I’ve reached the end.

Even a well-designed final exam seems inadequate to me after the

experience of reading the multitextual, complex body of work that is a

portfolio. My sense is that most teachers would prefer to be able to sit

down with a student and talk together over a large quantity of her writ-

ing, identifying strengths and weaknesses, areas of great development,

and directions for further writing. When I read a portfolio, I feel as if I

could and wanted to do that; I also feel as if my students could partici-

pate in such a conversation without the usual apologies for test perfor-

mance: “Well, it was timed, I could’ve done better with more time;” “I

read the book and I thought it was neat that X did this or that but I

couldn’t remember the name of the guy who . . . . so I missed that ques-

tion. . . .”

Portfolios are usually read holistically, which means that I can sit

back with my coffee cup and read straight through without a pen in my

hand. Most of the writing is familiar to me; I have seen it in draft several

times, and I have a sense of the history of each piece as I read. The most

recent piece, a reflective essay, is the least familiar to me and often the

piece my students play with the most. It is a joy to read essays so full

of voice and hope and learning. Each is different from the next.

My students and I have created and discussed the grading rubric; we

understand the terms we are using, the criteria which are flexible and

those that are not. Each portfolio has a copy of the rubric in it. I usually

write a quick narrative response, highlighting the strengths of the port-

folio and using some of the key words from the rubric. There is little else

to consider for the final grade—perhaps a whole semester journal, a



classroom presentation, or participation or attendance. Even these aspects

of a grade have been discussed and negotiated in my courses.

There is certainly no less work involved in using portfolios instead

of a more traditional approach. Like other teachers, I think long and

hard about my syllabus as I am constructing the outline of the course; I

put time into creating materials to support the various kinds of writing

my students are asked to do or may choose to do on their own; I spend

a great deal of time helping my students learn to do much of the work

themselves as the course progresses. In the end, they give me for a grade

a multilayered artifact that we both can say presents their best work—

not their best work under the circumstances. Because I am not grading

each piece individually, because I have responded to most of this work

in earlier drafts, because my response is global and holistic, I can

respond swiftly and comfortably to each portfolio.

� connectIng PortfoLIos to the

SIMON & SChuSTER hANDBOOk FOR WRITERS

Much of the material in the handbook can also be applied to the

construction of a portfolio. The handbook concentrates on writing to

inform and persuade, as these are two of the most common purposes of

writing in an academic setting. However, a course designed around writ-

ing for these purposes can offer opportunities for both personal and

public writing, writing that is expressive and transactional. An instruc-

tor might encourage writing that is poetic and persuasive—are listeners

persuaded by the lyrics of a song? By the imagery of a poem? Such a

course may in addition be organized topically, with students selecting

one topic to explore over the course of the semester. A final portfolio for

such a course might include journal entries about the topic selected, for

example, the effect of television violence on viewers. The journal entry

is private writing: the audience is the writer and the purpose may be

exploratory, an attempt to discover. But in response to assignments that

vary audience and purpose, a writer may: produce a mini research paper

in which she summarizes the positions generally taken on the topic and

the support offered for each; attempt to persuade a local cable company

not to offer a particular channel, arguing the violence is damaging to

children; write a short children’s story which teaches them about tele-

vision violence; or write up limited original research after surveying

peers about their viewing preferences. A final course portfolio could be

used to provide information and persuade readers of the writer’s posi-

tion at the end of the semester. The reflective essay for such a portfolio

might include a TV-viewing autobiography and a consideration of the

Connecting Portfolios to the Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers


connections between the writer’s TV viewing and the position, argu-

ments, even the imagery used in the rest of the portfolio.

In an alternative, nontopical final portfolio, rather than focusing on

one topic the writer might include essays on various topics and for vari-

ous audiences, selected and organized to show the writer’s increasing

sensitivity to the demands of each rhetorical situation.

As students begin working on a portfolio, they might be reminded

of what they have learned about the various processes that are part of

writing, including newly learned skills in writing on the computer and

using the Internet for research. For example, students often want their

portfolios to showcase their best work, to demonstrate the breadth of

their writing skills, and to provide evidence of progress and effort. But

too many purposes will make it difficult to select pieces and revise them.

As they construct their final portfolio, students will need to apply what

they’ve learned about narrowing a topic when writing individual essays.

Similarly, the instructor must think carefully about the purpose of

the reflective essay and the ways in which the audience for such an essay

will effect “reflection.” In honest reflection in a private journal, I might

admit that I really didn’t read the whole book I wrote about for one

essay; I just read a few chapters and listened to what was discussed in

class. I might wonder how much more I might have learned if I’d read

the whole thing, and I might consider how that would change my essay.

Personally, I think that’s worthwhile reflecting on. But if I knew that

my reader was also going to grade me on my portfolio and that essay is

part of it, I would be tempted instead to write about why I was interested

in the topic of the portfolio—something safe and relatively easy.

Students and instructor need to talk about purpose and audience for the

reflective essay, as well as topic. Are there some things that the student

must discuss? Or is the topic wide open, as long as there is some connec-

tion to the portfolio?

Students might look back at Chapter 3 in the Handbook and

consider how they will “think beyond the obvious” as they write an

introduction to their portfolio. The reader will make obvious connec-

tions, but what are the connections he might not see, and what are the

implications of connecting these pieces together in such a way? Instruc-

tors might, too, point out the ways that introductions and reflections may

appear to be informational in purpose, but are very important in persuad-

ing a reader to adopt a certain position as she reads and finally evalu-

ates.



� concLUsIon

I hear about portfolios everywhere I turn now. They are being

required by administrators who have not read one themselves, explored

and even mandated by state legislative bodies, and are following students

from grade to grade at all levels of learning. They are being used to

place students in courses, to evaluate programs, and to demonstrate

competency in major fields. They are being used by teachers themselves

in rank and tenure applications. They are being tacked onto courses at

all levels of learning and at institutions nationwide.

Portfolios present unique opportunities for both learning and assess-

ment because they focus our attention at various times on both the

processes of writing and the products that we construct. They are often

complex and challenging both to create and evaluate. But they are one

assessment instrument among many, and are certainly not the only way

to help students learn. By themselves they are not a panacea for the

problems presented by standardized testing, essay tests, and the passiv-

ity that can result from lectures and a lack of student involvement in

everyday classwork. When they are part of a carefully considered and

designed curriculum, however, they can support and help create active

learning, collaboration, and the development of critical learning skills

such as problem-solving, small-group communication, generating, devel-

oping and supporting ideas, and critical thinking and questioning. They

do not make teaching easier, but they do change its shape. Faculty who

use portfolios as an integral part of their teaching may rediscover them-

selves as learners. Teachers who have constructed a portfolio themselves,

either as a participant in their own class or as part of their professional

responsibilities—a teaching portfolio for rank and tenure considera-

tions—find that the processes of learning and writing are foregrounded

in ways they have not been for years as we have written professionally,

working on individual pieces in the kind of academic writing we are

comfortable with. Instructors using portfolios in their classrooms may

rediscover or discover for the first time how much their students really

know. Too often we see students as their essays, as three pages here,

four there. Portfolios show us our students as more than the sum of their

parts.

fUrther readIng and resoUrces

There are a number of newsletters and journals that are devoted to

assessment, some exclusively to portfolio use. In addition, there are

Conclusion


several recently published collections of essays about portfolio use that

may prove helpful. The articles cited in this introduction provide a good

starting place for specific questions you might have about portfolios.

And professional conferences in English studies usually offer a number

of sessions on portfolio assessment.

The following journals and newsletters are available at many acad-

emic libraries. Publishers of these journals may also offer additional

instructional aids and resources for study.

AAHE Assessment Forum. American Association for Higher Education.

One Dupont Circle, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036-1110.

Assessing Writing. Ablex Publishing Corporation, 355 Chestnut St.,

Norwood, NJ, 07648.

CWA Newsletter. Missouri Colloquium on Writing Assessment. Missouri

Western State College, St. Joseph, MO 65407.

Notes from the National Testing Network in Writing. National Testing

Network in Writing. cuny, 535 East 80th St., New York, NY 10021.

Portfolio Assessment Newsletter. Northwest Evaluation Association. 5

Centerpoint Drive, Suite 100, Lake Oswego, OR 97035.

Portfolio News. c/o San Dieguito Union High School District, 710

Encinitas Boulevard, Encinitas, CA 92024.

Portfolio—The Newsletter of Arts PROPEL. Harvard Project Zero, 323

Longfellow Hall, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 13 Appian

Way, Cambridge, MA 02138.

Quarterly of the National Writing Project and Center for the Study of

Writing and Literacy. Graduate School of Education, University of

California, Berkeley, CA 94720.

* * *

The following recent collections offer essays dealing with the theory

and practice of portfolios at levels from elementary through professional.

Black, Laurel, Donald A. Daiker, Jeffrey Sommers, and Gail Stygall,

(eds.). New Directions in Portfolio Assessment. Reflective Practice,

Critical Theory, and Large-Scale Scoring. Portsmouth, NH: Heine-

mann, Boynton/Cook, 1995.

Belanoff, Pat, and Marcia Dickson, (eds.). Portfolios: Process and Prod-

uct. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, Boynton/Cook, 1991.

Farr, Roger C., and Bruce Tone. Portfolio and Performance Assessment:

Helping Students Evaluate Their Progress as Readers and Writers.

2nd ed. Fort Worth, Tex.: Harcourt Brace, 1998.



Gearhart, Maryl, and Joan L. Herman. “Portfolio Assessment: Whose

Work Is It? Issues in the Use of Classroom Assignments for

Accountability.” Educational Assessment 5.1 (1998): 41–55.

Howard, Rebecca Moore. “Memoranda to Myself: Maxims for the

Online Portfolio.” Computers and Composition 13.2 (1996):

155–67.

Huit, Brian A. “Computers and Assessment: Understanding Two Tech-

nologies.” Computers and Composition 13.2 (1996): 231–43.

Mondock, Sheryl L. “Portfolios—The Story Behind the Story.” English

Journal 86 (Jan. 1997): 59–64.

Nelson, Alexis. “Views from the Underside: Proficiency Portfolios in

First-Year Composition.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College

26.3 (Mar. 1999): 243–53.

Purves, Alan C. “Electronic Portfolios.” Computers and Composition

13.2 (1996): 135–46.

Sommers, Jeffrey. “Portfolios in Literature Courses: A Case Study.”

Teaching English in the Two Year College 24 (Oct. 1997): 220–34.

Wilcox, Bonita L. “Writing Portfolios: Active vs. Passive.” English Jour-

nal 86 (Oct. 1997): 34–37.

Yancey, Kathleen Blake (ed.). Portfolios in the Writing Classroom.

Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1992.

–––. Situating Portfolios: Four Perspectives. Logan, Utah: Utah State

UP, 1997.

Works cIted

Black, Laurel, Edwina Helton, and Jeffrey Sommers. “Connecting

Current Research on Authentic and Performance Assessment

Through Portfolios.” Assessing Writing 1.2 (1994): 247–266.

Black, Laurel, Donald A. Daiker, Jeffrey Sommers, and Gail Stygall,

(eds.). New Directions in Portfolio Assessment. Reflective Practice,

Critical Theory, and Large-Scale Scoring. Portsmouth, NH: Heine-

mann, Boynton/Cook, 1995.

Belanoff, Pat. “Portfolios and Literacy: Why?” New Directions in Port-

folio Assessment. Eds. Laurel Black, Donald A. Daiker, Jeffrey

Sommers, and Gail Stygall. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, Boyn-

ton/Cook, 1994.13–24.

Conway, Glenda. “Portfolio Cover Letters, Students’ Self-Presentation,

and Teachers’ Ethics.” New Directions in Portfolio Assessment. Eds.

Web Resources • Works Cited


Laurel Black, Donald A. Daiker, Jeffrey Sommers, and Gail Stygall.

Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, Boynton/Cook, 1994: 83–92.

Elbow, Peter. “Will the Virtues of Portfolios Blind Us to Their Potential

Dangers?” New Directions in Portfolio Assessment. Eds. Laurel

Black, Donald A. Daiker, Jeffrey Sommers, and Gail Stygall.

Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, Boynton/Cook, 1994. 40–55.

Murphy, Sandra. “Writing Portfolios in K–12 Schools: Implications for

Linguistically Diverse Students.” New Directions in Portfolio

Assessment. Eds. Laurel Black, Donald A. Daiker, Jeffrey Sommers,

and Gail Stygall. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, Boynton/Cook,

1994. 140–156.

–––. “Portfolios and Curriculum Reform: Patterns in Practice.” Assess-

ing Writing 1.2 (1994). 175–206.

Reynolds, Nedra. “Graduate Writers and Portfolios: Issues of Profes-

sionalism, Authority, and Resistance.” New Directions in Portfolio

Assessment. Eds. Laurel Black, Donald A. Daiker, Jeffrey Sommers,

and Gail Stygall. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, Boynton/Cook,

1994. 201–209.

Sommers, Jeffrey, Laurel Black, Donald A. Daiker, and Gail Stygall.

“The Challenges of Rating Portfolios: What WPAs Can Expect.”

WIPA: Writing Program Administration 17.1–2 (1993): 7–30.

–––. “The Writer’s Memo: Collaboration, Response, and Development.”

Writing and Response.

Theory Practice and Research. Ed. Chris Anson. Urbana, IL: NCTE,

19899. 174–86.

White, Edward M. “Portfolios as an Assessment Concept.” New Direc-

tions in Portfolio Assessment. Eds. Laurel Black, Donald A. Daiker,

Jeffrey Sommers, and Gail Stygall. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann,

Boynton/Cook, 1994. 25–39.

Wiggins, Grant. “Assessment: Authenticity, Context, and Validity.” Phi

Delta Kappan (1993): 200–214.

–––. “The Truth May Make You Free But the Test May Keep You

Imprisoned: Toward Assessment Worthy of the Liberal Arts.” Paper

presented at the fifth American Association for Higher Education

(AAHE) Conference on Assessment, Washington, D.C., 1990.

Yancey, Kathleen Blake. “Portfolios for the Writing Instructor: Some

Definitions, Some Guidelines, Some Recommendations.” Resource

Guide. 12th ed. Prentice Hall Handbook for Writers. Eds. Melinda

G. Kramer, Glenn Legget, C. David Mead. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:

Prentice Hall, 1995. 82–104.


aPPendIx a

advanced composition: english 251

� coUrse WrItIng assIgnments

1. Minimum two entries weekly in a journal

2. Introductory profile

3. Five essays: four open and one reflective essay

4. Grammar presentation and workshop

5. Written responses to a peer’s paper

� fInaL PortfoLIo reqUIrements

1. Table of contents

2. Reflective essay

3. Two essays, revised from earlier drafts

4. Five journal entries

oPtIonaL: Additional journal entries, worksheets, critiques, in-

class writing exercises, ?—What else have you been working on that

you’d like to include?

� fInaL coUrse grade

The class has decided that final course grades will be computed

using the following formula:

Portfolio: 60%

Journal: 15%

Presentation: 5%

Participation: 20%

� evaLUatIng PortfoLIos for engLIsh 251

As I read through your portfolio, I will be asking myself the follow-

ing questions. These questions are based on our discussion over the

Appendix A—Advanced Composition


course of the semester, and particularly on our discussion on “excel-

lence” last week. As you construct your portfolios, you can ask yourself

the same questions.

� Does the writer demonstrate the ability to develop and support

a thesis where necessary?

� Does the writer demonstrate the ability to ask questions of her

material that allow her to fully explore her topic?

� Does the writer demonstrate the ability to think critically about

the material with which he is working?

� Does the writer demonstrate the ability to make what he or she

writes interesting to a reader

� Does the writer engage the reader?

� Does the writer demonstrate the ability to use language appro-

priate to the rhetorical situation?

� Does the writer demonstrate the ability to write following the

conventions of standard written English?

� Does the writer demonstrate the ability to write for a variety of

purposes?

I don’t ask these questions about each single piece in the portfolio,

but I ask them when they appear appropriate. I won’t ask that a journal

entry be free from error, but I do expect that your essays be free from

error. I may feel that you have suggested some abilities and demon-

strated others as I read through the whole portfolio. The more you are

able to demonstrate, rather than suggest, the higher your portfolio grade

will be. You and I will have met in a conference as you are making port-

folio decisions, and we will read and respond to each other’s rough port-

folios in class before they are due.

aPPendIx B

Writer’s memo assignment

A writer’s memo is a way of letting readers in on the purpose you

had in composing your essay. It also helps readers understand the process

you used in constructing your writing. Readers will be better able to

understand why you put this particular piece of support here, an anec-

dote there, why you chose your title, why you concluded what you did.

A writer’s memo is a way of following your essay around, explaining


the things you might if you were sitting with you readers, talking about

your writing.

When this memo is intended for a teacher who will give you

response and a grade, it provides other kinds of information as well. For

example, the teacher may come to understand that you have definite

ideas and plans for your writing but have difficulty turning plans into

writing in certain situations. She may then be able to offer you some

advice or guidance. The teacher may also be better able to understand

how you evaluate your writing and share with you her evaluation.

Another way the memos help you is the practice they give you in

writing reflectively and writing about writing. Over the course of multi-

ple drafts and a whole semester, you will have written a number of these

memos. If you look back at them at the end of the semester, you may be

able to see how you have developed successful techniques for approach-

ing assignments, that you have learned how to write about writing, or that

you have continued to struggle with one aspect of your writing but been

successful with others.

As you write your memo consider giving the reader answers to the

following questions:

� When did you start thinking about this paper? What ideas did

you consider? Why did you reject the others and select this one

to work with?

� When did you actually start writing the paper? What prompted

you to write or what kept you from writing? Did you use a

different process when writing this paper from one that you

used in the past?

� What were the major decisions you made while writing the first

draft? When you revised? Why did you decide what you did?

� What did you learn—if anything—from writing this paper?

Should we as readers be able to tell what you learned as we

read the paper?

� What are the strengths of this paper? Why?

� What parts of the paper aren’t quite as strong? Why?

� What grade would you give this paper right now and why?

� What would you like your readers to get from this paper?

� What would you like your readers to focus on as they prepare

to respond to the paper or prepare suggestions for revision?

Appendix B—Writer’s Memo Assignment


As you write your memo, imagine you are having a dialogue with

an interested reader, someone who wants to know how you did what

you did and why, someone whom you trust to respond honestly and

constructively.

aPPendIx c

reflective essay assignment

Your reflective essay introduces readers to your portfolio. It allows

you to share with readers the choices you made while constructing this

portfolio. It helps readers understand your writing process and your

learning throughout the term. Readers will be better able to understand

why you selected the pieces you did and what achievements they should

expect to see in your portfolio.

Through the term, you have produced writer’s memos for each essay

assignment you’ve submitted. Referring to these writer’s memos can

provide you with ideas to use in your reflective essay. Look for ways

your writing has changed over time, areas you have been struggling with

throughout the term, approaches or strategies that have been effective for

you, what you have learned, what your strengths are, and so forth. As

you develop your essay, ask yourself how and why these changes have

occurred.

In addition to looking back on your writer’s memos, responding to

some of the following questions may help you write your reflective

essay:

� Which pieces did you choose to include and why? What do

these pieces show us about you as a writer or learner?

� What did you learn about writing, about yourself as a writer, or

about yourself as a learner through the course of the semester?

� What strategies for finding, developing, or revising ideas did

you find most helpful and why? Least helpful? (Consider

discussing your process in the context of one of your portfolio

pieces.)

� How have you improved, and how could someone reading this

portfolio see that improvement?

� What do you consider to be your strengths and weaknesses as

a writer? Why?

� Which piece do you feel best shows your achievements as a

writer? Why?


� What goals did you have when beginning this course? Did you

achieve them? If so, show how. If not, discuss why. What are

your future goals for writing?

� What would you like your readers to get from this portfolio?

� What did you get from compiling this portfolio?

Like any essay, your reflective essay should be well crafted and

well developed. When you make assertions about your learning or your

writing, you will need to support them with evidence from your work.

Although the reflective essay helps gives readers a framework for under-

standing your portfolio, even more importantly, the reflective essay is for

you. During a busy semester, students are often so busy reading and

writing that they forget to consider what they have learned through the

process. Use your reflective essay as a place to think about what you

have accomplished.

aPPendIx d

Portfolio response rubric*

young Portfolio—A portfolio that is full of possibilities not yet

realized. The reader has a sense that the portfolio as a whole is unde-

veloped. It is often short and lacks substance. The writing may be free

from errors, but it does not possess a strong voice. There may be no

clear sense of audience or purpose. There may also be recurring prob-

lems in content and style. The reflective essay may substitute surface

narrative and summary for reflection. The writing may rely on formu-

las and cliches. On the other hand, there may be moments of effective

writing, places where the writer hints at strengths that are yet to be devel-

oped.

teenaged Portfolio—In this portfolio we see pretty clearly the

shape of things to come. The writing is competent in both content and

style. There may be an unevenness of quality or underdevelopment in

places—perhaps the reflective essay doesn’t offer a full picture of the

writer’s work, or several pieces seem to need attention to bring them up

to the level of development seen in another piece. The reader may want

“more” to be fully convinced of the writer’s ability to use language effec-

tively. But the writer takes more risks with her work. Her voice is

stronger, more original. She has a clearer sense of where she stands with

her writing and her audience.


Appendix C—Reflective Essay Assignment

mature Portfolio—This portfolio is substantial in development and

accomplishment. It engages its readers, invites them into a mature

dialogue. It uses language effectively and creatively. The reflective essay

moves well beyond summary to help provide a context for understand-

ing the writer and the writing. At the upper range of this group, mature

portfolios take risks that work and challenge their readers by trying

something new.

Remember: No portfolio is perfect, and each of these groups repre-

sent a range and a variety ( a thirteen-year-old is different from a nine-

teen-year-old, yes?). So as you respond to your peers, keep in mind that

you might make even finer, more accurate analogies for them.


*These descriptions draw on Miami University’s scoring guide for placementportfolios. Edwina Helton suggests the terms “starting,” “working,” and“polished” for these three levels. I have found students enjoy the categorydescriptors used above, even adding a few of their own in close-knit peer groups:“infant” and “old man.”

Part Four:

Multilingual Writers in the Composition Classby Cynthia Myers, Iowa State University

� IntroduCtIon

When I was in my second semester of teaching freshman composi-

tion as a graduate student, I had an articulate and motivated Colombian

student in my class. I enjoyed having Julio in class and optimistically

hoped that my course could help him mature as a writer. One day after

class, he approached me with a paper I had corrected and kindly asked

me to explain a few of the mistakes he had made: He wanted to thor-

oughly understand which situations required the present perfect and

which required the past perfect. I launched into an explanation, but as I

talked, I suddenly realized that I had only a vague notion of the answer.

I knew it had something to do with time frame, but why exactly could-

n’t Julio say “I have lived in Kansas since six months ago”? It was not

something I had ever really considered, nor was it a grammar question

that had come up in my teaching of high school English to native speak-

ers.

I began to notice how many grammar errors I had corrected on

Julio’s paper: the page was covered with green ink. I also began to

suspect that my corrections were probably not going to help him avoid

making the mistakes another time. I noticed how few substantive

comments I had made to help him with revising his material and reor-

ganizing his ideas. I began to feel embarrassed, and then apologetic, and

finally inadequate. How could I help him improve his writing without

becoming mired in long and confusing grammar explanations? How

could I help him improve his grammar when I had such an incomplete

understanding of the language myself?

I tell the story because I believe my feelings of incompetence at

that time have probably been felt by many teachers suddenly faced with

nonnative students whose questions and whose presence in a class with

native speakers are disquieting. As teachers of writing, we want to help

all students, but without specialized training we may be uncertain how

to proceed. Will we embarrass a quiet Japanese student if we ask him to

share an especially poetic description with the rest of the class? Is it


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useful to mark the many errors that appear on an Indonesian student’s

first draft? Should we tell a Puerto Rican student that her lateness to

class is disruptive since we know that her Latin American sense of time

is different from our own? Should we avoid calling on a Chinese student

whose spoken English is difficult to understand? And, in addition to the

many questions we may have about individual nonnative speakers, how

do we handle classroom dynamics to encourage the native-speaking

students to include nonnative speakers when they choose collaborative

or peer review groups? How can we foster an atmosphere in which all

students feel empowered?

My role as coordinator of a program of cross-cultural freshman

English classes at a large state university has given me some insights into

the challenges faced by composition teachers who work with classes

made up of native and nonnative English speakers, particularly when

the teachers have little experience in teaching ESL (English as a second

language). It has also given me a new appreciation for the stimulating

diversity of a composition class with students from varied backgrounds

and also for the benefits to the U.S. students in a class with international

classmates.

Of course, not all nonnative English speakers are international

students. Some are migrants or recent immigrants who have been

educated in U.S. schools (also called “generation 1.5”). Often times these

students demonstrate fluency with spoken English, but ESL errors mani-

fest themselves in their writing. Generation 1.5 English language learn-

ers bring varying levels of fluency in their native language and varying

levels of education to the college classroom (Harklau, Losey, & Siegal,

1999).

Whether English language learners comprise half a class or are scat-

tered more sparsely throughout sections of freshman English, the insights

and experiences of international students can enrich any class. Students

learn to collaborate with students from different backgrounds, gaining

skills that will make them more cosmopolitan citizens of the world.

Goals of a writing course may include encouraging students to draw

material from multiple perspectives, growing beyond a narrow view of

the world, and thinking critically, goals which can be facilitated when

differing views are represented. Regardless of their cultural background,

students can learn to accept accents, tolerate ambiguity, and avoid auto-

matic judgments, and having a culturally mixed class can broaden the

perspectives of both U.S. and international students. Students can also

learn that culture is much more than an assemblage of curious customs,

that it is at the very root of our personalities, ideas, and beliefs.

Part Four—Multilingual Writers in the Composition Class



Though English language learners may be initially apprehensive

about taking a composition course, they have much to gain from the

experience. In many universities, freshmen enroll primarily in large

lecture classes; a composition class may be one of the few in which

professors know their names, or in which they have a chance to get

acquainted with their classmates. Some international students spend

much of their time associating with a support group of other students

from their own cultures; though they may wish to make American

friends, international students often do not find opportunities to get well

acquainted with U.S. students. The intimate setting of a composition

class can be an ideal opportunity for an international student to make

U.S. friends. Additionally, the more chances an international student has

to practice listening, speaking and writing the more likely she will be to

improve her abilities to communicate in English. This practice occurs

with more intensity and frequency in the writing classroom than in many

content area classes.

The first section of this chapter examines cultural issues that make

studying in U.S. colleges a challenging situation for many multilingual

students, particularly internationl students, and suggests ways in which

a composition teacher can integrate multilingual students into the class-

room. It also discusses some of the general concerns in cross-cultural

education and provides insights into the differing perspectives of multi-

lingual students. The second section describes some of the difficulties

new international students may have in speaking and listening. It

discusses classroom activities that have proved useful in helping English

language learners improve their listening comprehension and speaking

abilities. The third section looks more specifically at writing pedagogy

for the multilingual student, covering such issues as understanding differ-

ences in rhetorical expectations of native and nonnative students,

handling errors in ESL students’ writing, and adapting pedagogical tech-

niques like peer review and collaborative writing to a class including

multilingual writers, both international students and generation 1.5

students.

� Cultural Issues

New international students face big adjustments when coming to

the U.S. to study. Not only is the language a challenge, but even well-

meaning Americans can cause distress for newly arrived students. Mui,

from Malaysia, wrote this in her journal:

Cultural Issues



When I first came, I was very frightened because I did not

understand the American way of doing things. I can clearly

remember my first time on the campus. It was a afternoon, but

the campus was as quiet as midnight because the university was

closed for winter break. I was walking alone with a campus

map in my right hand and worrying that I would not be able to

find all my classes. An American guy approached me as I

walked along the sidewalk. As he got closer, he said “Hi.” I

looked around and there was nobody else except the two of us.

“He must be saying hi to me,” I thought. I was so scared! I

whispered in my heart, “My goodness, I hope he won’t attack

a helpless girl like me. He must be a crazy person.” I walked

faster with my head down and ignored him. My heart was beat-

ing and I could hardly breath. I just couldn’t believe it when he

passed me by without any assault! Later, as I was here a longer

time, I realized that saying “hi” or smiling to strangers was to

be friendly to them. I hoped that the guy wouldn’t misinterpret

that foreigners were cold and unfriendly.

Reading her journal, we cannot help but sympathize with Mui’s

terror. If this situation caused her to panic, one might imagine that other,

more complex situations could be very confusing. New international

students sometimes have great difficulty knowing what is appropriate or

expected in a given situation. For example, a new student in one of my

ESL classes confided to me that he had been unable to sleep for a week

because his American roommate would enter their dorm room at two or

three in the morning talking loudly to friends, would turn on the light

and the stereo, and would often not go to bed until dawn. To the inter-

national student, his roommate’s behavior was incomprehensibly rude,

yet my student was uncertain whether or not this unkindness was inap-

propriate for an American. He had no idea whether or not he should

complain, either to the roommate or to someone else. And in the mean-

time, he was attempting to attend class and study through a blur of

exhaustion.

These two situations were resolved favorably: Mui noticed the

differences in greeting customs and began to feel comfortable with them;

my tired student spoke to his RA and eventually arranged to move into

another room. But other situations may continue to provoke uneasiness,

discomfort, or confusion. The anthropologist Edward Hall (1959)

explains that “. . . culture is more than mere custom that can be shed or

changed like a suit of clothes” (p. 46), and “. . . culture controls behav-

ior in deep and persisting ways, many of which are outside of awareness

and therefore beyond conscious control of the individual” (p. 48).




Some students may never feel entirely comfortable with the relaxed,

“anything goes” atmosphere in an American classroom: It violates all

they have been taught about the teacher’s proper authority and the

respect owed by a student. Though they may manage to understand and

function in a U.S. classroom, they may never feel completely “at home”

in a class where students interrupt the teacher or pack up their books to

leave while the teacher is still talking. Another student may grow to

understand that American friends are not intending to be rude when they

say “Let’s get together sometime?” but never call, yet it may continue

to seem impolite.

International students are not the only ones who face cultural differ-

ences at college; generation 1.5 students, although often quite assimilated

in U.S. culture, may feel isolated from their native language and culture

and even their families as they move into the academy. These students

sometimes feel like they don’t belong in either culture. Immigrant

students are likely to have experienced ethnic labels and stereotypes or

imposed identities. Increasingly, families who immigrate to the United

States do so in search of better economic opportunity, often bringing with

them very few resources and taking on very low-wage jobs. Some

students feel pressured to attend college to pull themselves and their fami-

lies out of poverty, but may feel alienated once they get there. Frequently,

generation 1.5 students were placed in low-ability classes while attend-

ing U.S. high schools, so they may inexperienced with the culture and

conventions of the academy (Roberge, 2005).

We need to recognize rather than trivialize the differences in deeply

rooted cultural values. As Hall (1959) points out, the most useful aspect

of learning about cultural differences is gaining a deeper understanding of

one’s own culture. “The best reason for exposing oneself to foreign ways

is to generate a sense of vitality and awareness—an interest in life which

can come only when one lives through the shock of contrast and differ-

ence” (p. 53). If teachers understand the complex challenges facing their

multilingual students, they can work to make the composition classroom

a place where some cultural issues can be explored. At the very least, they

can provide a supportive atmosphere where U.S. and international class-

mates can learn together.

It is also well worth remembering that multilingual students are an

amazingly diverse group of people. They come from backgrounds very

different from one another, have widely varying goals and attitudes about

living and studying in the United States, and certainly have different

skills. My comments are not meant to minimize these differences, nor am

I intending to “lump” all international students into one large, easily

explainable group. However, certain difficulties reappear among students

Cultural Issues



from many backgrounds, and several issues about cross-cultural commu-

nication are worth exploring. The following suggestions may help to clar-

ify areas of confusion, misinterpretation, and difficulty experienced by

many international students.

Nonverbal Communication

Anyone who has done reading on cultural diversity is aware that

students from other cultures may interpret matters of personal space and

body language very differently than the “average American.” My

consciousness was raised about this issue during my first semester as a

teaching assistant. A Nigerian student in my class frequently came for

office hours to get extra advice about this writing. I enjoyed talking with

him and got to know him well from our frequent conversations. We

would begin the conference with me behind my desk and him on the

chair to the right of the desk where all my students sat when they came

in to talk to me. As we talked about his writing, he would invariably

gather up his papers and move his chair so that we were sitting side by

side. Though I didn’t feel threatened by him, I found myself feeling

uncomfortable sitting with our shoulders touching, and I would uncon-

sciously edge my chair farther away. As we talked, my student would

scoot his chair closer; I would move farther. I finally realized what was

happening when I found that I was leaning into the wall at the left side

of my desk: inch by inch, he had pursued me there. He felt comfortable

at a closer distance than I did—a phenomenon I had read about but never

experienced before.

Hall (1959) provides insights into this phenomenon for his U.S.

readers:

In Latin America the interaction distance is much less than it

is in the United States. Indeed, people cannot talk comfortably

with one another unless they are very close to the distance that

evokes either sexual or hostile feelings in the North American.

The result is that when they move close, we withdraw and back

away. As a consequence, they think we are distant or cold, with-

drawn and unfriendly. We, on the other hand, are constantly

accusing them of breathing down our necks, crowding us, and

spraying our faces. (p. 209)

Students from other cultural backgrounds may also have differing

conventions for who may touch whom and in what circumstances. A

Japanese student may feel that her space has been invaded if an Amer-

ican student puts his feet on the back of her chair. Asian students often

express surprise at U.S. couples publicly hugging or kissing, yet may




find the taboo against same-sex touching odd. One assumes, until one

has reason to know otherwise, that all people operate under the same

unspoken rules for nonverbal appropriateness, and it may come as a

disquieting shock to realize that one’s own internalized rules are not

held by others. “Since most people don’t think about personal distance

as something that is culturally patterned, foreign spatial cues are almost

inevitably misinterpreted” (Hall & Hall, 1990, p. 12).

Eye gaze varies across cultures, too, with some cultures encourag-

ing direct eye contact and others considering direct eye contact too

forward or insulting. Once during a discussion of this topic, a student

told me that he would never stare at a woman’s eyes. He felt that she

would certainly interpret this as him indicating sexual interest in her.

When I asked what place was the appropriate spot for his eyes, he

responded seriously, “Her chest.” It is often pointed out that Vietnamese

students show respect by directing their eyes downward, not by making

direct eye contact. Conversely, students from the Middle East may feel

that Americans do not keep eye contact long enough.

Teachers tend to be focused on the verbal channel of expression, and

may not have a conscious awareness of nonverbal communication

(Morain, 1978). They should educate themselves about some of the

differences in nonverbal communication, especially if international

students comprise a good portion of their students. Differences in

gesture, eye contact, touch, and movement are interestingly discussed by

many writers. Particularly accessible are collections by Valdes (1986),

and Byrd (1986) as well as the classics by Hall. Other resources for a

teacher interested in cross-cultural differences include Genzel &

Cummings (1994), Fox (1994), and Levine, Baxter, & McNulty (1987).

Trying to define one’s own cultural expectations for nonverbal

communication can be an interesting topic of class discussion if several

nationalities are represented. A teacher can have students discuss ques-

tions like these:

� How do you enter a classroom if you are late and arriving after

the class has begun?

� How do you greet a friend of the opposite sex after not seeing

him/her for several months? Of the same sex? How do you

greet a friend when you see him/her for the second time in the

same day?

� What body language would you use when you meet your

parents at the end of the school year?

Cultural Issues



� In what circumstances, if any, would you expect to be able to

smell a friend? Would you find it offensive, normal, embar-

rassing?

� In which circumstances would you walk hand in hand or arm

in arm with a friend?

� What gestures are considered rude in your culture? Why?

Although issues such as these do not go to the root of cultural differ-

ences, they can raise students’ awareness and make them more sensitive

not only of their classmates but also their own cultural assumptions.

Time Codes

Most North Americans have heard of the Spanish term “mañana”

and realize that the expression says something about the relative cultural

importance of being on time or doing things “right now.” U.S. residents

assume that this stereotype simply means that Latin Americans “put off

for tomorrow what they should do today,” yet the underlying cultural

values are much more complex. Levine (1985) interviewed Brazilian

students to better understand their sense of time, and noted that the

Brazilian students felt less regret about being late and were less likely

to be bothered that someone else was late than students from North

America. As a matter of fact, the Brazilian students believed that a

consistently late person was probably more successful than one who was

on time.

Hall & Hall (1989) describe the distinction between “monochro-

matic” and “polychromatic” time. People who are monochromatic focus

on one thing at a time, while in polychromatic cultures, people are

comfortable with doing many things at once. The U.S. is a monochro-

matic culture: time is seen as linear, and it is scheduled, compartmen-

talized, and talked about as if it were tangible. It can be “‘spent,’ ‘saved,’

‘wasted,’ and ‘lost’” (p. 13). In polychromatic cultures, keeping to a

schedule is less important than interacting with people, and students with

a polychromatic sense of time may have trouble understanding why it

is important to their teachers for them to come promptly to class or an

appointment. Students would opt to be late for an appointment rather

than rudely end a conversation they are having with a friend.

Being aware that a student is not intentionally trying to be rude may

help a teacher interpret this behavior correctly. It is also helpful to clar-

ify classroom expectations of behavior with students on the syllabus and

in class discussion. Most students who would not worry about the clock

in their home countries will make an effort to be on time when they are

in the United States once they understand that promptness is expected.




An American student wrote about her growing understanding of a

Puerto Rican classmate’s different sense of time:

I talked to Ana one day during class and she mentioned that she

was uncomfortable with the way people here said, “Hi, how are

you?” without waiting for a response. She said it was rather shal-

low. It didn’t dawn on me that I said those words often until I

heard myself saying them to Ana herself two days later. I was in

a big hurry to get to one of my classes and I saw Ana on one of

the paths. I was practically running when I saw her, and because

I was happy to see Ana, I said ‘Hi, how are ya?’ as I kept on

going. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I knew I had

said something really stupid. I stopped to talk to her for awhile

and I left feeling a little happier. Even though I was in a hurry, I

still made it on time.

This kind of insight into another person’s perspective is exactly what

we can hope for in a class where students are working together with

others from different cultures.

Sensitive Cultural Issues

One of the instructors in our program recently raised an interesting

question: “What if an ESL student writes a paper setting forth cultural

values that the teacher simply cannot accept?” (Falck-Yi, personal

communication). This teacher was imagining a situation in which a

student made a claim that men were superior to women, or that an oldest

child was evil if he did not care for aging parents, or that one’s govern-

ment must be obeyed blindly.

It is certainly true that students from other cultures will have, and

will express, values that are not shared by many U.S. teachers. However,

this also occurs in writing classes for U.S. students: the teacher with a

liberal perspective will feel uncomfortable about a student’s praise of

Rush Limbaugh; many writing teachers have disagreed with student

papers containing racist comments. Given that the situation is not

uncommon, most teachers will attempt to approach such writing with

sensitivity. A teacher can ask the student questions to help him more

clearly define his ideas, a teacher can suggest alternative viewpoints or

point out inconsistencies in his arguments, but in the end, a teacher must

respect the student’s right as an individual to hold differing beliefs.

At times, teachers may find they have unexpectedly strayed into

“taboo” areas. Several years ago, I thought I would try a creative descrip-

tive assignment in an ESL class. I brought several varieties of apples to

class, gave one to each class member, and asked them to describe the

Cultural Issues



apples in detail. I suggested they look carefully at the outside of the

apple, but also that they take several bites to describe the taste and

texture. The class included two students from Malaysia, one from

Indonesia, one from Saudi Arabia, and one from Egypt, and I noticed

several minutes into the activity that none of them were eating their

apples. Suddenly, it struck me: we were in the month of Ramadan when

Muslims fast during daylight hours! I was momentarily afraid that I had

offended them, but they graciously took the opportunity to explain their

religious beliefs to the rest of the class. My mistake provided an oppor-

tunity for learning.

Some culturally sensitive topics are worth exploring in the class-

room. Teachers may find that with some international students, they not

only need to explain techniques for avoiding sexist language (Ch. 33H

in Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers), but also may need to

explain the rationale behind the concept. In addition, with current

concerns about sexual harassment, students from different cultures may

need to be sensitized to the fact that their “normal” manner of approach-

ing people of the opposite sex can be misinterpreted. A student from

Honduras recently told one of the teachers in our program that when he

saw college women sunning themselves on public lawns, he assumed he

would be welcome to go up next to them, sit down, and begin a conver-

sation. When his American classmate said that the sunbathing woman

might think he was harassing her, the student was puzzled. “Why is it

worse to go up and talk to someone,” he asked, “than it is to stare at

them without speaking the way the U.S. men do?” To the Honduran

student, the impersonal staring of the American men was more insult-

ing than the approach he perceived as direct and friendly.

Tyler (1994) describes a situation in which a male tutor from India

was working with an American female undergraduate in a volunteer situ-

ation. The female student complained that the tutor had made sexual

advances during the tutoring session because his leg had brushed against

hers several times and he had not apologized. Tyler notes that it was

clear that the touch had been unintentional, and that the Indian tutor had

not recognized that this casual contact required an apology.

Teachers should be aware that students from some cultures may not

feel at all comfortable criticizing their government or their parents, will

balk at topics that offend their religious sensibilities, and may have

differing attitudes about relations between the sexes. Teachers should

also avoid singling out international or immigrant students to speak as

experts on their native cultures. Although they often can provide unique

insights or alternative perspectives, they are individuals and do not repre-




sent the whole of a culture, nor may they want to be called upon to be

the voice of the “other.” Teachers should attempt to understand their

students’ viewpoints and appreciate the diversity they bring to the class-

room. At the same time, giving all students more complex insights into

societies and culture can also be a useful goal.

Another issue that may come up with some nonnative speakers,

particularly those who are immigrant or migrant students, is a sense of

resistance to language development. Some may see the acquisition of a

new language as a threat to their native culture and even to their family

relationships. Learning language changes us; it changes our under-

standing of the world. For some, that change is undesirable, and they

may subvert efforts to become fluent in standard English. Richard

Rodriguez and other writers have shared this sense of conflict in their

autobiographical pieces. This conflict is not limited to learning a second

language, either. Other writers, such as bell hooks and Amy Tan, have

described the conflict between using the language of home and the

language of the institution and how these changes in their language

affected their relationships and even their sense of identity. Reading

about and discussing these conflicts can help students pinpoint the source

of dissonance they may feel in learning academic English. Students can

find space to write about these issues in narrative, descriptive, compare

and contrast, or argumentative essays.

� lIstenIng and sPeakIng skIlls For

MultIlIngual students

Although the focus of a composition course is writing, an interna-

tional student needs to be able to comprehend and speak in order to

participate fully in the class. U.S. students can be sensitized to the diffi-

culties facing the international students, and a teacher can encourage

communication between native and nonnative speakers.

Listening

Especially for newly arrived students, coping with the average

American’s idiomatic, connected speech can be challenging. Many

students from East Asian countries have learned a sort of “textbook”

English, focusing on translation, memorizing model texts, and rigor-

ously studying formal English grammar. Some have never taken a class

in which they had to speak; some have never communicated with a

native speaker; many have learned from British English models. Imag-

ine the surprise a Korean student feels when she hears her American

partner on the first day of class say something that sounds like “Whad-

Listening and Speaking Skills for Multilingual Students



dayawanna do?” She can, without difficulty, read the words “What do

you want to do?” but her classmate’s pronunciation is unexpectedly

confusing.

Of course most native speakers realize that English is not always

spoken the way that it is written, that words like thought, throughout, and

rough share common spelling but have different pronunciations.

However, many native speakers don’t realize that the natural speech

patterns for Americans are not easily predictable from written text.

Words within phrases are linked, as in the previous example, and vowels

in unstressed syllables may be reduced (not pronounced clearly) or omit-

ted entirely. For instance, the phrase back and forth will be spoken “back

‘n forth” and wants to go is said “wants t’ go.” Native speakers proba-

bly write should of rather than should have because, as it is spoken, the

word sounds more like of than have.

Sound changes also occur—are said to be assimilated—when certain

consonants occur together. For example, could you becomes couldja

where the d and y combine into a sound like dj, or “What was your

name?” becomes “What wazshur name?” Finally, stress patterns in

English sentences can affect meaning in a way quite unusual in other

languages. “He’s leaving on Friday,” “He’s leaving on Friday” and “He’s

leaving on Friday” are appropriate in slightly different contexts. Simi-

larly, “I went to the white house” is not the same as “I went to the White

House!” It’s no wonder that new international students sometimes appear

puzzled! (See pronunciation texts like Gilbert, 1994 for detailed expla-

nations of these phenomena.)

Academic idioms can make understanding classroom spoken

English even more difficult for a new student. Academic discourse is rife

with idiomatic expressions: “Will you pass back the handout”; “There’s

a pop quiz today”; “I’ll post the scores at midterm”; “You can take a

make-up test.” The vocabulary of the writing classroom may be just as

opaque for a new international student. First draft, peer editing, brain-

storming, and prewriting may not only be unfamiliar terms, but may not

link into an already existing schema in the international student’s mind.

Even more troublesome for international students are the many

idioms and slang expressions that native speakers use unconsciously in

their informal speech. I recall standing in line behind an international

student on a trip to a local fast food restaurant one summer. The young

woman behind the counter asked the student if his order was “Fer here

or t’ go.” The student looked at her with wide eyes; her speech was

uncomprehensible to him. Even when she slowed down and enunciated

the phrase—“for here or to go,” the expression still did not make any

sense to this international student. Consider other common expressions




that are not immediately transparent to a nonnative English speaker:

“That was over my head,” “It’s on the tip of my tongue,” “It was lost in

the shuffle,” and “We’re in for it now.” Sports idioms, like “way out in

left field,” “extra innings,” “slam dunk,” “out of bounds,” or “coming

down the home stretch,” are used frequently in everyday language, but

are meaningless to a student who is unfamiliar with American sports

culture. And slang expressions from “goth” to “bling” to “awesome,”

“cool,” or “hot” also can confuse the second language learner.

Many nonnative students are eager to learn new idioms, but they

may not always have an effective strategy for acquiring them. I recall

one diligent student who was studying a small paperback book as I

walked into class. When I asked Ming what he was reading, he told me

he was learning American slang from his book, which provided transla-

tions into Chinese. I expressed enthusiasm for his efforts, and asked him

to give me an example. He looked down, and read his most recently

learned idiom: “Paint the town red.” I explained that that particular idiom

was rather outdated, and commiserated about the difficulty of keeping

up to date on slang. I confided that I frequently had to ask my teenage

children to explain popular expressions. Ming decided to ask some of his

American friends for current alternatives before he began to say “Paint

the town red.”

The complexities of comprehending spoken English may seem over-

whelming, but encouraging the nonnative speakers to use their native

classmates as “slang informants” is useful for both the U.S. and inter-

national students. The nonnative students should be encouraged to bring

their questions about idiomatic expressions; it is an enlightening expe-

rience for the native speakers to attempt to define terms that they use

without thinking, and identifying idioms can raise their awareness. For

example, international students frequently ask “When I thank people,

why do they say ‘sure’ or ‘you bet’ instead of ‘you’re welcome’? or

“What exactly should I say when an American says ‘What’s happen-

ing’?” A student recently asked me, “What’s the difference between ‘Oh

boy’ and ‘Oh man’? Why don’t you say ‘Oh girl’ or ‘Oh woman’?”

Struggling with questions like these makes a native speaker more sensi-

tive to his or her own language. If the nonnative students seem to feel

uncomfortable asking their classmates for help with idioms, students can

use their journals for recording expressions and terms they don’t under-

stand. This allows a teacher to give feedback privately.

Often, students who are not following class discussion or who do

not understand something their teachers have said may not indicate that

they are having trouble; the problems only become evident when the

teacher collects a homework assignment. Students may be reluctant to




show that they do not understand because they consider asking ques-

tions insulting, since it would communicate that the teacher had not

explained well enough. Other students may simply be too shy or fear-

ful to tell the teacher that they don’t understand. Putting instructions in

writing can be a helpful way of backing up oral comments. Additionally,

encouraging students to come for individual help in an office confer-

ence can be a nonthreatening way for them to ask questions.

Native-speaking students may need some guidance to respond to their

ESL classmates in a helpful way. Levine, Baxter & McNulty (1987) quote

a nonnative speaker who was frustrated talking with an American, “When

I say . . . ‘Please repeat,’ he often repeats everything he said before, only

louder, and faster. Why doesn’t he speak more slowly when he repeats?

Why does he repeat so many sentences? Usually, after he repeats, I still

don’t understand” (p. 65). If several nonnative students in a class appear

to be having difficulty with listening, the teacher may wish to address the

issue directly. One can request that the native speakers speak slowly (not

more loudly) and be willing to stop to explain expressions their class-

mates don’t know. Additionally, rather than repeating the exact words that

were initially misunderstood, the native speaker can try paraphrasing,

using different expressions to communicate the same idea. Paraphrasing

what other speakers said is a useful listening activity for native and nonna-

tive English speakers alike. The teacher can model this technique if it

seems that students are having trouble communicating. Also, if the teacher

occasionally stops to explain an idiom to the non-native students, the U.S.

students in the class may wish to add their perspectives or suggest alter-

native idioms, and will become sensitized to the difficulties of the nonna-

tive speaker in understanding these expressions.

Speaking

While nonnative students’ listening problems may not be obvious,

especially if they seem to be paying attention, their speaking abilities are

often more apparent. A student may know what she wants to say, but not

be able to articulate her ideas; another may speak quickly, but with

impenetrable pronunciation.

Speaking fluency will improve with practice, and I encourage my

students to take advantage of every opportunity to talk they can find.

However, even students who wish to practice interacting may feel inhib-

ited raising their hands in class and may never feel comfortable enough

to interrupt a classmate. Some may avoid speaking because they worry

that others will not understand their accent. One should recognize that

nonnative students may have differing expectations regarding what goes

on in a classroom. Students may feel that the best and proper way to




learn is to sit silently and diligently take notes on the professor’s lecture.

Many are unaccustomed to small or large group class disucssions, and

they may be surprised to be expected to participate in class discussion.

Others may attempt to participate but not find a way to “get a word in

edgewise.” Research into communication patterns reveals differences

even between New Yorkers and Californians in their sense of the length

of silent pauses between speakers or their tendency to interrupt one

another (Tannen, 1984). If speakers from the U.S. differ, one can assume

that speakers from various parts of the world will have very different

unconscious expectations about how to get the attention of a classmate

or how to take a turn in the conversation.

In a class with mixed nationalities, a teacher may find, at least

initially, that the native speakers are dominating class discussions.

However, a teacher can provide positive reinforcement when a nonna-

tive student does respond to a question, can call on the nonnative speak-

ers to encourage their participation, and should model supportive

behaviors like repeating a difficult to understand comment so that the

whole class can understand or providing an appropriate phrase or word

if a student is struggling to find one. The teacher may also find it help-

ful to moderate class discussions to ensure that all who want to get to

participate. Other techniques, such as allowing wait time before calling

for a response, having students freewrite about a topic before discussing

it, beginning discussion in small groups before opening it to the whole

class, are useful ways to encourage more talking for native and nonna-

tive English speakers alike.

Even though reticent students may never eagerly participate in a

whole-class discussion, such students often open up in the safer context

of a small group or pair. For this reason, using small groups for discus-

sion of a reading, for examining sample student writing, or for a revi-

sion exercise can encourage the international students to participate.

Other small group activities can include collaboratively gathering infor-

mation, problem solving, and annotating or evaluating readings (Reid,

1993).

Small group work may also be a new experience for international

students, but if the groups are structured carefully, they can be an effec-

tive way of encouraging discussion from quiet students. Assigning

groups allows the instructor to mix international and U.S. students and

avoids a situation in which the U.S. students choose their friends, leav-

ing the international students to feel like the last ones picked for the

seventh grade soccer game. On the other hand, a native speaker may

feel excluded if several students from the same language background

carry on a discussion in their language rather than in English, and ground




rules about using English in class are sometimes useful. Just as with

native speakers, gender balance can also affect group dynamics; for

example, a Muslim woman may feel more uncomfortable than a U.S.

woman if asked to work with a group of male classmates. Ideally, the

teacher of a culturally mixed language class should avoid stereotyping

her students (the Muslim woman might be just as outspoken and confi-

dent as her American classmate), but should remain sensitive to the

cultural and gender makeup of student groups.

Of course native speakers can dominate the discussion of small

groups, or they may take over a collaborative project without consult-

ing the international students. It is often useful to specifically discuss

some of the benefits and problems in cross-cultural communication

before students are placed into groups. Additionally, one can set ground

rules for discussions which include the participation of every member

to encourage native speakers to solicit the ideas of the nonnative

students. Or, if students regularly discuss class readings in small groups,

rotating the “chair” or “reporter” who summarizes the group’s work will

necessitate that all the students have a turn. Structuring the group exer-

cises, too, can guarantee that each student gets a voice: for example, if

the assignment requires recording responses and ideas from every group

member and incorporating those ideas into a summary, then each

student’s opinions will, by the nature of the assignment, be solicited.

Group activities certainly allow students to use and develop listen-

ing and speaking skills in the writing classroom. (Schlumberger &

Clymer, 1989) Additionally, teachers should not hesitate to encourage

nonnative students’ participation in whole class activities and in group

oral presentations. More specific comments on using peer review and

collaborative writing will follow in the next section.

� WrItIng skIlls For MultIlIngual students

New teachers should remember that English language learners vary

widely in their writing abilities. A teacher should not automatically assume

that the nonnative English speakers will be the ones with the most press-

ing problems. On the contrary, teachers often say that the international

students are among the best writers in their classes, willing to take on seri-

ous issues and work hard at improving their writing. Certainly, the nonna-

tive speakers are often highly motivated students, and they may be more

focused on their academic goals than some of their native-speaking class-

mates.

In our multicultural society, a student with a non-English name and

appearance may well be as “American” as the blonde Jane Smith sitting

beside her. Generation 1.5 and second generation immigrants can have




interesting cultural perspectives, but their writing skills will be indistin-

guishable from other U.S. students. A permanent resident, immigrant

student who learned English in a U.S. junior high school may be fluent

in spoken English, yet may retain nonnative-like problems in grammar

or expression. Leki (1992) describes one such Vietnamese student who

did not want to take an ESL class for “foreigners” because she clearly

wished to be considered an American; however, the student struggled in

the regular composition class because of her English abilities. At some

U.S. colleges, the distinction between first language basic writers and

ESL writers has become blurred with the effects of bilingual education

as well as the fact that students have immigrated at different ages

(Santos, 1992). Certainly, too, students’ educational backgrounds in their

first languages will affect their abilities in the new language.

Given that there is no “typical” nonnative speaker in a composition

class, how can a teacher meet the diverse needs of multilingual students

in helping them gain greater writing skills? Teachers can be reassured

that many of the techniques used to teach writing to native speakers work

equally well with multilingual students. However, understanding cultur-

ally based writing differences and gaining insights into English language

learners’ expectations will help teachers evaluate their students needs

more accurately.

Assumptions About Writing and Learning to Write

Since composition classes are such an expected feature of U.S. college

and university curricula, it may come as a surprise that many students who

come from different educational backgrounds have not had instruction in

writing in their own language (Leki, 1992). In some cultures, writing

instruction may embody very different values. I have already mentioned

that students may feel uncomfortable with the casual atmosphere in U.S.

classrooms and may be surprised that they are supposed to participate in

class discussions. Other aspects of the U.S. composition class may also be

unexpected.

If they come from university systems in which students can freely

choose whether or not to attend lectures during the semester, students may

feel that the frequent, daily homework assignments given in typical fresh-

man-level classes are unnecessary busywork. One South American

student commented that these classes were like high school classes, with

the teacher always checking up on the student and attendance expected.

He was accustomed to more freedom at the university level. On the other

hand, some students adapt to these expectations and indicate that they

appreciate the frequent practice and feedback. I often mention at the

beginning of a course that a writing class is very different from most

Writing Skills for Multilingual Students



others: instead of absorbing a body of knowledge, students are devel-

oping skills. Many students do not realize that reading, writing, speak-

ing, and listening are interrelated skills, thus regular reading assignments

and verbal interaction are typical in a composition class. For these reason

homework, frequent reading and writing assignments, as well as regu-

lar attendance are essential in giving students practice in the skills they

are learning.

Other differences may not be as obvious but may deeply affect a

student’s ability to write compositions. Although writing as process perme-

ates most U.S. composition classrooms, the concept of writing more than

one draft may be surprising to many international students. Some students

may have come from traditions in which the appearance of a piece of writ-

ing is judged as an important feature, and thus may be very uncomfort-

able handing in drafts that have cross-overs, arrows, or marginally added

phrases. Many are unaccustomed to receiving feedback, especially from

peers, and using that feedback for revision. They may not appreciate or

know how to incorporate comments and suggestions received from others,

nor may they feel confident offering feedback to other students. Addi-

tionally, some students may have come from educational systems in which

they were expected to do exactly as the teacher says. The respect and

honor that they give to their teachers may be flattering, but a composition

teacher can find it frustrating to find his own ideas and suggestions incor-

porated, whole cloth, into a student’s papers. Many English language

learners are so concerned about making grammar errors or using English

properly that they do not spend as much time considering the content they

are trying to convey.

Additionally, typical U.S. college writing assignments or topics may

be very unfamiliar to or uncomfortable for international students.

Although many writing teachers begin their courses with narrative writ-

ing, believing that students will write better about topics with which

they are familiar, many international students are unaccustomed to writ-

ing personal narratives. Some may find particular assigned topics too

personal to write about. Some topics or readings may be culturally

biased, and students from foreign cultures may not have a basis for

understanding or responding to them. Teachers may find that some

students resist taking a strong personal stance in an argument or that,

having taken a stance, the student does not feel a need to support or

defend it. Some students may show reluctance to critique an essay. These

differences can make a mismatch between the teacher’s and the multi-

lingual students’ expectations in a class.

Because generation 1.5 students are often experienced with writing

as process and may be familiar with typical writing assignments encoun-




tered in U.S. colleges, teachers may not realize that they, too, may require

special consideration in the writing classroom. Teachers often assume that

since many generation 1.5 students are fluent in spoken English that they

will also be fluent in written academic English. However, generally gener-

ation 1.5 have missed formal grammar instruction, learning language

mostly aurally and orally, and retain “fossilized” forms of nonstandard

English. Often their first language education was interrupted to learn

English, causing them to attempt to build second language literacy with-

out first language literacy (Roberge, 2003). Valdes (1992) argues that it’s

essential to differentiate between “incipient bilingual,” those who are in

the process of learning English, and “functional bilinguals,” those who

have learned English, but who persistently use nonstandard forms of

English in their writing. The latter group likely does not need ESL instruc-

tion, but may need more direct grammar instruction than may be typically

offered in a freshman composition course.

Finally, many English language learners and teachers alike have

unrealistic expectations about time to fluency. Language acquisition is

a complex and long-term process; one acquires language in different

ways than one learns a body of knowledge. In fact, the efficacy of error

correction and explicit grammar instruction for second language learn-

ers is a hotly debated topic since some research on these methods has

indicated that they have no, or perhaps even a detrimental effect on writ-

ing development. Clearly, it is unrealistic to expect that the writing of

most ESL students will sound like that of a native English speaker. Most

English language learners will speak and write with an accent.

Rhetorical features

A student once mentioned that the Chinese have a saying to describe

the way that writing should work: “Open the door and see the mountain.”

She explained that the Chinese writer would paint a picture for the

reader, building detail by detail, until finally, the mountain was revealed.

If, on the other hand, one considers “the mountain” to be the main

purpose of a piece of English writing, then we might imagine that the

appropriate approach when writing in English is to first tell the reader

she is gong to see a mountain before she ever opens the door! In other

words, the approach a writer takes to a piece of discourse—the choices

a writer makes about what a reader needs or wants, what evidence to

include, and how to organize—is influenced by the conventions of her

culture.

A number of researchers have found interesting differences in writ-

ing conventions deemed appropriate in different populations. In a series

of studies, Purves (1986) found differences between national groups in




aspects such as how personal or impersonal writing was supposed to be,

whether writing should be abstract or concrete, and how a writer should

provide text coherence. People of the same culture tend to agree on what

is appropriate proof for an assertion: English readers expect facts and

statistics and are not convinced by extensive use of analogy, metaphor,

intuition, and the authority of the ancients. “Yet conventions of argu-

mentation in other cultures may require precisely that recourse to anal-

ogy, intuition, beauty, or shared communal wisdom” (Leki, 1992, p. 92).

Hinds (1987) makes the distinction between “reader-responsible” and

“writer-responsible” writing. The Japanese expect the reader to make

inferences and may feel insulted if a writer is too explicit, while English

readers may see the Japanese approach as circular and vague. I have had

Latin American college students balk at my requests for personal exam-

ples: to them, a personal example seemed immature or babyish; they

preferred theoretical generalizations.

Reid summarizes Robert Kaplan’s (1966) exploratory study of non-

native students’ organizational patterns. Though these patterns are

certainly simplistic, Reid points out that the field of contrastive rhetoric

can offer insights into some of the difficulties that the nonnative writer

faces in understanding the best way to organize a piece of writing in a

specific context. As a matter of fact, I have occasionally drawn Kaplan’s

diagrams on the board, and asked ESL students to comment about

whether or not these simplified patterns seem to represent patterns with

which they are familiar. Showing the straightforward expectations of an

English-speaking audience as an arrow often brings nods of under-

standing.

Matalene (1985), who spent a semester teaching in Taiyuan, China,

explains that some of her Western expectations baffled her students. She

wanted originality, directness, and self-expression; her students valued

indirectness, memorization, and references to Chinese classics. Not only

was the definition of good writing different, but so was the very func-

tion of rhetoric. She concludes that for teachers who work with students

from varied backgrounds, “our responsibility is surely to try to under-

stand and appreciate, to admit the relativity of our own rhetoric, and to

realize that logics different from our own are not necessarily illogical”

(p. 806).

The current theory about contrastive rhetoric does not hold the

“deterministic view that speakers of other languages think differently”

(Grabe and Kaplan, 1989, p. 264). Instead, literacy skills are learned, are

transmitted through the system of education, and are culturally shaped;

differences reflect preferred conventions. One should realize that, “as




conventions, those that the United States espouses are not better or worse

than those espoused in other cultures” (Purves, 1986, p. 50).

As writing teachers, we can be so influenced by our notions of

appropriateness in writing, that we sometimes forget that we, too, are

looking at writing through a cultural lens. Thus, rather than asserting

that the U.S. approach is the “right” or “best” or “only” way of orga-

nizing or arguing, I usually present such material as a series of options.

I may say that a native speaker of English will expect that a piece of

writing be more, rather than less, direct; will prefer concrete, personal

examples to an abstract statement of truth; will want explication rather

than implications. When phrased in terms of the reader’s expectations,

learning these conventions becomes like learning customs. Understand-

ing this, too, helps a teacher evaluate students’ papers more fairly.

Plagiarism

Given the very different traditions of international students, one

might expect differing conventions for citing or copying source mater-

ial. There is a clear contrast between our emphasis on individuality and

finding an “authentic voice” in writing and an emphasis on the common-

ality of knowledge and a reverence for the wisdom of the elders, and this

difference may account for differences in views of plagiarism (Leki,

1992). Matalene (1985) emphasizes that basic literacy in Chinese

requires amazing feats of memorization of the thousands of characters

in the language. Combine that with the importance of learning texts from

classical Chinese writing, memorization of set phrases and proverbs, and

one can see that for a Chinese student, learning to write means memo-

rizing, copying, and following well-proven patterns, something very

different than the U.S. writing teacher’s expectation of originality,

authenticity, and creativity.

To students from many cultures, it is a novel idea that a writer owns

his words, as if they were property, so students may be surprised at the

anger and shock provoked in a teacher when they copy a source with-

out citing it. Additionally, some students have learned to write by memo-

rizing models on specific topics: they are able to churn out an error-free

paper by writing the text they have memorized word for word. Students

may feel that since the original author conveyed her message so clearly

and beautifully, they would be foolish to put that message in their own

clumsy prose.

Writing teachers can be sensitive to the fact that plagiarism is not

considered as a serious transgression in all cultures. At the same time,

composition instructors need to clearly explain the expectations of a U.S.




audience, for students certainly will be writing papers for other courses,

may be working on scientific reports in graduate work at U.S. universi-

ties, and may write in many contexts in which they cannot copy verba-

tim. As with rhetorical features, I explain the underlying attitudes about

plagiarism in the U.S. to my students, emphasizing the importance of

learning to quote and paraphrase accurately as an expected skill in U.S.

university classes.

These being skills that are also difficult for native speakers, many

composition teachers will choose to spend class time practicing

summary, paraphrase, and quotation. (See Ch. 35 and Ch. 7 in hand-

book.) One should realize that these techniques are especially challeng-

ing for nonnative speakers, and a teacher will find the time well spent

to help students practice and to explain the importance and usefulness

of the skills.

Students’ Goals

A more troubling issue is that international students often have very

different goals for learning to write than do native speakers. Many inter-

national students intend to get an education and return to their own coun-

tries. Holding these students to the same writing standards that one

would expect from U.S. students seems counterproductive (Land and

Whitley, 1989). We can also question the goal of having nonnative

students use English for self-discovery, since native-language writing

would surely be more appropriate for such a venture, and since some

students may not see this as a natural purpose for writing (Leki, 1992;

Matalene, 1985). If teachers are not aware of these important, and essen-

tially political, issues, they may make unfair and unrealistic assumptions

about their ESL students. Leki (1992) covers this problematic issue

effectively.

� HelPIng MultIlIngual students

In tHe CoMPosItIon ClassrooM

The needs of English language learners are, as I have indicated,

complex and varied, and teachers may wish to keep some of these

issues in mind as they plan a syllabus, select a text, consider assign-

ment topics, and respond to their ESL students’ writing. For example,

if a number of international students can be typically expected in a

class, a teacher may wish to choose a cross-cultural reader that

includes selections written form international perspectives. (See, for

example, Holeton, 1995, Verberg, 1994, or Hirschberg, 1992). These




readers can provide a springboard for stimulating class discussions,

and they allow students from varied backgrounds to read about atti-

tudes and perspectives different from their own.

Some other currently available multicultural readers naturally focus

on the diversity of the U.S. population, and they can be an excellent

choice for a class with immigrant and minority students; however, texts

focusing on U.S. minorities may have a very “American” bias. Though

they are inclusive of the U.S. population, they may not address issues

that international students find compelling. On the other hand, some

teachers have chosen not to use a multicultural reader and have found

that standard readers can be fascinating for international students who

are trying to understand U.S. culture. Regardless of whether teachers

choose a multicultural reader or one with standard U.S. readings, they

should also consider their multilingual students when choosing which

readings to assign. Fiction written in dialect can be impenetrable for

nonnative English speakers, and lengthy essays take much more read-

ing time for an ESL student. A teacher may wish to consider providing

some background for readings that assume a knowledge of U.S. history

and culture and plan to give extra help orienting students to long or diffi-

cult readings.

Responding to ESL Writing

Recognizing that multilingual students have varied needs and goals,

and that they may well have different notions about what makes a piece

of writing effective, teachers can be reassured that strategies for respond-

ing to ESL writing are really little different from those for responding

to native speakers. Most research discourages teachers from focusing

on errors early in the writing process, assuming that an early focus on

error will not allow a student to think about more substantiative matters.

Providing opportunities for students to get feedback as they work on a

piece of writing is also quite important. When one does provide feed-

back on a draft, focusing on content and organization before looking at

errors is likely to be most productive. Research has shown that students

tend not to pay attention to the comments written on penultimate drafts

of their papers, and that these comments can be confusing, contradictory,

and unclear (Zamel, 1985). Thus, rather than seeing oneself as an eval-

uator, stepping in at the last minute to grade the final copies of students

papers, a teacher should become involved early in the process. Encour-

aging students to come in for conferences and to make use of writing

resources, such as the Writing Center, providing short mini-consulta-

tions during class with individual students, helping students work

Helping Multilingual Students in the Composition Classroom



through the revision process are all useful methods of providing feed-

back.

Strategies for Dealing with ESL Errors

In order to help ESL students reduce their mistakes in grammar and

mechanics, a teacher new to ESL teaching may wish to learn something

about current theories of language learning. Brown (1994) notes that

“language was not really acquired through a process of habit formation

and overlearning, that errors were not necessarily to be avoided at all

costs . . .” (p. 71). New views of language learning have necessitated

changes in the old “skill and drill” pedagogy. Now we know that language

learning occurs as the patterns of the new language are internalized

through meaningful communication in a variety of contexts. And peda-

gogical approaches have changed to provide these rich communicative

contexts. Errors are considered a natural part of language learning, not

something to be rigorously avoided: they occur for complex reasons, as

a learner generalizes about incompletely learned patterns in the new

language or guesses about the existence of forms in the new language

which occur in the first (Leki, 1992).

Of course these changes in language teaching also affect the teach-

ing of second language writing. Teachers influenced by ESL writing

research now spend less effort in correcting errors or in attempting to

keep students form making them. Leki (1992) points to two factors that

have influenced this turn away from a focus on errors: some research

shows that faculty from other disciplines have greater tolerance for ESL

students’ errors than do English teachers; and, second, correcting those

errors has little effect on students’ abilities to avoid making mistakes. If

students will not be penalized in other courses for occasional nonnative

lapses, then what is the purpose of English teachers demanding native-

like fluency? And why invest tremendous time and energy correcting

errors if this activity has negligible results? For example, in a controlled

research study, Robb, Ross, & Shortreed (1986) examined the effect of

four types of feedback on written error. Regardless of whether teachers

elaborately corrected all student errors, marked the type of error with a

coding system, or simply indicated the location of the error, the groups

did not show statistically measurable differences. Since error correction

can be incredibly time consuming, most ESL teachers do not attempt to

correct all the mistakes a student makes, and may wish to consider a

certain number of errors as a kind of foreign accent in writing (Harris

& Silva, 1993).

However, students may have different expectations about what

kind of teacher feedback will help them improve. Leki (1991) points




out that a multilingual student’s past success with learning English by

memorizing grammar rules and focusing on errors may conflict with

a writing teacher’s wish to emphasize content. Her survey found that

English language learners were very interested in their teachers point-

ing out errors and they claimed to look carefully at their teachers’

corrections. However, she notes other studies which indicate that teach-

ers’ corrections have little effect on improving student writing. So,

though English language learners may expect their teachers to mark all

their errors, the usefulness of doing so is in doubt.

The fact does remain, however, that nonnative English speakers may

make more serious errors that are distracting and frequent. In his exam-

ination of research studies comparing native and nonnative student writ-

ers, Silva (1993) notes that ESL students make a larger number of errors

than native speakers in many categories, including vocabulary and

semantic choice, control of syntax, and problems with verbs, preposi-

tions, articles, and nouns.

Given that composition teachers want to help students reduce the

seriousness and frequency of errors, what strategies can they use? First,

teachers should avoid the impulse to make all the corrections for the

students, and certainly they need not mark every error. When comment-

ing on grammar issues in a multilingual student’s writing, focus first on

global errors that interfere with the meaning of the student’s text. Gener-

ally, it is more effective to work with the frequent and distracting errors

and the “teachable” errors, those that are systematic and rule-governed,

as opposed to those that are idiosyncratic or are matters of advanced

memorization, such as prepositions or idioms. Leki gives the example

of assignments, which takes a plural ending, and homework, which does

not (1992, p. 131) as an idiosyncratic example that can’t be learned by

applying rules. On the other hand, students can learn the system for verb

formation to avoid making mistakes like *He can goes. They simply

need to apply a predictable formula: following a modal verb (can, could,

shall, should, etc.), the next verb takes the “bare infinitive” form (the

infinitive without the word to, the most simple form of the verb).

Focusing on only a few types of errors in a particular draft prevents

students from feeling overwhelmed. It is sometimes possible to find a

pattern that can be pointed out to a student or to focus on a particular

type of error that seems distracting in a particular paper. For example,

a control of verb tense shifts will be important in a paper that begins

with generalized truths (“The relationship of parent and child is impor-

tant”), moves to personalized statements indicating duration of time (“I

have always loved my parents . . .”), and then shifts to an example from




the past (“But when I was thirteen . . .”). Showing a student how the

tense helps set the time frame of the sentence or paragraph could be

productive if she is writing a paper where verb shifts are required. If I

see that a student is having trouble with a particular structure, I may

have the student proofread his next draft for that one structure only.

The student can feel a sense of accomplishment, then, for spotting

nearly all the subject-verb agreement errors, or all the sentence frag-

ments, and this makes editing more manageable.

A comprehensive ESL grammar series like Grammar Dimensions 2

(Riggenbach, 2000) or a small ESL handbook like Grammar Trou-

blespots (Raimes, 2004) can provide more background in ESL grammar

for a teacher who needs extra help.

Teaching Suggestions

First of all, whether teaching native or nonnative English speakers,

the composition classroom should be language-rich, full of talking,

listening, reading, and writing. U.S. and international students both

appreciate when teachers provide clear expectations for the course and

for particular assignments. It is especially important that multilingual

students receive written instructions on assignments. International

students also often benefit from seeing student models of essays they will

be writing, as it gives them a sense of the rhetorical structure, topic

choices, and language use expected on particular assignments.

Many of the assignments and class activities that work for native

speakers are also useful for nonnative students. An ungraded journal,

popular in many composition classes, can improve the fluency of nonna-

tive speakers. Providing students with frequent opportunities to revise,

or using portfolio grading can be a useful way to help multilingual

students improve their writing, taking the focus away from producing

error-free early drafts. Avoiding this early focus on error is also impor-

tant so that students can concentrate on more substantial matters of

content and organization.

Other common practices are less effective for international students.

For example, graded in-class writings are particularly difficult for inter-

national students. Under time pressure, they may not be able to write

fluently, and certainly will produce many more grammatical errors than

they would if they were allowed time to revise. Though for fluency prac-

tice, frequent writing is useful, an emphasis on graded in-class writing

can be counterproductive, particularly if international students are held

to rigid correctness standards. On the other hand, some composition

teachers have had success in helping their students improve the ability

to understand an essay exam prompt, and to organize and write answers




to the kind of exam questions they might be asked on tests in other

courses. If the focus is on interpreting the prompt, on organizing, and on

finding a few clear details of support, then timed, in-class work can be

useful.

It is also productive to guide students through the prewriting

process, helping them find new ways of selecting topics, narrowing

them, gathering and developing ideas. (See Ch. 5 in handbook.) If

students choose their own topics for their papers, new international

students may need guidance. Not having the background in writing the

kind of personal or persuasive essays that are expected, they may have

little idea of the kind of topic which would be appropriate. Showing

them typical student papers or referring them to the handbook samples

is a first start in helping them see a range of appropriate topics. Students

may choose topics which seem extremely broad or vague for a compo-

sition class. Keeping in mind that a student is learning new expectations

about appropriate conventions for U.S. compositions, a teacher can guide

a student to narrow a broad topic or to find a personal angle in the same

way that he gives that advice to U.S. students.

If an instructor assigns some of the writing topics for the course,

care should be taken to choose topics which will allow international

students to write from their own backgrounds and from their own

perspectives. Teachers should be careful to avoid topics that require

knowledge of U.S. culture, or at the very least provide background for

the nonnative students. One student complained that it was impossible

to write on the topics her teacher had assigned: high school dating and

drugs in American high schools. She had never dated, since girls in her

culture did not go out unchaperoned, and she had no knowledge beyond

what she read in the papers about drugs in U.S. high schools. Another

teacher suggested that a good topic for her half-international class was

the meaning of Columbus’s discovery of the Americas, yet none of her

Asian students had an understanding of Columbus or the effect of his

explorations on the New World. Most general topics work effectively:

If a reading unit focuses on topics like family relationships, grow-

ing up, political change, education, language, an international student

can write with a personal angle. Teachers in our program have also had

success with some more culturally based topics. Students have explored

different versions of familiar folk tales like Cinderella, or examined the

values expressed in movies like The Joy Luck Club. Additional topics

have included childhood games, common superstitions, coming-of-age

celebrations, and the cultural implications of the architectural design of

homes. If there are a number of international students in a class, focus-




ing an assignment on familiar proverbs can be one way of opening

students’ minds to cultural differences. Several teachers in our program

have had students bring “old sayings” from their culture and translate

them into English.

Finally, directly examining the idea of cultural stereotypes can be

enlightening for U.S. and international students alike. Students can

describe typical stereotypes of people from their own culture, explain

where the stereotypes originated, and analyze how accurate or inaccu-

rate they are. Becoming aware of the inaccuracy in stereotyping others

is one of the great benefits that freshmen can gain in a composition class

where these issues have been explored.

A teacher should also respect the international students’ wishes

about sharing personal material or writing about cultural issues from the

perspective of their nationalities. A Russian student in our program

complained that all of his teachers wanted him to write about the effects

of the fall of the communist government on Russian society. He said he

was tired of the topic and that he did not find it interesting or compelling:

he never wanted to be asked about it again! Other students may have

lived through traumatic times and not wish to share these deeply personal

memories with anyone. And others may wish to be assimilated into U.S.

society and do not want to draw attention to their differences.

Using Peer Review and Collaborative Writing

Several researchers provide cautions about using peer editing and

collaborative projects with multilingual students. Bosley (1993) notes

that the manner in which collaborative projects are structured may “repre-

sent a Western cultural bias” (p. 51). She points out cultural assumptions

about the importance of individualism, of recognizing individual achieve-

ment, and of formulating assignments as problem-solving exercises. Simi-

larly, the typical structure of peer review sessions in the U.S. classroom

may not be comfortable for students from collectivist cultures like Japan

and China (Carson & Nelson, 1994). In the United States, writing groups

often function for the benefit of the individual student: students listen to

classmates’ comments in order to improve their own piece of writing.

But students from collectivist cultures are more accustomed to group

activities which function for the benefit of the group. They may be reluc-

tant to criticize classmates and may be “concerned primarily with group

harmony at the expense of providing their peers with needed feedback on

their compositions” (Carson & Nelson, 1994, p. 17). Other problems may

relate to different communication styles leading to conflict among collab-

orators and differing understanding of what makes writing good (Allaei

& Connor, 1990).




Keeping these concerns in mind, however, most teachers who have

worked with international students do find a number of benefits in using

peer review and collaborative writing. Authentic readers provide a greater

motivation for students to revise, students receive feedback from multiple

perspectives, they better understand how to meet the needs of their read-

ers, and they may discover that other students are also struggling with

putting their ideas into writing (Mittan, 1989). Peer review sessions

provide valuable opportunities for student to interact. Students are also

exposed to various ideas, organizational forms, and rhetorical strategies as

they read one another’s work.

Several suggestions can make peer review groups go more smoothly.

Especially for the nonnative students, it is important to explain clearly

what they are going to be doing and what the expected outcome will be.

Both native and nonnative students tend to want to focus on editing issues

rather than content issues, so it is worthwhile to clarify for all students the

process and goals for peer response. If students have done other group

activities—discussing readings, for instance—they will be more comfort-

able with the small group setting. Useful ideas include having students

read and discuss articles on differences in cross-cultural communication,

and modeling the peer review behavior with a sample piece of writing in

front of the class before the peer review sessions begin (Allaei & Connor,

1990; Mittan, 1989; Reid, 1993). Teachers can also have students discuss

student drafts from past semesters, photocopied so that students can use

them in groups. (I have found my students quite generous in giving me

written permission to use their papers anonymously.) This allows students

to practice the skills of small group review before they take the emotional

plunge of having their own work examined.

When students do bring in their own work, I always have them

respond to specific questions, starting positively by identifying something

that works well in the writing. Reid (1993) points out that “the goal of peer

response/review is not so much to judge . . . as to cooperate in a commu-

nicative process, helping others in the classroom community to balance

individual purposes with the expectations of the readers” (p. 209). Thus,

I never ask my students “What grade would you give this paper?” or “Is

this a good or bad paper?” Instead, I have students focus on their responses

as readers, by answering questions like these: “Can you easily sum up the

writer’s main purpose in writing?”; “Was there any place that you wanted

more information from the writer?”; and “Were there places where you had

trouble following the argument of the writer?” Allowing plenty of time for

peer review is important, and having students read drafts aloud and focus

on spoken comments during the class period will avoid a silent classroom

where students spend the hour writing their responses. Grimm (1986)




suggests having students take their notes home to draft written comments

for their classmates, and this idea seems especially useful for international

students who will take longer to formulate their responses in writing.

When peer review is effective, students gain a greater facility in identify-

ing the aspects of their classmates’ writing that give them difficulty as

readers, and they will be able to transfer that knowledge to their own writ-

ing (Allaei & Connor, 1990).

Collaborative projects, too, can be effective in a class with interna-

tional students. Assignments in which groups or pairs of students work

together can draw on the basic understanding and interests of several

students. One teacher in our program had his students work in groups

to write final projects in which they did original research. One group

went to the local mall and tested their hypothesis that the native speak-

ers would be approached more quickly and more positively by the store

clerks. Another group drew from their collective knowledge to write a

guidebook for new international students who had just come to study at

the university: The native speakers were able to contribute their greater

knowledge of standard campus procedures and American customs, while

the nonnative speakers could provide insights to the problems faced by

new nonnative students.

Again, as with peer review groups, specific instruction will be help-

ful for collaborators. Burnett (1993a, 1993b) notes that co-authors who

are willing to criticize one another’s rhetorical choices and voice their

disagreement in constructive ways produced higher quality documents

than those students who simply nodded agreement to whatever their

collaborators suggested. She suggests modeling this “substantive

conflict” (1993a, p. 134) by providing students with specific informa-

tion about successful collaborative behaviors and modeling particular

“verbal moves” (1993b, p. 73) that a student can use for purposes such

as prompting, challenging, or contributing information. Though Burnett’s

research focuses on native speaker collaboration, this suggestion is even

more important for a class with nonnative students who may lack the

verbal repertoire for voicing disagreement. Also, showing students that

they can provide feedback to their collaborators in a spirit of friendly

disagreement may help students understand that it is possible to disagree

without causing “loss of face.” Burnett also suggests having the teacher

model constructive criticism by working in front of the class with a

student or colleague to illustrate how writers can improve their collab-

orations.

In short, the methods used to teach peer review and collaboration

to native speakers can be adapted quite readily for a class with ESL

students. Both techniques have the added benefits of getting quiet




students more involved in the classroom, providing opportunities for

speaking and listening practice for ESL students, and building under-

standing and group solidarity between the U.S. students and their inter-

national classmates. Additionally, of course, the most valuable benefit is

that these techniques help students improve their writing skills.

� ConClusIon

A teacher of writing can welcome multilingual students, knowing

not only that the class can be a tremendous help to the students but also

that the students may offer much to the class. The stimulating discussions

that can occur in the small group setting of the composition class, the

opportunity to share their cultural backgrounds and to learn about others’

views, and the chance to more clearly understand U.S. academic expec-

tations all benefit the multilingual student tremendously. Additionally, in

contributing their unique perspectives, multilingual students add to the

education of the U.S. students in the class. One U.S. student wrote this

in his evaluation of a cross-cultural composition class:

My feelings have definitely changed about people from other

cultures since I’ve joined this class. Before this semester I

carried with me many misconceptions. The main reason was

because before now I had not had the opportunity to talk to

people. This class has shown me that people from other parts

of the world share my same frustrations, concerns, joy, and

happiness. I have learned to enjoy working with my classmates

and working to become more open-minded.

In discussing the benefits of cross-cultural classes, Patthey-Chavez

and Gergen write, “the presence of different voices and visions of the

world can be transformed into an instructional resources” (p. 76).

Whether a teacher has many English language learners or just a few,

this resource can be a source of opportunity and inspiration.

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anyway? Technical Communication Quarterly, 2, I, 51–62.

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Tyler, A. (1994). Sexual harassment and the ITA curriculum. The Jour-

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Valdes, G. (1992). Bilingual minorities and language issues in writing.

Written Communication, 9, 85 – 136.

Valdes, Joyce M. (Ed.). (1986). Culture bound. Cambridge: Cabmride

University Press.

Verberg, C. J. (1994). Ourselves among others: Cross-cultural readings

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195–209.




Part Five:

reading and Writing aboutLiterature: a Primer forStudentsby edgar v. roberts, Lehman College of the

City University of New York

Foreword

The following primer, which is modified and adapted from of Writ-

ing About Literature and Literature: An Introduction to Reading and

Writing, is written to students, and is designed for their use. It contains

a condensed overview of the nature of literature, the ways of reading and

reacting to a primary text (which here is “The Necklace,” the famous

story by Guy de Maupassant), and the methods of moving from early and

unshaped responses to finished drafts of essays.

It would be most desirable to duplicate the entire primer for distrib-

ution to classes, but barring that, students should at least receive copies

of the story and the sample essays to facilitate study and classroom

discussion.

It is my hope that the overview provided here will stimulate students

to carry out deeper and more methodical explorations of literary works.

Literary understanding and appreciation should be acquired as early as

possible, and students should never end their quests for the enjoyment,

understanding, and power that literature provides.

—Edgar V. Roberts


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reading and Writing aboutLiterature

� What iS Literature, and Why do We Study it?

We use the word literature, in a broad sense, to mean composi-

tions that tell stories, dramatize situations, express emotions, and analyze

and advocate ideas. Before the invention of writing thousands of years

ago, literary works were necessarily spoken or sung, and were retained

only as long as living people continued to repeat them. In some societies,

the oral tradition of literature still exists, with many poems and stories

designed exclusively for spoken delivery. Even in our modern age of

writing and printing, much literature is still heard aloud rather than read

silently. Parents delight their children with stories and poems; poets and

story writers read their works directly before live audiences; plays and

scripts are interpreted on stages and before moving-picture cameras for

the benefit of a vast public.

No matter how we assimilate literature, we gain much from it. In

truth, readers often cannot explain why they enjoy reading, for goals

and ideals are not easily articulated. There are, however, areas of general

agreement about the value of systematic and extensive reading.

Literature helps us grow, both personally and intellectually. It

provides an objective base for knowledge and understanding. It links us

with the cultural, philosophic, and religious world of which we are a

part. It enables us to recognize human dreams and struggles in different

places and times that we otherwise would never know existed. It helps

us develop mature sensibility and compassion for the condition of all

living things—human, animal, and vegetable. It gives us the knowledge

and perception to appreciate the beauty of order and arrangement—gifts

that are also bestowed by a well-structured song or a beautifully painted

canvas. It provides the comparative basis from which to see worthiness

in the aims of all people, and it therefore helps us see beauty in the

world around us. It exercises our emotions through interest, concern,

sympathy, tension, excitement, regret, fear, laughter, and hope. It encour-

ages us to assist creative and talented people who need recognition and

support. Through our cumulative experience in reading, literature shapes

our goals and values by clarifying our own identities—both positively,

through acceptance of the admirable in human beings, and negatively,



through rejection of the sinister. It enables us to develop perspectives on

events occurring locally and globally, and thereby it gives us under-

standing and control. It is one of the shaping influences of life. It makes

us human.

Types of Literature: The Genres

Literature may be classified into four categories or genres: (1) prose

fiction, (2) poetry, (3) drama, and (4) nonfiction prose. Usually the first

three are classed as imaginative literature.

The genres of imaginative literature have much in common, but

they also have distinguishing characteristics. Prose fiction, or narrative

fiction, includes myths, parables, romances, novels, and short stories.

Originally, fiction meant anything made up, crafted, or shaped, but today

the word refers to prose stories based in the imaginations of authors.

The essence of fiction is narration, the relating or recounting of a

sequence of events or actions. Fictional works usually focus on one or

a few major characters who change and grow (in their ability to make

decisions, awareness and insight, attitude toward others, sensitivity, and

moral capacity) as a result of how they deal with other characters and

how they attempt to solve their problems. Although fiction, like all imag-

inative literature, may introduce true historical details, it is not real

history. Its main purpose is to interest, stimulate, instruct, and divert,

not to create a precise historical record.

Poetry expresses a monologue or a conversation grounded in the

most deeply felt experiences of human beings. It exists in many formal

and informal shapes, from the brief haiku to the extensive epic. More

economical than prose fiction in its use of words, poetry relies heavily

on imagery, figurative language, and sound.

drama is literature designed to be performed by actors for the bene-

fit and delight of an audience. Like fiction, drama may focus on a single

character or a small number of characters; and it enacts fictional events

as if they were happening in the present. The audience therefore becomes

a direct witness to the events as they occur, from start to finish. Although

most modern plays use prose dialogue, on the principle that the language

of drama should resemble the language of ordinary persons as much as

possible, many plays from the past, such as those of ancient Greece and

Renaissance England, are in poetic form.

nonfiction prose consists of news reports, feature articles, essays,

editorials, textbooks, historical and biographical works, and the like, all

of which describe or interpret facts and present judgments and opinions.

Types of Literature: The Genres



In nonfiction prose the goal is to present truths and sound conclusions

about the factual world of history, science, and current events. Imagi-

native literature, although also grounded in facts, is less concerned with

the factual record than with the revelation of truths about life and human

nature.

For the purpose of exploring techniques for reading, responding,

and writing about literature, the following discussion will focus on the

genre of fiction.

� eLementS oF Fiction

Works of fiction share a number of common elements. For reference

here, the more significant ones are character, plot, structure, and idea

or theme.

Character

Stories, like plays, are about characters—characters who are not

real people but who are nevertheless like real people. A character may

be defined as a reasonable facsimile of a human being, with all the good

and bad traits of being human. Most stories are concerned with charac-

ters who are facing a major problem which may involve interactions

with other characters, with difficult situations, or with an idea or general

circumstances that force action. The characters may win, lose, or tie.

They may learn and be the better for the experience or may miss the

point and be unchanged.

It is a truism that modern fiction has accompanied the development

of a psychological interest in human beings. Psychology itself has grown

out of the philosophical and religious idea that people are not evil by

nature, but rather that they have many inborn capacities—some for good

and others for bad. People are not free of problems, and they make many

mistakes in their lives, but they nevertheless are important and interest-

ing, and are therefore worth writing about, whether male or female;

young or old; white, black, tan, or yellow; rich or poor; worker or indus-

trialist; traveler or resident; aviator, performer, mother, daughter, home-

maker, prince, general, bartender, or checkout clerk.

The range of fictional characters is vast: A married couple struggling

to repay an enormous debt, a woman meditating about her daughter’s

growth, a young man learning about sin and forgiveness, a young woman

struggling to overcome the bitter memory of early sexual abuse, a man

regretting that he cannot admit a lie, a woman surrounded by her insen-

sitive and self-seeking brothers, a man preserving love in the face of

Part Five—Reading and Writing About Literature



overwhelming difficulties, a woman learning to cope with her son’s

handicap—all these, and more, may be found in fiction just as they may

also be found in all levels and conditions of life. Because as human

beings all of us share the same capacities for concern, involvement,

sympathy, happiness, sorrow, exhilaration, and disappointment, we are

able to find endless interest in such characters and their ways of respond-

ing to their circumstances.

Plot

Fictional characters, who are drawn from life, go through a series of

lifelike actions or incidents, which make up the story. In a well-done

story, all the actions or incidents, speeches, thoughts, and observations are

linked together to make up an entirety, sometimes called an organic unity.

The essence of this unity is the development and resolution of a conflict—

or conflicts—in which the protagonist, or central character, is engaged.

The interactions of causes and effects as they develop sequentially or

chronologically make up the story’s plot. That is, a story’s actions follow

one another in time as the protagonist meets and tries to overcome oppos-

ing forces. Sometimes plot has been compared to a story’s map, scheme,

or blueprint.

Often the protagonist’s struggle is directed against another charac-

ter—an antagonist. Just as often, however, the struggle may occur

between the protagonist and opposing groups, forces, ideas, and

choices—all of which make up a collective antagonist. The conflict may

be carried out wherever human beings spend their lives, such as a

kitchen, a bedroom, a restaurant, a town square, a farm, an estate, a

workshop, or a battlefield. The conflict may also take place internally,

within the mind of the protagonist.

Structure

Structure refers to the way a story is assembled. Chronologically,

all stories are similar because they move from beginning to end in accord

with the time needed for causes to produce effects. But authors choose

many different ways to put their stories together. Some stories are told

in straightforward sequential order, and a description of the plot of such

stories is identical to a description of the structure. Other stories,

however, may get pieced together through out-of-sequence and widely

separated episodes, speeches, second-hand reports, remembrances,

dreams, nightmares, periods of delirium, fragments of letters, overheard

conversations, and the like. In such stories, the plot and the structure

Elements of Fiction



diverge widely. Therefore, in dealing with the structure of stories, we

emphasize not chronological order but the actual arrangement and devel-

opment of the stories as they unfold, part by part. Usually we study an

entire story, but we may also direct our attention toward a smaller aspect

of arrangement such as an episode or passage of dialogue.

Idea or Theme

The word idea refers to the result or results of general and abstract

thinking. In literary study the consideration of ideas relates to meaning,

interpretation, explanation, and significance. Fiction necessarily embod-

ies issues and ideas. Even stories written for entertainment alone are

based in an idea or position. Thus, writers of comic works are commit-

ted to the idea that human difficulties can be treated with humor. More

serious works may force characters to make difficult moral choices—the

thought being that in a losing situation the only winners are those who

maintain honor and self-respect. Mystery and suspense stories rest on the

belief that problems have solutions, even if they may not at first seem

apparent. Writers may deal with the triumphs and defeats of life, the

admirable and the despicable, the humorous and the pathetic, but what-

ever their goal, they are always expressing ideas about human experi-

ence. We may therefore raise questions such as these as we look for ideas

in fiction: What does this mean? Why does the author include it? What

idea or ideas does it show? Why is it significant?

Fictional ideas may also be considered as major themes which tie

individual works together. Often an author makes the theme obvious, as

in the Aesop fable in which a man uses an ax to kill a fly on his son’s

forehead. The theme of this fable might loosely be expressed in a

sentence like “the cure should not be worse than the disease.” A major

theme in Maupassant’s “The Necklace” is that people may be destroyed

or saved by unlucky and unforeseeable events. The accidental loss of the

borrowed necklace is just such an event, for this misfortune ruins the

lives of both Mathilde and her husband.

The process of determining and describing the themes or ideas in

stories is never complete; there is always another theme that we may

discuss. Thus in “The Necklace,” one might note the additional themes

that adversity brings out worth, that telling the truth is better than

concealing it, that envy often produces ill fortune, and that good fortune

is never recognized until it is lost. Indeed, one of the ways in which we

may judge stories is to determine the degree to which they embody a

number of valid and important ideas.




� the Fiction Writer’S tooLS

Narration

Writers have a number of modes of presentation, or “tools,” which

they may use in writing their stories. The principal tool (and the heart of

fiction) is narration, the reporting of actions in sequential order. The object

of narration is to render the story, to make it clear and to bring it alive to

the reader’s imagination through the movement of sentences through time.

The writer of narrative may include all the events leading up to and follow-

ing major actions, for a narration moves in a continuous line, from word

to word, scene to scene, action to action, and speech to speech. As a result

of this chronological movement, the reader’s comprehension must neces-

sarily also be chronological.

Style

The medium of fiction and of all literature is language, and the

manipulation of language—the style—is a primary skill of the writer. A

mark of a good style is active verbs, and nouns that are specific and

concrete. Even with the most active and graphic diction possible, writ-

ers can never render their incidents and scenes exactly, but they may be

judged on how vividly they tell their stories.

Point of View

One of the most important ways in which writers knit their stories

together, and also an important way in which they try to interest and

engage readers, is the careful control of point of view. Point of view is

the voice of the story, the speaker who does the narrating. It is the way

the reality of a story is made to seem authentic. It may be regarded as

the story’s focus, the angle of vision from which things are not only seen

and reported but also judged.

Basically, there are two kinds of points of view, but there are many

variations, sometimes obvious and sometimes subtle. In the first, the

first-person point of view, a fictitious observer tells us what he or she

saw, heard, concluded, and thought. This viewpoint is characterized by

the use of the I pronoun as the speaker refers to his or her position as

an observer or commentator. The speaker, or narrator—terms that are

interchangeable—may sometimes seem to be the author speaking

directly using an authorial voice, but more often the speaker is an inde-

pendent character—a persona with characteristics that separate her or

him from the author.

The Fiction Writer’s Tools



In common with all narrators, the first-person narrator establishes a

clearly defined relationship to the story’s events. Some narrators are

deeply engaged in the action; others are only minor participants or

observers; still others have had nothing to do with the action but are trans-

mitting the reports of other, more knowledgeable, witnesses. Sometimes

the narrator uses the we pronoun if he or she is represented as part of a

group that has witnessed the action or participated in it. Often, too, the

narrator might use we when referring to ideas and interpretations shared

with the reader or listener—the idea being to draw readers into the story

as much as possible.

The second major point of view is the third person (she, he, it,

they, her, him, them, etc.). The third-person point of view may be (1)

limited, with the focus being on one particular character and what he or

she does, says, hears, thinks, and otherwise experiences, (2) omniscient,

with the possibility that the activities and thoughts of all the characters

are open and fully known by the speaker, and (3) dramatic, or objec-

tive, in which the story is confined only to the reporting of actions and

speeches, with no commentary and no revelation of the thoughts of any

of the characters unless the characters themselves reveal their thoughts

dramatically.

Understanding point of view usually requires subtlety of percep-

tion—indeed, it may be one of the most difficult of all concepts in the

study of fiction. In fuller perspective, therefore, we may think of it as

the total position from which things are viewed, understood, and

communicated. The position might be simply physical: Where was the

speaker located when the events occurred? or Does the speaker give us

a close or distant view of the events? The position might also be personal

or philosophical, as in the commentary by the narrator in Maupassant’s

“The Necklace.”

Point of view is one of the major ways by which authors make

fiction vital. By controlling point of view, an author helps us make

reasonable inferences about the story’s actions. Authors use point of

view to raise some of the same questions in their fiction that perplex us

in life. We need to evaluate what fictional narrators as well as real people

tell us, for what they say is affected by their limitations, attitudes, opin-

ions, and degree of candidness. For readers, the perception of a fictional

point of view can be as complex as life itself, and it may be as difficult—

in fiction as in life—to evaluate our sources of information.

Description

Together with narration, a vital aspect of fiction is description,

which is intended to cause readers to imagine or re-create the scenes




and actions of the story. Description can be both physical (places and

persons) and psychological (an emotion or set of emotions). Excessive

description sometimes interrupts or postpones a story’s actions, so that

many writers include only as much as is necessary to keep the action

moving along.

mood and atmosphere are important aspects of descriptive writing,

and to the degree that descriptions are evocative, they may reach the

level of metaphor and symbolism. These characteristics of fiction are

a property of all literature, and you will also encounter them whenever

you read poems and plays.

Dialogue

Another major tool of the writer of fiction is dialogue. By defini-

tion, dialogue is the conversation of two people, but more than two char-

acters may also participate. It is of course the major medium of the

playwright, and it is one of the means by which the fiction writer makes

a story vivid and dramatic. Straight narration and description can do no

more than make a secondhand assertion (“hearsay”) that a character’s

thoughts and responses exist, but dialogue makes everything firsthand

and real.

Dialogue is hence a means of showing rather than reporting. If char-

acters feel pain or declare love, their own words may be taken as the

expression of what is on their minds. Some dialogue may be terse and

minimal; other dialogue may be expanded, depending on the situation, the

personalities of the characters, and the author’s intent. Dialogue may

concern any topic, including personal feelings, reactions to the past, future

plans, changing ideas, sudden realizations, and political, social, philo-

sophic, or religious ideas.

The language of dialogue indicates the intelligence, articulateness,

educational levels, or emotional states of the speakers. Hence the author

might use grammatical mistakes, faulty pronunciation, or slang to show

a character of limited or disadvantaged background or a character who

is trying to be seen in that light. Dialect shows the region from which

the speaker comes, just as an accent indicates a place of national origin.

Jargon and cliché suggest self-inflation or intellectual limitations—

usually reasons for laughter. The use of private, intimate expressions

might show people who are close to each other emotionally. Speech that

is interrupted by voiced pauses (e.g., “er,” “ah,” “um,” “you know”), or

speech characterized by inappropriate words might show a character

who is unsure or not in control. There are many possibilities in dialogue,

The Fiction Writer’s Tools



but no matter what qualities you find, writers include dialogue to enable

you to know their characters better.

Tone and Irony

In every story we may consider tone, that is, the ways in which

authors convey attitudes toward readers and also toward the story mate-

rial. irony, one of the major components of tone, refers to language and

situations that seem to reverse normal expectations. Word choice is the

characteristic of verbal irony, in which what is meant is usually the oppo-

site of what is said, as when we mean that people are doing badly even

though we say that they are doing well. Broader forms of irony are situ-

ational and dramatic: Situational irony refers to circumstances in which

bad things happen to good people, or in which rewards are not earned

because forces beyond human comprehension seem to be in total control.

In dramatic irony characters have only a nonexistent, partial, incorrect,

or misguided understanding of what is happening to them, while both

readers and other characters understand the situation more fully. Readers

hence become concerned about the characters and hope that they will

develop understanding quickly enough to avoid the problems bedeviling

them and the pitfalls endangering them.

Symbolism and Allegory

In literature, even apparently ordinary things may acquire symbolic

value; that is, everyday objects may be understood to have meanings

that are beyond themselves, bigger than themselves. In fiction, many

functional and essential incidents, objects, speeches, and characters may

also be construed as symbols. Some symbols are widely recognized and

therefore are considered as cultural or universal. Water, flowers, jewels,

the sun, certain stars, the flag, altars, and minarets are examples of

cultural symbols. Other symbols are contextual; that is, they take on

symbolic meaning only in their individual works, as when in Maupas-

sant’s “The Necklace” Mathilde and her husband move into an attic flat

to save money that they need to repay their enormous debt. These new

quarters may be taken to symbolize the hardship experienced by the

poor.

When a complete story, in addition to maintaining its own narrative

integrity, can be applied point-by-point to a parallel set of situations, it

is an allegory. Many stories are not complete allegories, however, even

though they may contain sections having allegorical parallels. Thus, the




Loisels’ long servitude in Maupassant’s “The Necklace” is similar to the

lives and activities of many people who perform tasks for mistaken or

meaningless reasons. “The Necklace” is therefore allegorical even though

it is not an allegory.

Commentary

Writers may also include commentary, analysis, or interpretation,

in the expectation that readers need insight into the characters and

actions. When fiction was new, authors often expressed such commen-

tary directly. Henry Fielding (1707–1754) divided his novels into

“books,” and included a chapter of personal and philosophic commen-

tary at the beginning of each of these. In the next century, George Eliot

(1819–1880) included many extensive passages of commentary in her

novels.

Later writers have kept commentary at a minimum, preferring

instead to concentrate on direct action and dialogue, and allowing read-

ers to draw their own conclusions about meaning. In first-person narra-

tions, however, you may expect the narrators to make their own personal

comments. Such observations may be accepted at face value, but you

should recognize that anything the speakers say is also a mode of char-

acter disclosure and therefore is just as much a part of the story as the

narrative incidents.

The Elements Together

These, then, are the major tools of writers of fiction. For analytical

purposes, one or another of them may be considered separately so that

the artistic achievement of a particular author may be recognized. It is

also important to realize that authors may use all the tools simultane-

ously. The story may be told by a character who is a witness, and thus

it has a first-person point of view. The major character, the protago-

nist, goes through a series of actions as a result of a carefully arranged

plot. Because of this plot, together with the author’s chosen method of

narration, the story will follow a certain kind of arrangement, or struc-

ture, such as a straightforward sequence or a disjointed series of

episodes. One thing that the action may demonstrate is the theme or

central idea. The writer’s style may be manifested in ironic expres-

sions. The description of the character’s actions may reveal irony of

situation, while at the same time this situation is made vivid through

dialogue in which the character is a participant. Because the plight of

Reading a Story and Responding to It Actively



the character is like the plight of many persons in the world, it is an

allegory, and the character herself or himself may be considered as a

symbol.

Throughout each story we read, no matter what characteristics we

are considering, it is most important to realize that a work of fiction is

an entirety, a unity. Any reading of a story should be undertaken not to

break things down into parts, but to understand and assimilate the work

as a whole. The separate analysis of various topics, to which this book

is committed, is thus a means to that end, not the end itself. The study

of fiction, like the study of all literature, is designed to foster our growth

and to increase our understanding of the human condition.

� reading a Story and reSPonding to it

activeLy

Regrettably, our first readings of works do not provide us with full

understanding. After we have finished reading a work, we may find it

embarrassingly difficult to answer pointed questions or to say anything

intelligent about it at all. But more active and thoughtful readings give us

the understanding to develop well-considered answers. Obviously, we need

to follow the work and to understand its details, but just as important we

need to respond to the words, get at the ideas, and understand the impli-

cations of what is happening. We rely on our own fund of knowledge and

experience to verify the accuracy and truth of situations and incidents,

and we try to articulate our own emotional responses to the characters and

their problems.

To illustrate such active responding, the following story, “The Neck-

lace” (1884), by the French writer Guy de Maupassant (1850–1893), is

printed with marginal annotations like those that any reader might make

during original and follow-up readings. Many observations, particularly

at the beginning, are assimilative; that is, they do little more than record

details about the action. But as the story progresses, the comments begin

to reflect conclusions about the story’s meaning. Toward the end, the

comments are full rather than minimal; they result not only from first

responses but also from considered thought. Here, then, is Maupassant’s

“The Necklace.”




Guy de Maupassant — “The Necklace”


guy de mauPaSSant, an apostle of Gustave Flaubert, was one

of the major nineteenth-century French naturalists. He was a

meticulous writer, devoting great attention to reality and to econ-

omy of detail. His stories are focused on the difficulties and

ironies of existence not only among the Parisian middle class, as

in “The Necklace,” but also among both peasants and higher soci-

ety. Two of his better-known novels are A Life (1883) and A Good

Friend (1885). Among his other famous stories are “The

Rendezvous” and “The Umbrella.” “The Necklace” is notable for

its concluding ironic twist, and for this reason it is perhaps the best

known of his stories.


guy de maupassant (1850–1893)

The Necklace 1884

Translated by Edgar V. Roberts

She was one of those pretty and charming women,born, as if by an error of destiny, into a family ofclerks and copyists. She had no dowry, no prospects,no way of getting known, courted, loved, married bya rich and distinguished man. She finally settled for amarriage with a minor clerk in the Ministry of Educa-tion.

She was a simple person, without the money todress well, but she was as unhappy as if she had gonethrough bankruptcy, for women have neither rank norrace. In place of high birth or important familyconnections, they can rely only on their beauty, theirgrace, and their charm. Their inborn finesse, theirelegant taste, their engaging personalities, which aretheir only power, make working-class women theequals of the grandest ladies.

She suffered constantly, feeling herself destined forall delicacies and luxuries. She suffered because ofher grim apartment with its drab walls, threadbarefurniture, ugly curtains. All such things, which mostother women in her situation would not even havenoticed, tortured her and filled her with despair. Thesight of the young country girl who did her simplehousework awakened in her only a sense of desolationand lost hopes. She daydreamed of large, silent ante-rooms, decorated with oriental tapestries and lightedby high bronze floor lamps, with two elegant valets inshort culottes dozing in large armchairs under theeffects of forced-air heaters. She imagined large draw-ing rooms draped in the most expensive silks, withfine end tables on which were placed knickknacks ofinestimable value. She dreamed of the perfume ofdainty private rooms, which were designed only forintimate tête-à-têtes with the closest friends, whobecause of their achievements and fame would makeher the envy of all other women.



“She” is pretty butpoor. Apparently thereis no other life for herthan marriage. Withoutconnections, she hasno entry into high soci-ety, and marries aninsignificant clerk.

She is unhappy.

A view of women thatexcludes the possibilityof a career. In 1884,women had little elsethan their personalitiesto get ahead.

She suffers because ofher cheap belongings,wanting expensivethings. She dreams ofwealth and of howother women wouldenvy her if she had allthese fine things. Butthese luxuries are unre-alistic and unattainablefor her.




When she sat down to dinner at her round littletable covered with a cloth that had not been washedfor three days, in front of her husband who openedthe kettle while declaring ecstatically, “Ah, good oldboiled beef! I don’t know anything better,” shedreamed of expensive banquets with shining place-settings, and wall hangings portraying ancient heroesand exotic birds in an enchanted forest. She imagineda gourmet-prepared main course carried on the mostexquisite trays and served on the most beautifuldishes, with whispered gallantries which she wouldhear with a sphinx-like smile as she dined on the pinkmeat of a trout or the delicate wing of a quail.

She had no decent dresses, no jewels, nothing. Andshe loved nothing but these; she believed herself bornonly for these. She burned with the desire to please,to be envied, to be attractive and sought after.

She had a rich friend, a comrade from conventdays, whom she did not want to see anymore becauseshe suffered so much when she returned home. Shewould weep for the entire day afterward with sorrow,regret, despair, and misery.

Well, one evening, her husband came home glow-ing and carrying a large envelope.

“Here,” he said, “this is something for you.”She quickly tore open the envelope and took out a

card engraved with these words:

Instead of being delighted, as her husband hadhoped, she threw the invitation spitefully on the table,muttering:

Her husband’s taste is forplain things, while shedreams of expensivegourmet food. He hasadjusted to his status.She has not.

She lives for her unreal-istic dreams, and theseincrease her frustration.

She even thinks of givingup a rich friend becauseshe is so depressed aftervisiting her.

A new section in thestory.

An invitation to dinner atthe Ministry of Educa-tion. A big plum.

5

10

The chanceLLor oF education and

mrS. george ramPonneau

request that

mr. and mrS. LoiSeL

do them the honor of coming to dinner

at the Ministry of Education

on the evening of January 8.


“What do you expect me to do with this?”“But honey, I thought you’d be glad. You never get

to go out, and this is a special occasion! I had a lot oftrouble getting the invitation. Everyone wants one.The demand is high and not many clerks get invited.Everyone important will be there.”

She looked at him angrily and stated impatiently:“What do you want me to wear to go there?”He had not thought of that. He stammered:“But your theater dress. That seems nice to me . . .”He stopped, amazed and bewildered, as his wife

began to cry. Large tears fell slowly from the cornersof her eyes to her mouth. He said falteringly:

“What’s wrong? What’s the matter?”But with a strong effort she had recovered, and she

answered calmly as she wiped her damp cheeks:“Nothing, except that I have nothing to wear and

therefore can’t go to the party. Give your invitation tosomeone else at the office whose wife will have nicerclothes than mine.”

Distressed, he responded:“Well, all right, Mathilde. How much would a new

dress cost, something you could use at other times,but not anything fancy?”

She thought for a few moments, adding things upand thinking also of an amount that she could askwithout getting an immediate refusal and a frightenedoutcry from the frugal clerk.

Finally she responded tentatively:“I don’t know exactly, but it seems to me that I

could get by on four hundred francs.”He blanched slightly at this, because he had set

aside just that amount to buy a shotgun for Sundaylark-hunts the next summer with a few friends in thePlain of Nanterre.

However, he said:“All right, you’ve got four hundred francs, but

make it a pretty dress.”As the day of the party drew near, Mrs. Loisel

seemed sad, uneasy, anxious, even though her gownwas all ready. One evening her husband said to her:



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It only upsets her.

She declares that shehasn’t anything to wear.

He tries to persuade her that her theater dress might do for theoccasion.

Her name is Mathilde.

He volunteers to pay fora new dress.

She is manipulating him.

The dress will cost himhis next summer’s vaca-tion. (He doesn’t seem tohave included her in hisplans.)

A new section, the thirdin the story. The day ofthe party is near.


“What’s the matter? You’ve been acting funny forseveral days.”

She answered:“It’s awful, but I don’t have any jewels to wear,

not a single gem, nothing to dress up my outfit. I’lllook like a beggar. I’d almost rather not go to theparty.”

He responded:“You can wear a corsage of cut flowers. This year

it’s all the rage. For only ten francs you can get twoor three gorgeous roses.”

She was not convinced.“No . . . there’s nothing more humiliating than

looking shabby in the company of rich women.”But her husband exclaimed:“God, but you’re silly! Go to your friend Mrs.

Forrestier, and ask her to lend you some jewelry. Youknow her well enough to do that.”

She uttered a cry of joy:“That’s right. I hadn’t thought of that.”The next day she went to her friend’s house and

described her problem.Mrs. Forrestier went to her mirrored wardrobe,

took out a large jewel box, opened it, and said to Mrs.Loisel:

“Choose, my dear.”She saw bracelets, then a pearl necklace, then a

Venetian cross of finely worked gold and gems. Shetried on the jewelry in front of a mirror, and hesitated,unable to make up her mind about each one. She keptasking:

“Do you have anything else?”“Certainly. Look to your heart’s content. I don’t

know what you’d like best.”Suddenly she found a superb diamond necklace in

a black satin box, and her heart throbbed with desirefor it. Her hands shook as she picked it up. Shefastened it around her neck, watched it gleam at herthroat, and looked at herself ecstatically.

Then she asked, haltingly and anxiously:“Could you lend me this, nothing but this?”“Why yes, certainly.”She jumped up, hugged her friend joyfully, then

hurried away with her treasure.



Now she complains thatshe doesn’t have anynice jewelry. She ismanipulating him again.

She has a good point,but there seems to be noway out.

He proposes a solution:borrow jewelry fromMrs. Forrestier, who isapparently the richfriend mentioned earlier.

Mathilde will have herchoice of jewels.

A “superb” diamondnecklace.

This is what she wants,just this.

She leaves with the“treasure.”

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40

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50


The day of the party came. Mrs. Loisel was asuccess. She was prettier than anyone else, stylish,graceful, smiling and wild with joy. All the men sawher, asked her name, sought to be introduced. All theimportant administrators stood in line to waltz withher. The Chancellor himself eyed her.

She danced joyfully, passionately, intoxicated withpleasure, thinking of nothing but the moment, in thetriumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, oncloud nine with happiness made up of all the admira-tion, of all the aroused desire, of this victory socomplete and so sweet to the heart of any woman.

She did not leave until four o’clock in the morn-ing. Her husband, since midnight, had been sleepingin a little empty room with three other men whosewives had also been enjoying themselves.

He threw, over her shoulders, the shawl that he hadbrought for the trip home—a modest everyday wrap,the poverty of which contrasted sharply with theelegance of her evening gown. She felt it and hurriedaway to avoid being noticed by the other women wholuxuriated in rich furs.

Loisel tried to hold her back:“Wait a minute. You’ll catch cold outdoors. I’ll call

a cab.”But she paid no attention and hurried down the

stairs. When they reached the street they found nocarriages. They began to look for one, shouting atcabmen passing by at a distance.

They walked toward the Seine, desperate, shiver-ing. Finally, on a quay, they found one of those oldnight-going buggies that are seen in Paris only afterdark, as if they were ashamed of their wretchedappearance in daylight.

It took them to their door, on the Street of Martyrs,and they sadly climbed the stairs to their flat. For her,it was finished. As for him, he could think only thathe had to begin work at the Ministry of Education atten o’clock.

She took the shawl off her shoulders, in front of themirror, to see herself once more in her glory. But



A new section.

The Party. Mathilde is ahuge success.

Another judgment aboutwomen. Does the authormean that only womenwant to be admired?Don’t men want admira-tion, too?

Loisel, with otherhusbands, is bored,while the wives arehaving a ball.

Ashamed of her shabbywrap, she rushes away toavoid being seen.

A come down after thenice evening. They takea wretched-lookingbuggy home.

“Street of Martyrs.” Isthis name significant?

Loisel is down-to-earth.

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60


suddenly she cried out. The necklace was no longeraround her neck!

Her husband, already half undressed, asked:“What’s wrong?”She turned toward him frantically:“I . . . I . . . I no longer have Mrs. Forrestier’s neck-

lace.”He stood up, bewildered:“What? . . . How? . . . It’s not possible!”And they looked in the folds of the gown, in the

folds of the shawl, in the pockets, everywhere. Theyfound nothing.

He asked:“You’re sure you still had it when you left the

party?”“Yes. I checked it in the vestibule of the Ministry.”“But if you’d lost it in the street, we would’ve

heard it fall. It must be in the cab.”“Yes, probably. Did you notice the number?”“No. Did you see it?”“No.”Overwhelmed, they looked at each other. Finally,

Loisel got dressed again:“I’m going out to retrace all our steps,” he said,

“to see if I can find the necklace that way.”And he went out. She stayed in her evening dress,

without the energy to get ready for bed, stretched outin a chair, drained of strength and thought.

Her husband came back at about seven o’clock. Hehad found nothing.

He went to Police Headquarters and to the news-papers to announce a reward. He went to the smallcab companies, and finally he followed up even theslightest hopeful lead.

She waited the entire day, in the same enervatedstate, in the face of this frightful disaster.

Loisel came back in the evening, his face pale andhaggard. He had found nothing.

“You’ll have to write to your friend,” he said, “thatyou broke a clasp on her necklace and that you’rehaving it fixed. That’ll give us time to look around.”

She wrote as he dictated.



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80

She has lost the necklace!

They can’t find it.

He goes out to search forthe necklace.

But is unsuccessful.He really tries. He’s doinghis best.

Loisel’s plan to explaindelaying the return. Hetakes charge, is resourceful.

° louis: a gold coin worth twenty francs.


By the end of the week they had lost all hope.And Loisel, looking five years older, declared:“We’ll have to see about replacing the jewels.”The next day they took the case which had

contained the necklace and went to the jeweler whosename was inside. He looked at his books:

“I wasn’t the one, Madam, who sold the necklace.I only made the case.”

Then they went from jeweler to jeweler, searchingfor a necklace like the other one, racking their memo-ries, both of them sick with worry and anguish.

In a shop in the Palais-Royal, they found a neck-lace of diamonds that seemed to them exactly like theone they were looking for. It was priced at forty thou-sand francs. They could buy it for thirty-six thousand.

They got the jeweler to promise not to sell it forthree days. And they made an agreement that hewould buy it back for thirty-four thousand francs ifthe original was recovered before the end of February.

Loisel had saved eighteen thousand francs that hisfather had left him. He would have to borrow the rest.

He borrowed, asking a thousand francs from one,five hundred from another, five louis° here, three louisthere. He wrote promissory notes, undertook ruinousobligations, did business with finance companies andthe whole tribe of loan sharks. He compromisedhimself for the remainder of his days, risked his signa-ture without knowing whether he would be able tohonor it, and, terrified by anguish over the future, bythe black misery that was about to descend on him, bythe prospect of all kinds of physical deprivations andmoral tortures, he went to get the new necklace, andput down thirty-six thousand francs on the jeweler’scounter.

Mrs. Loisel took the necklace back to Mrs.Forrestier, who said with an offended tone:

“You should have brought it back sooner; I mighthave needed it.”

She did not open the case, as her friend feared shemight. If she had noticed the substitution, what would



Things are hopeless.

They hunt for a replace-ment.

A new diamond necklacewill cost 36,000 francs, amonumental amount.

They make a deal withthe jeweler. (Is Maupas-sant hinting that thingsmight work out for them?)

It will take all of Loisel’sinheritance plus another18,000 francs that mustbe borrowed at enormousrates of interest.

Mrs. Forrestier complainsabout the delay.

Is this enough justificationfor not telling the truth? Itseems to be for theLoisels.

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95


she have thought? What would she have said? Wouldshe not have taken her for a thief?

Mrs. Loisel soon discovered the horrible life of theneedy. She did her share, however, completely, hero-ically. That horrifying debt had to be paid. She wouldpay. They dismissed the maid; they changed theiraddress; they rented an attic flat.

She learned to do the heavy housework, dirtykitchen jobs. She washed the dishes, wearing awayher manicured fingernails on greasy pots andencrusted baking dishes. She handwashed dirty linen,shirts, and dish towels that she hung out on the line todry. Each morning, she took the garbage down to thestreet, and she carried up water, stopping at each floorto catch her breath. And, dressed in cheap housedresses, she went to the fruit dealer, the grocer, thebutchers, with her basket under her arms, haggling,insulting, defending her measly cash penny by penny.

They had to make installment payments everymonth, and, to buy more time, to refinance loans.

The husband worked evenings to make fair copiesof tradesmen’s accounts, and late into the night hemade copies at five cents a page.

And this life lasted ten years.

At the end of ten years, they had paid back every-thing—everything—including the extra chargesimposed by loan sharks and the accumulation ofcompound interest.

Mrs. Loisel looked old now. She had become thestrong, hard, and rude woman of poor households. Herhair unkempt, with uneven skirts and rough, redhands, she spoke loudly, washed floors with largebuckets of water. But sometimes, when her husbandwas at work, she sat down near the window, and shedreamed of that evening so long ago, of that party,where she had been so beautiful and so admired.

What would life have been like if she had not lostthat necklace? Who knows? Who knows? Life is sopeculiar, so uncertain. How little a thing it takes todestroy you or to save you!



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A new section, the fifth.

They suffer to repay theirdebts. Loisel works late atnight. Mathilde accepts acheap attic flat, and doesall the heavy houseworkherself to save on domes-tic help.

She pinches pennies, andhaggles with the localtradesmen.

They struggle to meetpayments.

Mr. Loisel moonlights tomake extra money.

For ten years they strug-gle, but they endure.

The last section. Theyhave finally paid back theentire debt.

Mrs. Loisel (how comethe narrator does not say“Mathilde”?) is rough-ened and aged by thework. But she hasbehaved “heroically” (¶98), and has shown hermettle.

A moral? Our lives areshaped by small, uncer-tain things; we hang by athread.


Well, one Sunday, when she had gone for a strollalong the Champs-Elysées to relax from the cares ofthe week, she suddenly noticed a woman walking witha child. It was Mrs. Forrestier, still youthful, still beau-tiful, still attractive.

Mrs. Loisel felt moved. Would she speak to her?Yes, certainly. And now that she had paid, she couldtell all. Why not?

She walked closer.“Hello, Jeanne.”The other gave no sign of recognition and was

astonished to be addressed so familiarly by this work-ing-class woman. She stammered:

“But . . . Madam! . . . I don’t know. . . . You musthave made a mistake.”

“No. I’m Mathilde Loisel.”Her friend cried out:“Oh! . . . My poor Mathilde, you’ve changed so

much.”“Yes. I’ve had some tough times since I saw you

last; in fact hardships . . . and all because of you! . . .”“Of me . . . how so?”“You remember the diamond necklace that you lent

me to go to the party at the Ministry of Education?”“Yes. What then?”“Well, I lost it.”“How, since you gave it back to me?”“I returned another exactly like it. And for ten

years we’ve been paying for it. You understand thiswasn’t easy for us, who have nothing. . . . Finally it’sover, and I’m damned glad.”

Mrs. Forrestier stopped her.“You say that you bought a diamond necklace to

replace mine?”“Yes, you didn’t notice it, eh? It was exactly like

yours.”And she smiled with proud and childish joy.Mrs. Forrestier, deeply moved, took both her

hands.“Oh, my poor Mathilde! But mine was only

costume jewelry. At most, it was worth only fivehundred francs! . . .”



A scene on the Champs-Elysées. She sees JeanneForrestier, after ten years.

They seem to have lostcontact with each othertotally during the last tenyears. Would this havehappened in real life?

Jeanne notes Mathilde’schanged appearance.

Mathilde tells Jeanneeverything.

SURPRISE! The lost neck-lace was not realdiamonds, and theLoisels slaved for noreason at all. But hardwork and sacrifice prob-ably brought out betterqualities in Mathildethan she otherwise mighthave shown. Is this themoral of the story?

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� reading and reSPonding in a JournaL

The comments included alongside the story demonstrate the active

reading-responding process you should apply to everything you read.

Use the margins in your text to record your comments and questions, but,

in addition, plan to keep a journal for lengthier responses. Your journal,

which may consist of a notebook, note cards, separate sheets of paper,

or a computer file, will be immensely useful to you as you move from

your initial impressions toward more carefully considered thought.

In keeping your journal, your objective should be to learn assigned

works inside and out and then to say perceptive things about them. To

achieve this goal, you need to read the work more than once. You will

need a good note-taking system so that as you read, you can develop a

“memory bank” of your own knowledge about a work. You can draw

from this fund of ideas when you begin to write. As an aid in develop-

ing your own procedures for reading and “depositing” your ideas, you

may wish to begin with the following “Guidelines for Reading.” Of

course, you will want to modify these suggestions and to add to them,

as you become a more experienced, disciplined reader.

Reading and Responding in a Journal


using the names of authors When Writing aboutLiterature

For both men and women writers, you should typically include

the author’s full name in the first sentence of your essay. Here are

few model first sentences:

Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” is a story that

concludes with a surprise.

“The Necklace,” by Guy de Maupassant, is a story that

concludes with a surprise.

For all later references, use only the author’s last name (such as

Maupassant for this story). However, for the “giants” of literature, you

should use the last names exclusively. In referring to writers like Shake-

speare and Milton, for example, there is no need to include William or

John.

In spite of today’s informal standards, do not use an author’s

first name, as in “Guy skillfully creates suspense and surprise in ‘The

Necklace.’” Also, do not use a familiar title before the names of dead

authors, such as “Mr. Maupassant’s ‘The Necklace’ is a suspenseful

and pathetic story.” Use the last name alone.


reSPonding to Literature: LikeS and diSLikeS

People read for many reasons. In the course of daily affairs, they

read signs, labels, price tags, recipes, or directions for assembling a piece

of furniture or a toy. They read newspapers to learn about national, inter-

national, and local events. They might read magazines to learn about

important issues, celebrities, political figures, and biographical details

about significant persons. Sometimes they might read to pass the time,

or to take their minds off pressing problems or situations. Also, people

regularly read out of necessity—in school and in their work. They study

for examinations in chemistry, biology, psychology, and political science.

They go over noun paradigms and verb forms in a foreign language.

They read to acquire knowledge in many areas, and they read to learn

new skills, new information, and new ways to do their jobs better.

But, aside from incidental, leisurely, and obligatory reading, many

people turn to imaginative literature, which they read because they like

it and find it interesting. Even if they don’t like everything they read

equally, they nevertheless enjoy reading and usually pick out authors

and types of literature that they like.

It is therefore worth considering those qualities of imaginative liter-

ature that at the primary level produce responses of pleasure (and also

of displeasure). You either like or dislike a story, poem, or play. If you



As with all conventions, of course, there are exceptions. If you

are referring to a childhood work of a writer, the first name is appro-

priate, but shift to the last name when referring to the writer’s mature

works. If your writer has a professional or a noble title, such as

“Judge O’Connor,” “Governor Cross,” “Lord Byron” or “Lady

Winchelsea,” it is not improper to use the title. Even then, however,

the titles are commonly omitted for males, so that most references

to Lord Byron and Lord Tennyson should be simply to “Byron” and

“Tennyson.”

Referring to living authors is somewhat problematic. Some jour-

nals and newspapers, like the New York Times, use the respectful

titles Mr. and Ms. in their reviews. However, scholarly journals,

which are likely to remain on library shelves for many decades,

follow the general principle of beginning with the entire name and

then using only the last name for subsequent references.


say no more than this, however, you have not said much. Analyzing and

explaining your likes and dislikes requires you to describe the reasons

for your responses. The goal should be to form your responses as judg-

ments, which are usually informed and informative, rather than as simple

reactions, which may be uninformed and unexplained.

Sometimes a reader’s first responses are that a story or poem is

either “okay” or “boring.” These reactions usually mask an incomplete

and superficial first reading. They are neither informative nor informed.

As you study most works, however, you will be drawn into them and

become interested and involved. To be interested in a poem, play, or

story is to be taken into it emotionally; to be involved suggests that your

emotions become almost wrapped up in the characters, problems,

outcomes, ideas, and expressions of opinion and emotion. Both “inter-

est” and “involvement” describe genuine responses to reading. Once you

get interested and involved, your reading ceases to be a task or an assign-

ment and grows into a pleasure.

Use Your Journal to Record Your Responses

No one can tell you what you should or should not like, for liking

is your own concern. While your reading is still fresh, therefore, you

should use your journal to record your responses to a work in addition

to your observations about it. Be frank in your judgment. Write down

what you like or dislike, and explain the reasons for your responses,

even if these are brief and incomplete. If, after later thought and fuller

understanding, you change or modify your impressions, write down

these changes too. Here is a journal entry that explains a favorable

response to Maupassant’s “The Necklace”:

I like “The Necklace” because of the surprise ending. It isn’t

that I like Mathilde’s bad luck, but I like the way Maupassant

hides the most important fact in the story until the end.

Mathilde does all that work and sacrifice for no reason at all,

and the surprise ending makes this point strongly.

This paragraph could be developed as part of an essay. It is a clear

statement of liking, followed by references to likable things in the

story. This response pattern, which can be simply phrased as “I like

[dislike] this work because . . . ,” is a useful way to begin journal




entries because it always requires an explanation of responses. If at

first you cannot explain the causes of your responses, at least make a

brief list of the things you like or dislike. If you write nothing, you

will probably forget your reactions. Recovering them later, either for

discussion or writing, will be difficult.

guideLineS For reading

1. obServationS For baSic underStanding

A. ExPLAIN WORDS, SITUATIONS, AND CONCEPTS. Write down

words that are new or not immediately clear. If you find a

passage that you do not quickly understand, decide whether

the problem arises from unknown words. Use your dictionary,

and record the relevant meanings in your journal, but be sure

that these meanings clarify your understanding. Make note of

special difficulties so that you may ask you instructor about

them.

B. DETERMINE WHAT IS HAPPENING. For a story or play,

where do the actions take place? What do they show? Who

is involved? Who is the major figure? Why is he or she

major? What relationships do the characters have with one

another? What concerns do the characters have? What do

they do? Who says what to whom? How do the speeches

advance the action and reveal the characters? For a poem,

what is the situation? Who is talking, and to whom? What

does the speaker say about the situation? Why does the poem

end as it does and where it does?

2. noteS on FirSt imPreSSionS

A. MAkE A RECORD OF YOUR REACTIONS AND RESPONSES,

which you may derive from your marginal notations. What

did you think was memorable, noteworthy, funny, or other-

wise striking? Did you worry, get scared, laugh, smile feel

a thrill, learn a great deal, feel proud, find a lot to think

about? In your journal, record these responses and explain

them more fully.




B. DESCRIBE INTERESTING CHARACTERIzATIONS, EVENTS,

TECHNIqUES, AND IDEAS. If you like a character or an idea,

explain what you like, and do the same for characters and

ideas you don’t like. Is there anything else in the work that

you especially like or dislike. Are parts easy or difficult to

understand? Why? Are there any surprises? What was your

reaction to them? Be sure to use your own words when writ-

ing your explanations.

3. deveLoPment oF ideaS and enLargement

oF reSPonSeS

A. TRACE DEVELOPING PATTERNS. Make an outline or a

scheme: What conflicts appear? Do these conflicts exist

between people, groups, or ideas? How does the author

resolve them? Is one force, idea, or side the winner? Why?

How do you respond to the winner or to the loser?

B. WRITE ExPANDED NOTES ABOUT CHARACTERS, SITUA-

TIONS, AND ACTIONS. What explanations need to be made

about the characters? What actions, scenes, and situations

invite interpretation? What assumptions do the characters

and speakers reveal about life and humanity generally; about

themselves, the people around them, their families, and their

friends; and about work, the economy, religion, politics,

philosophy and the state of the world and the universe? What

manners or customs do they exhibit? What sort of language

do they use? What literary conventions and devices have

you noticed, and what do these contribute to the action and

ideas of the story?

C. WRITE A PARAGRAPH OR SEVERAL PARAGRAPHS DESCRIB-

ING YOUR REACTIONS AND THOUGHTS. If you have an

assignment, your paragraphs may be useful later because

you might transfer them directly as early drafts. Even if you

are making only a general preparation, however, always

write down your thoughts.




D. MEMORIzE INTERESTING, WELL-WRITTEN, AND IMPOR-

TANT PASSAGES. Use note cards to write them out in full,

and keep them in your pocket or purse. When walking to

class, riding public transportation, or otherwise not occupy-

ing your time, learn them by heart.

E. ALWAYS WRITE DOWN qUESTIONS THAT ARISE AS YOU

READ. You may raise these in class, and they may also aid

your own study.

State Reasons for Your Favorable Responses

Usually you can equate your interest in a work with liking it. You

can be more specific about favorable responses by citing one or more

of the following:

� You like and admire the characters and what they do and stand

for. You get involved with them. When they are in danger you

are concerned; when they succeed, you are happy; when they

speak, you like what they say.

� After you have read the last word in a story or play, you are

sorry to part with these characters and wish that there were

more to read about them and their activities.

� Even if you do not particularly like a character or the charac-

ters, you are nevertheless interested in the reasons for and

outcomes of their actions.

� You get so interested and involved in the actions or ideas in

the work that you do not want to put the work down until you

have finished it.

� You like to follow the pattern of action or the development of

the author’s thoughts, so that you respond with appreciation

upon finishing the work.

� You find that reading enables you to relax or to take your mind

off a problem or a pressing responsibility.

� You learn something new—something you had never before

known or thought about human beings and their ways of

handling their problems.

� You learn about customs and ways of life in different places and

times.




� You gain new insights into aspects of life that you thought you

already understood.

� You feel happy or thrilled because of reading the work.

� You are amused, and you laugh often as you read.

� You like the author’s ways of describing scenes, actions, ideas,

and feelings.

� You find that many of the expressions are remarkable and beau-

tiful, and are therefore worth remembering.

State Reasons for Your Unfavorable Responses

Although so far we have dismissed okay and boring and have

stressed interest, involvement, and liking, it is important to know that

disliking all or part of a work is normal and acceptable. You do not need

to hide this response. Here, for example, are two short journal responses

expressing dislike for Maupassant’s “The Necklace”:

1. I do not like “The Necklace” because Mathilde seems spoiled,

and I don’t think she is worth reading about.

2. “The Necklace” is not an adventure story, and I like reading

only adventure stories.

These are both legitimate responses because they are based on a clear

standard of judgment. The first response stems from a distaste for one

of the main character’s unlikable traits, and the second from a preference

for rapidly moving stories that evoke interest in the dangers that main

characters face and overcome.

Here is a paragraph-length journal entry that might be developed

from the first response. Notice that the reasons for dislike are explained.

They would need only slightly more development for use in an essay:

I dislike “The Necklace” because Mathilde seems spoiled, and

I don’t think she is worth reading about. She is a phony. She

nags her husband because he is not rich. She never tells the

truth. I dislike her for hurrying away from the party because she

is afraid of being seen in her shabby coat. She is foolish and

dishonest for not telling Jeanne Forrestier about losing the neck-

lace. It’s true that she works hard to pay the debt, but she also

puts her husband through ten years of hardship. If Mathilde had




faced facts, she might have had a better life. I do not like her

and cannot like the story because of her.

As long as you include reasons for your dislike, as in the list and in the

paragraph, you can use them again in considering the story more fully,

when you will surely also expand thoughts, include new details, pick

new topics for development as paragraphs, and otherwise modify your

journal entry. You might even change your mind. However, even if you

do not, it is better to record your original responses and reasons honestly

than to force yourself to say you like a story that you do not like.

Try to Put Dislikes into a Larger Context

Although it is important to be honest about disliking a work, it is

more important to broaden your perspective and expand your taste. For

example, a dislike based on the preference for only mystery or adven-

ture stories, if generally applied, would cause a person to dislike most

works of literature. This attitude seems unnecessarily self-limiting.

If negative responses are put in a larger context, it is possible to

expand the capacity to like and appreciate good literature. For instance,

some readers might be preoccupied with their own concerns and there-

fore be uninterested in remote or “irrelevant” literary figures. However,

if by reading about literary characters they can gain insight into general

problems of life, and therefore their own concerns, they can find some-

thing to like in just about any work. Other readers might like sports and

therefore not read anything but the daily sports pages. What probably

interests them about sports is competition, however, so if they can follow

the competition or conflict in a literary work, they will have discovered

something to like in that work.

As an example, let us consider again the dislike based on a prefer-

ence for adventure stories, and see whether this preference can be

widened. Here are some reasons for liking adventures:

1. Adventure has fast action.

2. It has danger and tension, and therefore interest.

3. It has daring, active, and successful characters.

4. It has obstacles that the characters work hard to overcome.

No one could claim that the first three points apply to “The Necklace,”

but the fourth point is promising. Mathilde, the major character, works

hard to overcome an obstacle: She pitches in to help her husband pay




the large debt. If you like adventures because the characters try to gain

worthy goals, then you can also like “The Necklace” for the same reason.

The principle here is clear: If a reason for liking a favorite work or type

of work can be found in another work, then there is reason to like that

new work.

The following paragraph shows a possible application of this “bridg-

ing” process of extending preferences. (The sample essay that begins on

page 270 is also developed along these lines.)

I usually like only adventure stories, and therefore I disliked “The

Necklace” at first because it is not adventure. But one of my

reasons for liking adventure is that the characters work hard to

overcome difficult obstacles, like finding buried treasure or

exploring new places. Mathilde, Maupassant’s main character in

“The Necklace,” also works hard to overcome an obstacle—help-

ing to pay back the money and interest for the borrowed 18,000

francs used as part of the payment for the replacement necklace.

I like adventure characters because they stick to things and win

out. I see the same toughness in Mathilde. Her problems get more

interesting as the story moves on after a slow beginning. I came

to like the story.

The principle of “bridging” from like to like is worth restating and

emphasizing: If a reason for liking a favorite work or type of work can

be found in another work, then there is reason to like that new work. A

person who adapts to new reading in this open-minded way can rede-

fine dislikes, no matter how slowly, and may consequently expand the

ability to like and appreciate many kinds of literature.

An equally open-minded way to develop understanding and widen

taste is to put dislikes in the following light: An author’s creation of an

unlikable character, situation, attitude, or expression may be deliberate.

Your dislike might then result from the author’s intentions. A first task

of study, therefore, is to understand and explain the intention or plan. As

you put the plan into your own words, you may find that you can like

a work with unlikable things in it. Here is a paragraph that traces this

pattern of thinking, based again on “The Necklace”:

Maupassant apparently wants the reader to dislike Mathilde, and

I do. At first, he shows her being unrealistic and spoiled. She lies

to everyone and nags her husband. Her rushing away from the

Writing Essays on Literary Topics



party so that no one can see her shabby coat is a form of lying.

But I like the story itself because Maupassant makes another

kind of point. He does not hide her bad qualities, but makes it

clear that she herself is the cause of her trouble. If people like

Mathilde never face the truth, they will get into bad situations.

This is a good point, and I like the way Maupassant makes it.

The entire story is therefore worth liking even though I still do

not like Mathilde.

Both of these “bridging” analyses are consistent with the original

negative reactions. In the first paragraph, the writer applies one of his

principles of liking to include “The Necklace.” In the second, the writer

considers her initial dislike in the context of the work, and discovers a

basis for liking the story as a whole while still disliking the main char-

acter. The main concern in both responses is to keep an open mind

despite initial dislike and then to see whether the unfavorable response

can be more fully and broadly considered.

However, if you decide that your dislike overbalances any reasons

you can find for liking, then you should explain your dislike. As long as

you relate your response to the work accurately and measure it by a clear

standard of judgment, your dislike of even a commonly liked work is not

unacceptable. The important issue is not so much that you like or dislike

a particular work but that you develop your own abilities to analyze and

express your ideas.

� Writing eSSayS on Literary toPicS

Writing is the sharpened, focused expression of thought and study.

It begins with the search for something to say—an idea. Not all ideas

are equal; some are better than others, and getting good ideas is an abil-

ity that you will develop the more you think and write. As you discover

ideas and write them down, you will also improve your perceptions and

increase your critical faculties.

In addition, because literature itself contains the subject material,

though not in a systematic way, of philosophy, religion, psychology,

sociology, and politics, learning to analyze literature and to write about

it will also improve your capacity to deal with these and other disci-

plines.




Writing Does Not Come Easily: Don’t Worry—Just Do It

At the outset, it is important to realize that writing is a process that

begins in uncertainty and hesitation, and that becomes certain and confi-

dent only as a result of diligent thought and considerable care. When you

read a complete, polished, well-formed piece of writing, you might

believe at first that the writer wrote this perfect version in only one draft

and never needed to make any changes and improvements in it at all.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

If you could see the early drafts of writing you admire, you would be

surprised and startled—and also encouraged—to see that good writers are

also human and that what they first write is often uncertain, vague, tangen-

tial, tentative, incomplete, and messy. Usually, they do not like these first

drafts, but nevertheless they work with their efforts and build upon them:

They discard some details, add others, chop paragraphs in half, reassem-

ble the parts elsewhere, throw out much (and then maybe recover some

of it), revise or completely rewrite sentences, change words, correct

misspellings, and add new material to tie all the parts together and make

them flow smoothly.

Three Major Stages of Thinking and Writing

For good and not-so-good writers alike, the writing task follows

three basic stages. (1) The first stage—discovering ideas—shares many

of the qualities of ordinary conversation. Usually, conversation is random

and disorganized. It shifts from topic to topic, often without any appar-

ent cause, and it is repetitive. In discovering ideas for writing, your

process is much the same, for you jump from idea to idea, and do not

necessarily identify the connections or bridges between them. (2) By the

second step, however—creating an early, rough draft of a critical

paper—your thought should be less like ordinary conversation and more

like classroom discussion. Such discussions generally stick to a point,

but they are also free and spontaneous, and digressions often occur. (3)

At the third stage—preparing a finished essay—your thinking must be

sharply focused, and your writing must be organized, definite, concise,

and connected.

If you find that trying to write an essay gets you into difficulties

like false starts, dead ends, total cessation of thought, digressions,

despair, hopelessness, and other such frustrations, remember that it is

important just to start. Just simply write anything at all—no matter

how unacceptable your first efforts may seem—and force yourself to

come to grips with the materials. Beginning to write does not commit




you to your first ideas. They are not untouchable and holy just because

they are on paper or on your computer screen. You may throw them

out in favor of new ideas. You may also cross out words or move

sections around, as you wish. However, if you keep your first thoughts

buried in your mind, you will have nothing to work with. It is essen-

tial to accept the uncertainties in the writing process and make them

work for you rather than against you.

diScovering ideaS

You cannot know your own ideas fully until you write them down.

Thus, the first thing to do in the writing process is to dig deeply into

your mind and drag out all your responses and ideas about the story.

Write anything and everything that occurs to you. Don’t be embarrassed

if things do not look great at first, but keep working toward improve-

ment. If you have questions you can’t answer, write them down and

plan to answer them later. In your attempts to discover ideas, use the

following prewriting techniques.

Brainstorming or Freewriting Gets Your Mind Going

brainstorming or freewriting is an informal way to describe your

own written but private no-holds-barred conversation with yourself. It

is your first step in writing. When you begin freewriting, you do not

know what is going to happen, so you let your mind play over all the

possibilities that you generate as you consider the work, or a particular

element of the work, or your own early responses to it. In effect, you are

talking to yourself and writing down all your thoughts, whether they fall

into patterns or seem disjointed, beside the point, or even foolish. At

this time, do not try to organize or criticize your thoughts. Later you

can decide which ideas to keep and which to throw out. For now, the

goal is to get all your ideas on paper or on the computer screen. As you

are developing your essay later on, you may, at any time, return to the

brainstorming or freewriting process to initiate and develop new ideas.

Focus on Specific Topics

1. deveLoP SubJectS you create When taking noteS and

brainStorming. Although the goal of brainstorming is to be totally

free about the topics, you should recognize that you are trying to think




creatively. You will therefore need to start directing your mind into

specific channels. Once you start focusing on definite topics, your think-

ing, as we have noted, is analogous to classroom discussion. Let us

assume that in freewriting, you produce a topic that you find especially

interesting. You might then start to focus on this topic and to write as

much as you can about it. The following examples from early thoughts

about Maupassant’s “The Necklace” show how a writer may zero in on

such a topic—in this case, “honor”—once the word comes up in

freewriting:

Mathilde could have gone to her friend and told her she had lost

the necklace. But she didn’t. Was she overcome with shame?

Would she have felt a loss of honor by confessing the loss of

the necklace?

What is honor? Doing what you think you should even if you

don’t want to, or if it’s hard? Or is it pride? Was Mathilde too

proud or too honorable to tell her friend? Does having honor

mean going a harder way, when either way would probably be

okay? Do you have to suffer to be honorable? Does pride or

honor produce a choice for suffering?

Mathilde wants others to envy her, to find her attractive. Later

she tells Loisel that she would feel humiliated at the party with

rich women unless she wore jewelry. Maybe she is more

concerned about being admired than about the necklace.

Having a high self-esteem has something to do with honor, but

more with pride.

Duty. Is it the same as honor? Is it Mathilde’s duty to work so

hard? Certainly her pride causes her to do her duty and behave

honorably, and therefore pride is a step towards honor.

Honor is a major part of life, I think. It seems bigger than any

one life or person. Honor is just an idea or a feeling—can an

idea of honor be larger than a life, take over someone’s life?

Should it?

These paragraphs do not represent finished writing, but they do

demonstrate how a writer may attempt to define a term and determine




the degree to which it applies to a major character or circumstance.

Although the last paragraph departs from the story, this digression is

perfectly acceptable because in the freewriting stage, writers treat ideas



PLUS: ADMIRED? MINUS: CONDEMNED?

After she cries when they get theinvitation, she recovers with a“strong effort”—maybe shedoesn’t want her husband to feelbad.

She really scores a great victoryat the dance. She does have thepower to charm and captivate.

Once she loses the necklace, sheand her husband become impov-erished. But she does “her share. . . completely, heroically”(paragraph 98) to make up forthe loss.

Even when she is poor, she stilldreams about that marvelous,shining moment. She gets worsethan she deserves.

At the end, she confesses theloss to her friend.

She only wants to be enviedand admired for being attractive(end of first part), not for moreimportant qualities.

She wastes her time daydream-ing about things she can’t have,and whines because she isunhappy.

She manipulates her husbandinto giving her a lot of moneyfor a party dress, but they livepoorly.

She assumes that her friendwould think she was a thief ifshe knew she was returning adifferent necklace. Shouldn’t shehave had more confidence in thefriend?

She gets loud and coarse, andhaggles about pennies, thusundergoing a total cheapeningof her character.

as they arise. If the ideas amount to something, they may be used in

the developing essay; but if they don’t, they can be thrown away. The

important principle in brainstorming is to record all ideas, with no

initial concern about how they might seem to a reader. The results of

freewriting are for the eyes of the writer only. (A student once began

a freewriting exercise by indicating his desire for a large bowl of ice

cream. Although the wish had nothing to do with the topic, it did cause


the student to begin writing and to express more germane ideas. Need-

less to say, the original wish did not get into the final essay.)

2. buiLd on your originaL noteS. An essential way to focus

your mind is to mine your journal notes for relevant topics. For exam-

ple, let us assume that you have made an original note on “The Neck-

lace” about the importance of the attic flat where Mathilde and her

husband live after they paid for the replacement necklace. With this note

as a start, you can develop a number of ideas, as in the following:

The attic flat is important. Before, in her apartment, Mathilde

was dreamy and impractical. She was delicate, but after losing

the necklace, no way. She becomes a worker when in the flat.

She can do a lot more now.

M. gives up her servant, climbs stairs carrying buckets of water,

washes greasy pots, throws water around to clean floors, does

all the wash by hand.

While she gets stronger, she also gets loud and frumpy—argues

with shopkeepers to get the lowest prices. She stops caring for

herself. A reversal here, from incapable and well groomed to

coarse but capable. All this change happens in the attic flat.

Notice that no more than a brief original note can help you discover

thoughts that you did not originally have. This act of stretching your

mind leads you to put elements of the story together in ways that create

support for ideas that you may use to build good essays. Even in an

assertion as basic as “The attic flat is important,” the process itself,

which is a form of concentrated thought, leads you creatively forward.

3. raiSe and anSWer your oWn queStionS. A major way to

discover ideas about a work is to raise and answer questions as you read.

The “Guidelines for Reading” will help you formulate questions, but

you may also raise specific questions like these (assuming that you are

considering a story):

� What explanations are needed for the characters? Which

actions, scenes, and situations invite interpretation? Why?

� What assumptions do the characters and speakers reveal about

life and humanity generally; about themselves, the people

around them, their families, and their friends; and about work,

the economy, religion, politics, and the state of the world?

� What are their manners or customs?




� What kinds of words do they use: formal or informal words,

slang or profanity?

� What literary conventions and devices have you discovered,

and how do these add to the work? (When an author addresses

readers directly, for example, that is a convention; when a

comparison is used, that is a device, which might be either a

metaphor or a simile.)

Of course you may raise other questions as you reread the piece, or

you may be left with one or two major questions that you decide to

pursue.

4. uSe the PLuS-minuS, Pro-con, or either-or method to

Put ideaS together. A common method of discovering ideas is to

develop a set of contrasts: plus-minus, pro-con, either-or. Let us suppose

a plus-minus method of considering the character of Mathilde in “The

Necklace”: Should she be “admired” (plus) or “condemned” (minus)?

Once you put contrasting ideas side by side, as in this example, you

will get new ideas. Filling the columns almost demands that you list as

many contrasting positions as you can and that you think about how

material in the work supports each position. It is in this way that true,

genuine thinking takes place.

Your notes will therefore be useful regardless of how you finally

organize your essay. You may develop either column in a full essay, or

you might use the notes to support the idea that Mathilde is too complex

to be either wholly admired or wholly condemned. You might even intro-

duce an entirely new idea, such as that Mathilde should be pitied rather

than condemned or admired. In short, arranging materials in the plus-

minus pattern is a powerful way to discover ideas that can lead to ways

of development that you might not otherwise find.

5. trace deveLoPing PatternS. You can also discover ideas by

making a list or scheme for the story or main idea. What conflicts

appear? Do these conflicts exist between people, groups, or ideas? How

does the author resolve them? Is one force, idea, or side the winner?

Why? How do you respond to the winner or to the loser?

Using this method, you might make a list similar to this one:

Beginning: M. is a fish out of water. She dreams of wealth, but

her life is drab and her husband is ordinary.

Fantasies—make her even more dissatisfied—punishes herself

by thinking of a wealthy life.




Her character relates to the places in the story: the Street of the

Martyrs, the dinner party scene, the attic flat. Also the places

she dreams of—she fills them with the most expensive things

she can imagine.

They get the dinner invitation—she pouts and whines. Her

husband feels discomfort, but she doesn’t really harm him. She

manipulates him into buying her an expensive party dress,

though.

Her dream world hurts her real life when her desire for wealth

causes her to borrow the necklace. Losing the necklace is just

plain bad luck.

The attic flat brings out her potential coarseness. But she also

develops a spirit of sacrifice and cooperation. She loses, but

she’s really a winner.

These observations all focus on Mathilde’s character, but you

may wish to trace other patterns you find in the story. If you

start planning an essay about another pattern, be sure to account

for all the actions and scenes that relate to your topic. Other-

wise, you may miss a piece of evidence that can lead you to

new conclusions.

6. Let your Writing heLP you deveLoP your thinking. No

matter what method of discovering ideas you use, it is important to real-

ize that unwritten thought is incomplete thought. Make a practice of

writing notes about your reactions and any questions that occur to you.

Very likely they will lead you to the most startling discoveries that you

finally make about a work.

draFting your eSSay

As you use the brainstorming and focusing techniques for discov-

ering ideas, you are also beginning to draft your essay. You will need to

revise your ideas as connections among them become more clear, and

as you reexamine the work for support for the ideas you are developing,

but you already have many of the raw materials you need for develop-

ing your topic.






Create a Central Idea

By definition, an essay is a fully developed and organized set of para-

graphs that develop and enlarge a central idea. All parts of an essay

should contribute to the reader’s understanding of the idea. To achieve

unity and completeness, each paragraph refers to the central idea and

demonstrates how selected details from the work relate to it and support

it. The central idea will help you control and shape your essay, and it will

provide guidance for your reader.

A successful essay about literature is a brief but thorough (not

exhaustive) examination of a literary work in light of a particular

element, such as character, point of view, or symbolism. Typical

central ideas might be (1) that a character is strong and tenacious, or (2)

that the point of view makes the action seem “distant and objective,” or

(3) that a major symbol governs the actions and thoughts of the major

characters. In essays on these topics, all points must be tied to such

central ideas. Thus, it is a fact that Mathilde Loisel in “The Necklace”

endures ten years of slavish work and sacrifice. This fact is not relevant

to an essay on her character, however, unless you connect it by show-

ing how it demonstrates one of her major traits—in this case, her grow-

ing strength and perseverance.

Look through all of your ideas for one or two that catch your eye

for development. If you have used more than one prewriting technique,

the chances are that you have already discovered at least a few ideas that

are more thought-provoking, or important, than the others.

Once you choose an idea that you think you can work with, write

it as a complete sentence. A complete sentence is important: A simple

phrase, such as “setting and character,” does not focus thought the way

a sentence does. A sentence moves the topic toward new exploration

and discovery because it combines a topic with an outcome, such as

“The setting of ‘The Necklace’ reflects Mathilde’s character.” You may

choose to be even more specific: “Mathilde’s strengths and weaknesses

are reflected in the real and imaginary places in ‘The Necklace.’ ”

With a single, central idea for your essay, you have a standard for

accepting, rejecting, rearranging, and changing the ideas you have been

developing. You may now draft a few paragraphs to see whether your idea

seems valid, or you may decide that it would be more helpful to make

an outline or a list before you attempt to support your ideas in a rough

draft. In either case, you should use your notes for evidence to connect

to your central idea. If you need more ideas, use any of the brainstorm-




ing-prewriting techniques to discover them. If you need to bolster your

argument by including more details that are relevant, jot them down as

you reread the work.

Using the central idea that the changes in the story’s settings reflect

Mathilde’s character might produce a paragraph like the following,

which stresses her negative qualities:

The original apartment in the Street of Martyrs and the dream

world of wealthy places both show negative sides of Mathilde’s

character. The real-life apartment, though livable, is shabby.

The furnishings all bring out her discontent. The shabbiness

makes her think only of luxuriousness, and her one servant girl

causes her to dream of having many servants. The luxury of

her dream life heightens her unhappiness with what she actu-

ally has.

Even in such a discovery draft, however, where the purpose is to write

initial thoughts about the central idea, many details from the story are

used in support. In the final draft, this kind of support will be absolutely

essential.

Create a Thesis Sentence

With your central idea to guide you, you can now decide which of the

earlier observations and ideas can be developed further. Your goal is to

establish a number of major topics to support the central idea and to

express them in a thesis sentence—an organizing sentence that plans or

forecasts the major topics you will treat in your essay. Suppose you choose

three ideas from your discovery stage of development. If you put the

central idea at the left and the list of topics at the right, you have the shape

of the thesis sentence. Note that the first two topics have been taken from

the discovery paragraph.

CENTRAL IDEA TOPICS

The setting of “The Necklace”

reflects Mathilde’s character.

1. Real-life apartment

2. Dream surroundings

3. Attic flat




This arrangement leads to the following thesis statement:

Mathilde’s character growth is related to her first apartment,

her dream-life mansion rooms, and her attic flat.

You can revise the thesis statement at any stage of the writing process

if you find that you do not have enough evidence from the work to

support it. Perhaps a new topic may occur to you, and you can include

it, appropriately, as a part of your thesis sentence.

As we have seen, the central idea is the glue of the essay. The thesis

sentence lists the parts to be fastened together—that is, the topics in

which the central idea is to be demonstrated and argued. To alert your

readers to your essay’s structure, the thesis sentence is often placed at

the end of the introductory paragraph, just before the body of the essay

begins.

Writing a FirSt draFt

To write a first draft, you support the points of your thesis sentence

with your notes and discovery materials. You may alter, reject, and

rearrange ideas and details as you wish, as long as you change your

thesis sentence to account for the changes (a major reason why most

writers write their introductions last). The thesis sentence just shown

contains three topics (it could be two, or four, or more), to be used in

forming the body of the essay.

begin each ParagraPh With a toPic Sentence. Just as the

organization of the entire essay is based on the thesis, the form of each

paragraph is based on its topic sentence. A topic sentence is an asser-

tion about how a topic from the predicate of the thesis statement supports

the central idea. The first topic in our example is the relationship of

Mathilde’s character to her first apartment, and the resulting paragraph

should emphasize this relationship. If you choose the coarsening of her

character during the ten-year travail, you can then form a topic sentence

by connecting the trait with the location, as follows:

The attic flat reflects the coarsening of Mathilde’s character.

Beginning with this sentence, the paragraph can show how Mathilde’s

rough, heavy housework has a direct effect on her behavior, appearance,

and general outlook.

uSe onLy one toPic—no more—in each ParagraPh. Usually

you should treat each separate topic in a single paragraph. However, if




a topic seems especially difficult, long, and heavily detailed, you may

divide it into two or more subtopics, each receiving a separate paragraph

of its own. Should you make this division, your topic then is really a

section, and each paragraph in the section should have its own topic

sentence.

Write So that your ParagraPhS deveLoP out oF your toPic

SentenceS. Once you choose your thesis sentence, you can use it to

focus your observations and conclusions. Let us see how our topic about

the attic flat may be developed as a paragraph:

The attic flat reflects the coarsening of Mathilde’s character.

Maupassant emphasizes the burdens she endures to save money,

such as mopping floors, cleaning greasy and encrusted pots and

pans, taking out the garbage, and hand-washing clothes and

dishes. This work makes her rough and coarse, an effect that is

heightened by her giving up care of her hair and hands, wear-

ing the cheapest dresses possible, and becoming loud and

penny-pinching in haggling with the local shopkeepers. If at

the beginning she is delicate and attractive, at the end she is

unpleasant and coarse.

Notice that details from the story are introduced to provide support for

the topic sentence. All the subjects—the hard work, the lack of personal

care, the wearing of cheap dresses, and the haggling with the shop-

keepers—are introduced not to retell the story but rather to exemplify

the claim the writer is making about Mathilde’s character.

Develop an Outline

So far we have been developing an outline—that is, a skeletal plan

of organization for your essay. Some writers never use formal outlines

at all, preferring to make informal lists of ideas, whereas others rely on

them constantly. Still other writers insist that they cannot make an outline

until they have finished their essays. Regardless of your preference, your

finished essay should have a tight structure. Therefore, you should create

a guiding outline to develop or to shape your essay.

The outline we have been developing here is the analytical

sentence outline. This type is easier to create than it sounds. It consists

of (1) an introduction, including the central idea and the thesis sentence,

together with (2) topic sentences that are to be used in each paragraph

of the body, followed by (3) a conclusion.




Writing by hand or Word ProceSSor

It is important for you to realize that writing is an insepara-

ble part of thinking and that unwritten thought is an incomplete

thought.

Because thinking and writing are so interdependent, it is

essential to get ideas into a visible form so that you may develop

them further. For many students, it is psychologically necessary to

carry out this process by writing down ideas by hand or computer.

If you are one of these students, make your written or typed

responses on only one side of your paper or note cards. Doing

this will enable you to spread your materials out and get an actual

physical overview of them when you begin writing. Everything

will be open to you; none of your ideas will be hidden on the back

of the paper.

Today, word processing is thoroughly established as an indis-

pensable tool for writers. The word processor can help you

develop ideas, for it enables you to eliminate unworkable thoughts

and replace them with others. You can move sentences and para-

graphs tentatively into new contexts, test out how they look, and

move them somewhere else if you choose.

In addition, you can print drafts even in the initial and tenta-

tive stages of writing. Using your printed draft, you can make

additional notes, marginal corrections, and suggestions for further

development. With the marked-up draft for guidance, you can go

back to your work processor and fill in your changes and improve-

ments, repeating this procedure as often as you can. This facility

makes the computer an additional incentive for improvement, right

up to your final draft.

Word processing also helps you in the final preparation of

your essays. Changes can be made anywhere in the draft, at any

time, without damage to the appearance of the final draft.

Regardless of your writing method, it is important to realize

that unwritten thought is incomplete thought. Even with the word

processor’s screen, you cannot lay everything out at once. You can

see only a small part of what you are writing. Therefore, some-

where in your writing process, prepare a complete draft of what

you have written. A clean, readable draft permits you to gather

box continued on next page�


When applied to the subject we have been developing, such an

outline looks like this:

titLe: How Setting in “The Necklace” Is Related to the Character of

Mathilde

1. introduction

a. Central idea: Maupassant uses his setting to show Mathilde’s

character.

b. Thesis statement: Her character growth is related to her first

apartment, her daydreams about elegant rooms in a mansion,

and her attic flat.

2. body: Topic sentences a, b, and c (and d, e, and f, if necessary)

a. Details about her first apartment explain her dissatisfaction

and depression.

b. Her daydreams about mansion rooms are like the apartment

because they too make her unhappy.

c. The attic flat reflects the coarsening of her character.

3. concLuSion

Topic sentence. All details in the story, particularly the setting,

are focused on the character of Mathilde.

The conclusion may be a summary of the body; it may evaluate the main

idea; it may briefly suggest further points of discussion; or it may be a

reflection on the details of the body.

Use the Outline in Developing Your Essay

The three sample essays that follow in this section are organized

according to the principles of the analytical sentence outline. To empha-

size the shaping effect of these outlines, all central ideas, thesis sentences,

and topic sentences are underlined. In your own writing, you may under-

line or italicize these “skeletal” sentences as a check on your organiza-

tion. Unless your instructor requires such markings, however, remove

them in your final drafts.

Develop and Strengthen Your Essay Through Revision


everything together and to make even more improvements through the

act of revision.


FirSt SamPLe eSSay, FirSt draFt

The following sample essay is a first draft of the topic we have been

developing. It follows the outline presented here, and includes details

from the story in support of the various topics. It is by no means,

however, as good a piece of writing as it can be. The draft omits a topic,

some additional details, and some new insights that are included in the

second draft. It therefore reveals the need to make improvements through

additional brainstorming and discovery-prewriting techniques.



How Setting in “The Necklace” Is Related to the Character of Mathilde

[1] In “The Necklace” Guy de Maupassant does not give much detail about the setting.

He does not even describe the necklace itself, which is the central object in his plot, but

he says only that it is “superb” (paragraph 47). Rather, he uses the setting to reflect

the character of the central figure, Mathilde Loisel.* All Maupassant’s details are

presented to bring out her traits. Her character development is related to her first

apartment, her daydreams about mansion rooms, and her attic flat.†

[2] Details about her first apartment explain her dissatisfaction and depression. The

walls are “drab,” the furniture “threadbare,” and the curtains “ugly” (paragraph 3).

There is only a simple country girl to do the housework. The tablecloth is not changed

daily, and the best dinner dish is boiled beef. Mathilde has no evening clothes, only a

theater dress that she does not like. These details show her dissatisfaction with life with

her low-salaried husband.

[3] Her dream-life images of wealth are like the apartment because they too make

her unhappy. In her daydreams about life in a mansion, the rooms are large, filled with

expensive furniture and bric-a-brac, and draped in silk. She imagines private rooms for

intimate talks, and big dinners with delicacies like trout and quail. With dreams of such

a rich home, she feels even more despair about her modest apartment on the Street of

Martyrs in Paris.

[4] The attic flat reflects the coarsening of Mathilde’s character. Maupassant empha-

sizes the burdens she endures to save money, such as mopping floors, cleaning greasy

and encrusted pots and pans, taking out the garbage, and handwashing clothes and

dishes. This work makes her rough and coarse, an effect that is heightened by her

giving up care of her hair and hands, wearing the cheapest dresses possible, and becom-

ing loud and penny-pinching in haggling with the local shopkeepers. If at the beginning

she is delicate and attractive, at the end she is unpleasant and coarse.

*Central Idea

†Thesis sentence.


[5] In summary, Maupassant focuses everything in the story, including the setting,

on the character of Mathilde. Anything extra is not needed, and he does not include it.

Thus he says little about the big party scene except the necessary detail that Mathilde

was a great “success” (paragraph 52). It is this detail that brings out some of her early

attractiveness and charm (despite her more usual unhappiness). Thus, in “The Neck-

lace,” Maupassant uses setting as a means to his end—the story of Mathilde and her

needless sacrifice.

� deveLoP and Strengthen your eSSay through

reviSion

After finishing a first draft like this one, you may wonder what more

you can do. You have read the work several times, discovered ideas to

write about through brainstorming techniques, made an outline of your

ideas, and written a full draft. How can you do better?

The best way to begin is to observe that a major mistake writers

make when writing about literature is to do no more than retell a story

or reword an idea. Retelling a story shows only that you have read it,

not that you have thought about it. Writing a good essay requires you to

arrange your thoughts into a pattern that can be followed by a percep-

tive reader.

Use Your Own Order of References

There are many ways to escape the trap of summarizing stories and

to set up your own pattern of development. One way is to stress your

own order when referring to parts of a work. Do not treat details as they

happen, but rearrange them to suit your own thematic plans. Rarely, if

ever, should you begin by talking about a work’s opening; it is better to

talk first about the conclusion or middle. As you examine your first draft,

if you find that you have followed the chronological order of the work

instead of stressing your own order, you may use one of the prewriting

techniques to figure out new ways to connect your materials. The prin-

ciple is that you should introduce references to the work to support the

points you wish to make, and only these points.

Use Literary Material as Evidence in Your Argument

Whenever you write, your position is like that of a detective using

clues as evidence for building a case, or of a lawyer using evidence as

support for an argument. Your goal should be to convince your readers

of your own knowledge and the reasonableness of your conclusions.

It is vital to use evidence convincingly so that your readers can

follow your ideas. Let us look briefly at two drafts of a new example to




see how writing may be improved by the pointed use of details. These

are from drafts of a longer essay on the character of Mathilde.

A comparison of these paragraphs shows that the first has more

words than the second (158 to 120), but that it is more appropriate for

a rough than a final draft because the writer does little more than retell

the story. The paragraph is cluttered with details that do not support any

conclusions. If you examine it for what you might learn about Maupas-

sant’s actual use of Mathilde’s solitary traits in “The Necklace,” you

will find that it gives you but little help. The writer needs to consider



1 2

The major extenuating detail about

Mathilde is that she seems to be

isolated, locked away from other

people. She and her husband do not

speak to each other much, except about

external things. He speaks about his

liking for boiled beef, and she states

that she cannot accept the big invita-

tion because she has no nice dresses.

Once she gets the dress, she complains

because she has no jewelry. Even when

borrowing the necklace from Jeanne

Forrestier, she does not say much.

When she and her husband discover

that the necklace is lost, they simply go

over the details, and Loisel dictates a

letter of explanation, which she writes

in her own hand. Even when she meets

Jeanne on the Champs-Elysées, she

does not say a great deal about her life

but only goes through enough details

about the loss and replacement of the

necklace to make Jeanne exclaim about

the needlessness of the ten-year sacri-

fice.

The major flaw of Mathilde’s character

is that she is withdrawn and uncom-

municative, apparently unwilling or

unable to form an intimate relationship.

For example, she and her husband do

not speak to each other much, except

about external things such as his taste

for boiled beef and her lack of a party

dress and jewelry. With such an

uncommunicative marriage, one might

suppose that she would be more open

with her close friend, Jeanne Forrestier,

but Mathilde does not say much even

to her. This flaw hurts her greatly,

because if she were more open she

might have explained the loss and

avoided the horrible sacrifice. This lack

of openness, along with her self-indul-

gent dreaminess, is her biggest defect.


why these details should be shared, and to revise the paragraph accord-

ing to the central idea.

On the other hand, the details in the right-hand paragraph all support

the declared topic. Phrases such as “for example,” “with such,” and “this

lack” show that the writer of paragraph 2 has assumed that the audience

knows the story and now wants help in interpretation. Paragraph 2 there-

fore guides readers by connecting the details to the topic. It uses these

details as evidence, not as a retelling of actions. By contrast, paragraph

1 recounts a number of relevant actions but does not connect them to the

topic. More details, of course, could have been added to the second para-

graph, but they are unnecessary because the paragraph demonstrates the

point with the details used. There are many qualities that make good

writing good, but one of the most important is shown in a comparison

of the two paragraphs: In good writing, no details are included unless

they are used as supporting evidence in a pattern of thought.

Keep to Your Point

Whenever you write an essay about literature—or, for that matter, any

essay about any subject—you must pay great attention to organization and

to the correct use of references to the work assigned. As you write, you

should constantly try to keep your material unified, for should you go off

on a tangent you are no longer controlling but are being controlled. It is

too easy to start with your point but then wander off and just retell the

story. Once again, resist the tendency to be a narrator. Instead, be an inter-

preter, an explainer.

check the deveLoPment and organization

oF your ideaS

It bears repeating over and over again that the first requirement of

a good essay is to introduce a point or main idea and then stick to it.

Another major step toward excellence is to make your central idea

expand and grow. The word growth is a metaphor describing the creation

of new insights, the disclosure of ideas that were not at first noticeable,

and the expression of original, new, and fresh interpretations.

Try to Be Original

In everything you ever write, it is important that you try to be orig-

inal. You might initially claim that you cannot be original when you are

writing about someone else’s work. “The author has said everything,”




might go your argument, “and therefore I can do little more than follow

the story.” This claim presupposes that you have no choice in selecting

material and no opportunity to make individual thoughts and original

contributions.

But you do have choices and opportunities to be original. One obvi-

ous area of originality is the development and formulation of your central

idea. For example, a natural first response to “The Necklace” is “The story

is about a woman who loses a borrowed necklace and endures hardship

to help pay for it.” Because this response refers only to events in the story

and not to any idea, an area of thought might be introduced if the hard-

ship is called “needless.” Just the use of this word alone demands that

you explain the differences between needed and unneeded hardships, and

your application of these differences to the heroine’s plight would produce

an original essay. Even better and more original insights could result if the

topic of the budding essay were to connect the dreamy, withdrawn traits

of the main character to her misfortunes and also to general misfortunes.

A resulting central idea might be “People themselves create their own

difficulties.” Such an idea would require you to define not only the

personal but also the representative nature of Mathilde’s experiences, an

avenue of exploration that could produce much in the way of a fresh, orig-

inal essay about “The Necklace.”

You can also develop your ability to treat your subject freshly and

originally if you plan the body of the essay to build up to what you think

is your most important and incisive idea. As examples of such planning,

the following brief outline suggests how a central idea may be widened

and expanded:

SubJect: mathiLde aS a groWing character

1. Mathilde has normal daydreams about a better life.

2. She takes a risk and then loses, in trying to make her daydreams

seem real.

3. She develops by facing her mistake and working hard to correct

it.

The list shows how a subject may be enlarged if you treat your

exemplifying topic in an increasing order of importance. In this case, the

order moves from Mathilde’s habit of daydreaming to the development

of her character strength. The pattern shows how you can meet two

primary standards of excellence in writing—organization and growth.

Clearly, you should always try to develop your central idea.

Constantly adhere to your topic, and constantly develop it. Nurture it




and make it grow. Admittedly, in a short essay you will be able to move

only a short distance with an idea, but you should never be satisfied to

leave the idea exactly where you found it. To the degree that you can

learn to develop your ideas, you will receive recognition for increas-

ingly original writing.

Write With your readerS in mind

Whenever you write, you must decide how much detail to discuss.

Usually you base this decision on your judgment of your readers. For

example, if you assume that they have not read the work you are writ-

ing about, you will need to include a short summary as background.

Otherwise, they may not understand your argument.

Consider, too, whether your readers have any special interests or

concerns. If they are particularly interested in politics, sociology, reli-

gion, or psychology, for example, you may need to select and develop

your materials accordingly.

Your instructor will let you know who your audience is. Usually, it

will be your instructor or your fellow students. They will be familiar

with the work and will not expect you to retell a story or summarize an

argument. Rather, they will look to you as an explainer or interpreter.

Thus, you may omit details from the work that do not exemplify and

support your central idea, even if the details are important parts of the

work. What you write should always be based on your developing idea

together with your assessment of your readers.

uSe exact, comPrehenSive, and ForceFuL

Language

In addition to being original, organized, and well developed, the

best writing is expressed in exact, comprehensive, and forceful language.

At any stage of the composition process, you should try to correct your

earliest sentences and paragraphs, which usually need to be rethought,

reworded, and rearranged.

try to make your SentenceS meaningFuL. First of all, ask

yourself whether your sentences really mean what you intend or whether

you can make them more exact and therefore stronger. For example,

consider these two sentences from essays about “The Necklace”:

It seems as though the main character’s dreams of luxury cause

her to respond as she does in the story.




This incident, although it may seem trivial or unimportant, has

substantial significance in the creation of the story; by this I

mean the incident that occurred is essentially what the story is

all about.

These sentences are inexact and vague, and therefore unhelpful;

neither of them goes anywhere. The first sentence is satisfactory up to

the verb “cause,” but then it falls apart because the writer has lost sight

of the meaning. It is best to describe what that response is, rather than

to be satisfied with nothing more than that there is a response. To make

the sentence more exact, we may make the following revision:

Mathilde’s dreams of luxury make it impossible for her to

accept her own possessions, and therefore she goes beyond her

means in order to attend the party.

With this revision, the writer could consider the meaning of the

story’s early passages and could contrast the ideas there with those in the

latter part. Without the revision, it is not clear where the writer might

go.

The second sentence is vague because again the writer has lost sight

of the topic. If we adopt the principle of trying to be exact, however, we

may bring the dead sentence to life:

The accidental loss of the necklace, which is trivial though

costly, supports the narrator’s claim that major turns in life are

produced not by earthshaking events, but rather by minor ones.

try to make your SentenceS comPLete and comPrehen-

Sive. Second, in addition to being exact, it is vital to make sentences—

all sentences, but particularly thesis and topic sentences—complete and

comprehensive. As an example, consider the following sentence from an

essay about “The Necklace”:

The idea in “The Necklace” is that Mathilde and her husband

work hard to pay for the lost necklace.




Although this sentence promises to describe an idea, it does not do

so. Instead, it merely describes the major action of the story. Therefore,

it needs to benefit from additional rethinking and rephrasing to make it

more comprehensive, as in these two revisions:

In “The Necklace” Maupassant shows that hard work and

responsibility are basic and necessary in life.

Maupassant’s surprise ending of “The Necklace” symbol-

izes the need for always being truthful.

Both new sentences are connected to the action described by the origi-

nal phrasing, “Mathilde and her husband work hard to pay for the lost

necklace,” although they point toward differing treatments. The first

sentence concerns the virtue shown by the Loisels in their sacrifice.

Because the second sentence includes the word symbolizes, an essay

stemming from it would stress the Loisels’ mistake in not confessing

the loss. In dealing with the symbolic meaning of their failure, an essay

developed along the lines of the sentence would focus on the negative

aspects of their characters, and an essay developed from the first

sentence would stress their positive aspects. Either of the revised

sentences, therefore, is more comprehensive than the original sentence

and thus would help a writer get on the track toward an accurate and

thoughtful essay.

Of course it is never easy to create fine sentences, but as a mode of

improvement, you might create some self-testing mechanisms:

� For treating Story materiaLS. Always relate the mate-

rials to an idea or a point. Do not say simply that “Mathilde

works constantly for ten years to help pay off the debt.” Instead,

blend the material into a point, like this: “Mathilde’s ten-year

effort shows the horror of indebtedness,” or “Mathilde’s ten-

year effort demonstrates the emergence of her strength of char-

acter.”

� For reSPonSeS and imPreSSionS. Do not say simply, “The

story’s ending left me with a definite impression,” but state

what the impression is: “The story’s ending surprised me and

also made me sympathetic to the major character.”

� For ideaS. Try to make the idea clear and direct. Do not say

“Mathilde is living in a poor household,” but rather get at an

idea like this one: “The story of Mathilde shows that living in

poverty reduces the quality of life.”






� For criticaL commentary. Do not be satisfied with a state-

ment such as “I found ‘The Necklace’ interesting,” but try to

describe what was interesting and why it was interesting: “I

found ‘The Necklace’ interesting because it shows how chance

and bad luck may either make or destroy people’s lives.”

Good writing begins with attempts, like these, to rephrase sentences

to make them really say something. If you always name and pin down

descriptions, responses, and judgments, no matter how difficult the task

seems, your sentences can be strong because you will be making them

exact.

SamPLe eSSay—imProved draFt

If you refer again to the first draft of the essay about Maupassant’s

use of setting to illustrate Mathilde’s character (page 258), you might

notice that several parts of the draft need extensive reworking and revis-

ing. For example, paragraph 2 contains a series of short, unconnected

comments, and the last sentence of that paragraph implies that Mathilde’s

dissatisfaction relates mainly to her husband rather than to her general

circumstances. Paragraph 4 focuses too much on Mathilde’s coarseness

and not enough on her sacrifice and cooperation. The draft also ignores

the fact that the story ends in another location, the Champs Elysées,

where Maupassant continues to demonstrate the nature of Mathilde’s

character. Finally, there is not enough support in this draft for the

contention (in paragraph 5) that everything in the story is related to the

character of Mathilde.

To discover how these issues may be more fully considered, the

following revision of the earlier draft creates more introductory detail,

includes an additional paragraph, and reshapes each of the paragraphs

to stress the relationship of central idea to topic. Within the limits of a

short assignment, the essay illustrates all the principles of organization

and unity that we have been discussing here.


Maupassant’s Use of Setting in “The Necklace” to Show the Character of Mathilde

[1] In “The Necklace” Guy de Maupassant uses setting to reflect the strengths and

weaknesses of the main character, Mathilde Loisel.* As a result, his setting is not

particularly vivid or detailed. He does not even provide a description of the ill-fated

necklace—the central object in the story—but states no more than that it is “superb”

(paragraph 47). In fact, he includes descriptions of setting only if they illuminate quali-

ties of Mathilde’s character. Her changing character may be related to the first apart-

ment, her daydreams about mansion rooms, the attic flat of the Loisels, and the public

street.†

[2] Details about the modest apartment of the Loisels on the Street of Martyrs indicate

Mathilde’s peevish lack of adjustment to life. Though everything is serviceable, she is

unhappy with the “drab” walls, “threadbare” furniture, and “ugly” curtains (paragraph

3). She has domestic help, but wants more servants than the simple country girl who

does the household chores in the apartment. Her embarrassment and dissatisfaction are

shown by details of her irregularly cleaned tablecloth and the plain and inelegant boiled

beef that her husband adores. Even her best theater dress, which is appropriate for

apartment life but which is inappropriate for more wealthy surroundings, makes her

unhappy. All these details of the apartment establish that Mathilde’s dominant character

trait at the story’s beginning is maladjustment. She therefore seems unpleasant and

unsympathetic.

[3] Like the real-life apartment, the impossibly expensive setting of her daydreams

about living in a mansion strengthens her unhappiness and her avoidance of reality. All

the rooms of her fantasies are large and expensive, draped in silk and filled with noth-

ing but the best furniture and bric-a-brac. Maupassant gives us the following description

of her dream world:

She imagined a gourmet-prepared main course carried on the most exquis-

ite trays and served on the most beautiful dishes, with whispered gallantries

which she would hear with a sphinxlike smile as she dined on the pink meat

of a trout or the delicate wing of a quail. (paragraph 4)

With impossible dreams like this one, her despair is complete. Ironically, this

despair, together with her inability to live with reality, brings about her undoing. It

makes her agree to borrow the necklace (which is just as unreal as her daydreams of

wealth), and losing the necklace drives her into the reality of giving up her apartment

and moving into the attic flat.

[4] Also ironically, the attic flat is related to the coarsening of her character while at

the same time it brings out her best qualities of cooperativeness and honesty. Maupas-

sant emphasizes the drudgery of the work Mathilde endures to maintain the flat, such as

walking up many stairs, washing floors with large buckets of water, cleaning greasy and

encrusted pots and pans, taking out the garbage, handwashing clothes, and haggling

loudly with local tradespeople. All this reflects her coarsening and loss of sensibility, also

shown by her giving up hair and hand care, and wearing the cheapest dresses. The work

she performs, however, makes her heroic (paragraph 98). As she cooperates to help her

Writing About Responses: Likes and Dislikes


*Central Idea

†Thesis sentence


husband pay back the loans, her dreams of a mansion fade and all she has left is the

memory of her triumphant appearance at the Minister of Education’s party. Thus the

attic flat brings out her physical change for the worse at the same time that it also brings

out her psychological and moral change for the better.

[5] Her walk on the Champs-Elysées illustrates another combination of traits—self-

indulgence and frankness. The Champs-Elysées is the most fashionable street in Paris,

and her walk to it is similar to her earlier indulgences in her daydreams of upper-class

wealth. But it is on this street where she meets Jeanne, and it is Mathilde’s frankness in

confessing the loss and replacement to Jeanne that makes Mathilde, finally, completely

honest. While the walk thus serves as the occasion for the story’s concluding surprise

and irony, Mathilde’s being on the Champs-Elysées is totally in character, in keeping

with her earlier reveries about luxury.

[6] Other details in the story also have a similar bearing on Mathilde’s character. For

example, the story presents little detail about the party scene beyond the statement

that Mathilde is a great “success” (paragraph 52)—a judgment that shows her ability to

shine if given the chance. After she and Loisel accept the fact that the necklace cannot

be found, Maupassant includes details about the Parisian streets, about the visits to loan

sharks, and about the jewelry shops in order to bring out Mathilde’s sense of honesty

and pride as she “heroically” prepares to live her new life of poverty. Thus, in “The

Necklace,” Maupassant uses setting to highlight Mathilde’s maladjustment, her needless

misfortune, her loss of youth and beauty, and finally her growth as a responsible human

being.

Several improvements to the first draft may be seen here. The language

of paragraph 2 has been revised to show more clearly the inappropri-

ateness of Mathilde’s dissatisfaction. In paragraph 3, the irony of the

story is brought out, and the writer has connected the details to the

central idea in a richer pattern of ideas, showing the effects of Mathilde’s

despair. Paragraph 5—new in this revision—includes additional details

about how Mathilde’s walk on the Champs-Elysées is related to her char-

acter. In paragraph 6, the fact that Mathilde is able “to shine” at the

dinner party is interpreted according to the central idea. Finally, the

conclusion is now much more specific, summarizing the change in

Mathilde’s character rather than saying simply that the setting reveals her

“needless misfortune.” In short, the second draft reflects the complex-

ity of “The Necklace” better than the first draft. Because the writer has

revised the first-draft ideas about the story, the final essay is tightly struc-

tured, insightful, and forceful.




Summary

To sum up, follow these guidelines whenever you write about a

story or any kind of literature:

� Never just retell the story. Use story materials only to support

your central idea or argument.

� Throughout your essay, keep reminding your reader of your

central idea.

� Within each paragraph, make sure that you stress your topic

idea.

� Develop your topic. Make it bigger than it was when you

began.

� Always make your statements exact, comprehensive, and force-

ful.

� Never just retell the story.

� never just retell the story.

� Never just retell the story.

� Writing about reSPonSeS: LikeS and diSLikeS

Now that we have looked briefly at the processes of writing, with

two drafts of the same essay for illustration, we are ready to apply the

principles of development to another topic for writing—this one about

likes and dislikes (already mentioned, pages 237–45). In writing about

your responses, rely on your initial informed reactions. It is not easy to

reconstruct your first responses after a lapse of time, so you will need

your journal observations to guide you in prewriting. Develop your essay

by stressing those characters, incidents, and ideas that interest (or do not

interest) you.

As with many essays, you will be challenged to connect details from

the work to your central idea. That is, once you have begun by stating

that you like (or dislike) the story, you might forget to highlight this

response as you enumerate details. Therefore you need to stress your

involvement in the work as you bring out evidence from it. You can

show your attitudes by indicating approval (or disapproval), by




commenting favorably (or unfavorably) on the details, by indicating

things that seem new (or shopworn) and particularly instructive (or

wrong), and by giving assent to (or dissent from) ideas or expressions

of feeling.

Organize Your Essay About Likes and Dislikes

introduction. Briefly describe the conditions that influence your

response. Your central idea should be why you like or dislike the work.

Your thesis sentence should include the major causes of your response,

which are to be developed in the body.

body. The most common approach is to consider specific details

that you like or dislike. The list on page 241 may help you articulate your

responses. For example, you admired a particular character, or you got

so interested in a story that you could not put it down, or you liked a

particular passage in a poem or play, or you felt thrilled as you finished

reading the work. Also, you may wish to develop a major idea, a fresh

insight, or a particular outcome, as in the sample paragraph on page 238,

which shows a surprise ending as the cause of a favorable response.

A second approach is to explain any changes in your responses

about the work (i.e., negative to positive and vice versa). This approach

requires that you isolate the causes of the change, but it does not require

you to retell the story from beginning to end.

1. One way to deal with such a change—the “bridge” method of

transferring preference from one type of work to another—is

shown in the sample essay below.

2. Another way is to explain a change in terms of a new awareness

or understanding that you did not have on a first reading. Thus,

for example, your first response to “The Necklace” might be

unfavorable or neutral because the story may at first seem to

move rather slowly. But further consideration might lead you to

discover new insights that change your mind, such as the needs

to overcome personal pride and to stop minor resentments from

growing and festering. Your essay would then explain how these

new insights have caused you to like the story.

concLuSion. Here you might summarize the reasons for your

major response. You might also face any issues brought up by a change

or modification of your first reactions. For example, if you have always

held certain assumptions about your taste but like the work despite these




assumptions, you may wish to talk about your own change or develop-

ment. This topic is personal, but in an essay about your personal

responses, discovery about yourself is legitimate and worthy.

Sample Essay

Some Reasons for Liking Maupassant’s “The Necklace”

[1] To me, the most likable kind of reading is adventure. There are many reasons for

my preference, but an important one is that characters in adventure stories work hard

to overcome obstacles. Because Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” is not adventure, I

did not like it at first. But in one respect the story is like adventure: The major charac-

ter, Mathilde, works hard with her husband, Loisel, for ten years to overcome a difficult

obstacle. Thus, because Mathilde does what adventure characters also do, the story is

likable.* Mathilde’s appeal results from her hard work, strong character, and sad fate,

and also from the way our view of her changes.†

[2] Mathilde’s hard work makes her seem good. Once she and her husband are faced

with the huge debt of 18,000 francs, she works like a slave to help pay it back. She

gives up her servant and moves to a cheaper place. She does the household drudgery,

wears cheap clothes, and bargains with shopkeepers. Just like the characters in adven-

ture stories who do hard and unpleasant things, she does what she has to, and this

makes her admirable.

[3] Her strong character shows her endurance, a likable trait. At first she is nagging

and fussy, and she always dreams about wealth and tells lies, but she changes and gets

better. She recognizes her blame in losing the necklace, and she has the toughness to

help her husband redeem the debt. She sacrifices “heroically” (paragraph 98) by giving

up her comfortable way of life, even though in the process she also loses her youth and

beauty. Her jobs are not the exotic and glamorous ones of adventure stories, but her

force of character makes her as likable as an adventure heroine.

[4] Her sad fate also makes her likable. In adventure stories the characters often

suffer as they do their jobs. Mathilde also suffers, but in a different way, because her

suffering is permanent while the hardships of adventure characters are temporary. This

fact makes her especially pitiable because all her sacrifices are not necessary. This

unfairness invites the reader to take her side.

[5] The most important quality promoting admiration is the way in which Maupas-

sant shifts our view of Mathilde. As she goes deeper into her hard life, Maupassant

stresses her work and not the innermost thoughts he reveals at the beginning. In other

words, the view into her character at the start, when she dreams about wealth, invites

dislike; but the focus at the end is on her achievements, with never a complaint—even

though she still has golden memories, as the narrator tells us:

But sometimes, when her husband was at work, she sat down near the

window, and she dreamed of that evening so long ago, of that party, where

she had been so beautiful and so admired. (paragraph 104)



* Central Idea

† thesis sentence


A major quality of Maupassant’s changed emphasis is that Mathilde’s fond memories do

not lead to anything unfortunate. His shift in focus, from Mathilde’s dissatisfaction to

her sharing of responsibility and sacrifice, encourages the reader to like her.

[6] “The Necklace” is not an adventure story, but Mathilde has some of the good quali-

ties of adventure characters. Also, the surprise revelation that the lost necklace was

false is an unforgettable twist, and this makes her more deserving than she seems at

first. Maupassant has arranged the story so that the reader finally admires Mathilde.

“The Necklace” is a skillful and likable story.

Commentary on the Essay

This essay demonstrates how a reader may develop appreciation by

transferring a preference for one type of work to a work that does not

belong to the type. In the essay, the “bridge” is an already established

taste for adventure stories, and the grounds for liking “The Necklace”

are that Mathilde, the main character, shares the admirable qualities of

adventure heroes and heroines.

In paragraph 1, the introduction, the grounds for transferring prefer-

ences are established. Paragraph 2 deals with Mathilde’s capacity to work

hard, and paragraph 3 considers the equally admirable quality of endurance.

The fourth paragraph describes how Mathilde’s condition evokes sympa-

thy and pity. These paragraphs hence explain the story’s appeal by assert-

ing that the main character is similar to admirable characters from works

of adventure.

The fifth paragraph shows that Maupassant, as the story unfolds,

alters the reader’s perceptions of Mathilde from bad to good. For this

reason, paragraph 5 marks a new direction from paragraphs 2, 3, and 4:

It moves away from the topic material itself—Mathilde’s character—to

Maupassant’s technique in handling the topic material.

Paragraph 6, the conclusion, restates the comparison and also intro-

duces the surprise ending as an additional reason for liking “The Neck-

lace.” With the body and conclusion together, therefore, the essay

establishes five separate reasons for approval. Three of these, derived

directly from the main character, constitute the major grounds for liking

the story, and two are related to Maupassant’s techniques as an author.

Throughout the essay, the central idea is brought out in words and

expressions such as “likable,” “Mathilde’s appeal,” “strong character,” “she

does what she has to,” “pitiable,” and “take her side.” Many of these

expressions were first made in the writer’s journal; and, mixed as they are

with details from the story, they make for continuity. It is this thematic

development, together with details from the story as supporting evidence,

that shows how an essay on the responses of liking and disliking may be

both informed and informative.




Part Six

Workplace and Public Writingby Linda Julian, Furman University

� teaching “reaL WorLd” Writing SkiLLS

Most students expect that writing will comprise a large portion of

their college course work. From essay exams to research papers, students

receive a great deal of instruction and practice in the writing of the acad-

emy. What students may not realize, however, is the extent to which

writing will be a part of their lives after their degree. Writing infuses

most job situations, from corporate offices, not-for-profit agencies,

schools, and health care facilities to farms and factories. And beyond

the writing that will be expected in the workplace, many students will

find themselves writing outside of work for activities or organizations

they are involved in or issues or hobbies of interest.

In many ways, teaching a unit on business or public writing is simi-

lar to teaching a unit on essay writing. All workplace or public writing

benefits from moving its way through the writing process, with particular

emphasis on revision, editing, and proofreading. Consideration of audi-

ence, purpose, and tone are perhaps even more vital in workplace and

public writing than they are in academic writing, and often those concepts

are easier for students to understand when taught in a “real world” context.

Additionally, like academic writing, students can expect to complete writ-

ing tasks both in print and online.

On the other hand, major differences exist between workplace or

public writing and academic writing. One major difference between busi-

ness writing and other kinds of writing is the emphasis on efficiency and

timeliness in workplace writing. Students probably have never stopped to

consider the most important principle governing most business writing:

Time is money. A discussion of this point may make a striking beginning

for a unit on business writing. Students generally do not equate the writ-

ing they do with saving or wasting money, but teachers can show them

that when messages are unclear and have to be questioned in follow-up

letters and calls, busy workers are wasting time and effort that could be

better spent in making money. Have students investigate the cost a company

incurs to write and mail a letter. This substantial expense may have to be

doubled or tripled when follow-up communications are required by inad-

equate messages.



Students also must understand that with workplace or public writ-

ing, they may “never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

They need to know that every letter is a public relations statement about

the writer and the company or organization, a first impression that can

easily go wrong if the writer is careless and unconcerned about the

impression created in business documents. In fact, business—or a job

interviw—is lost sometimes on the basis of a poor first impression made

by a sloppy or poorly written document. Students can readily see that a

letter is like an introduction to a stranger: appearance and substance and

tact either make the person want to get to know the newcomer—or not.

A writer’s tone and ethos also contribute to his or her credibility and

effectiveness.

Business and public communication is often guided by strict poli-

cies and expectations. Students need to know that most workplaces will

have strict policies regarding use of the organization’s e-mail system

and stationery. Using your work computer for personal e-mail or research

may not be tolerated, and such activities can put the company’s network

at risk for viruses. Because employers have complete access to your

business e-mail and print communication—in fact, they own all corre-

spondence written, sent, or received in the workplace, they can use such

documents as evidence of your job performance. Also, your business e-

mail as well as communications you have written on company letter-

head may be used as evidence in legal disputes. Recipients of workplace

or public communications often expect certain standards of address,

format, and language use; Chapter 64 in The Simon & Schuster Hand-

book for Writers provides valuable guidelines for e-mail and print work-

place communications.

Students often have misconceptions about business writing which

teachers should anticipate and deal with at the outset. Students some-

times think that workplace writing comes with a specialized vocabulary

that smacks of governmentese and business lingo. Thus, they will labor

to make simple and clear ideas sound “businesslike,” usually by adding

clichés and mixing phrases from the nineteenth century (“pursuant to,”

“beg to acknowledge,” “per your request,” for example) with inflated

diction (“first and foremost,” “in view of the fact that,” “make an eval-

uation of the processes currently being used,” for example). This inflated

diction often results from overuse of the passive voice, linking verbs,

circumlocution, and tautology. We need to make clear from the begin-

ning that business writing—like all good writing—relies on using

language appropriate to the audience and purpose. Students may be

surprised to learn that workplace writing is not the most formal kind of

Part Six—Workplace and Public Writing



writing and therefore usually contains contractions and simple, direct

words put together effectively. It also relies on dynamic verbs.

Students may also be surprised to learn that the brevity of many letters

and other business documents and the speed with which some are

produced do not mean that these documents are easy to write or that they

should be taken lightly by the writer. On the contrary, students should

realize that often the brief letters are the most challenging. In addition,

some students seem to have the mistaken impression that secretaries will

“fix” their writing once they have a job. Not only may editing others’

work fall outside many secretaries’ job descriptions, the companies or

organizations that hire the students will expect college graduates to have

the excellent writing and editing skills necessary to do their own work. As

teachers, we can emphasize the importance of careful editing and proof-

reading as well as teach students how to use handbooks and other

resources to improve their writing.

General Characteristics of Workplace Writing

As in other kinds of writing, the most important decisions a busi-

ness writer must make are the purpose of the document and the audience

for it. Many business documents fail to achieve their goal because the

writer tosses off a letter or report too quickly to plan the strategy appro-

priate to the audience and purpose. (See The Simon & Schuster Hand-

book for Writers, Chapter 4.)

Audience and purpose dictate major decisions about business docu-

ments: the choice of format, the organizational plan, the amount of back-

ground information necessary, the assumptions the writer can make

about the reader, the level of language, the tone, and even the kinds of

sentences appropriate for the task. Often students begin writing without

knowing what they want to achieve with the piece of writing. For this

reason, teachers may need to spend time having students analyze the

purpose and audience for various types of business documents. In addi-

tion, many teachers require students to write a note, either on a cover

sheet or in the upper-right hand corner of each assignment, identifying

the intended audience and purpose. To emphasize the importance of

audience and purpose, teachers may also want to have students write

planning documents for each assignment, at least for the first few. Such

a planning document might include answers to the following questions:

� Who is my audience?

� What do I know about my audience?

� What level of language will be appropriate for this reader?

Teaching ‘Real World” Writing Skills



� How much background information will I have to give this

audience?

� On first glance, will the reader be receptive, neutral, or nega-

tive toward my message?

� What action do I want the reader to take?

� What strategies can I use to get the reader to take this action?

� What impression do I want this document to make on my

reader?

In the business world, where time is money, students can also see

that economical use of language is important. The most effective busi-

ness documents avoid unnecessary passive voice, overuse of linking

verbs, expletive constructions, tautological phrasing, and circumlocu-

tion. Students should also focus on the need for sentences that average

fifteen to seventeen words so that documents may be read quickly, with-

out the reader’s having to reread in order to comprehend long, convo-

luted sentences. Also to engineer easy reading in business documents,

teachers should point out the need for cumulative sentences as the domi-

nant pattern rather than periodic sentences, which require readers to work

harder at decoding the message.

Paragraphs, too, may be somewhat shorter in many business docu-

ments than they are in some kinds of essays. Students can see that short-

ening paragraphs and using a topic sentence at the top of each paragraph

aids in quick, efficient reading. For longer documents, students may

need to make use of headings to help readers quickly ascertain main

ideas. Also, students need to know that many business documents are not

read in their entirety, so headings and clear paragraph structure enable

readers to skim documents, reading only the parts they have immediate

interest in.

On the other hand, we must help students see that using the fewest

number of words possible is not necessarily the best goal for a document.

Economy does not mean brutally stripped-down language. Rather we

need to emphasize that economy means using the fewest number of

words to convey the tone and strategy of the message we are trying to

send. Bluntness rarely wins friends and influences people—at least not

in a positive way. And, at times, reducing the number of words can elim-

inate important details, making the document unclear.

Asked to identify the major differences between business writing

and essay writing, students rarely think of these stylistic matters beyond

making documents “sound” like business documents by using “busi-

ness” language, but students quickly point out the differences in format.

However, they underestimate how important adherence to conventional




format is in workplace writing. As teachers, we can help them under-

stand that readers of workplace communication usually expect docu-

ments to look a certain way and may be distracted if they do not. Writers

want to avoid doing anything that may distract a reader from process-

ing the message. Writers who do not follow conventional formats may

communicate that they do not think such things important or that they

have not bothered to learn what the conventions of business writing are,

a message not likely to please a prospective employer or customer.

� MaJor kindS of WorkPLace Writing

All students know that workplace writing includes letters and

memos, but many do not know that letters communicate between two

companies or a company and individuals and use addresses that are

outside the company and that memos communicate within a company.

They usually do not know about the many kinds of reports, proposals,

and public relations documents that require research, planning, revision,

editing, and proofing just as more familiar kinds of documents do.

Furthermore, students have become so accustomed to using e-mail

for friendly messages to friends and family that they generally lack real

understanding of the ways e-mail functions in the world of work and the

problems it can cause if not used carefully. (See The Simon & Schuster

Handbook for Writers, Chapter 64C.)

A good way to begin a unit on workplace writing is to teach students

how to write routine letters asking for information and then to have them

write to companies or visit local companies requesting samples of some

of the following kinds of documents:

Kinds of Workplace Documents

� Letter expressing favorable, neutral, or negative information

� Letter ordering a product or service

� Letter acknowledging an order

� Job application package—cover letter and résumé

� A letter of recommendation

� A letter of congratulations

� A letter report

� A letter proposal

� A memo expressing favorable, neutral, or negative information

� A memo explaining how to do something

� A memo analyzing how something works

Major Kinds of Workplace Writing



� A feasibility report

� An informational report

� A proposal for changing a procedure or service

� A persuasive report

� A company brochure

� A news release

� An annual report

� A meeting agenda

� Meeting minutes

� An informal e-mail to colleagues

� A formal e-mail (internal or external; memo, letter, or report)

Students making such requests should ask the company to delete the

names of the writer and addressee on letters and memos to protect the

privacy of the employees who wrote them.

Discussion about the kinds of skills involved in writing these varied

documents should prove fruitful. Students need to see that knowing such

organizational plans as comparison and contrast, narration, cause and

effect, process analysis, and argument is critical. They will also recog-

nize that in the samples, the problems with grammar and format are

distracting and potentially destructive to the success of the message.

� StrategieS for LetterS and MeMoS

Writing effective letters and memos requires that the writer have a

strategy for the document before beginning to write. In addition to think-

ing about the audience and emphasizing the reader by using second-

person pronouns more than first-person pronouns, the writer also needs

to decide where in the message to put the most important information.

In deciding on placement, the writer must consider whether the message

is likely to be received favorably, neutrally, or unfavorably.

Favorable letters and memos open with the important information

and then follow up with the details. For example, a memo saying that

an employee’s trip has been approved would begin with that informa-

tion. People enjoy receiving positive information and will usually

continue reading the letter or memo to find out the details once they

have been given the good news.

Neutral messages, often routine documents like orders, responses to

inquiries, or acknowledgments of orders or shipments, should be handled

in much the same way. Writers should, however, make an effort to be




as positive and empathetic to the reader as possible, especially in the

opening and closing sentences.

Unfavorable news, sometimes called a “bad news message,”

requires a different approach—a much less direct beginning. Readers

who read bad news in the first line of a letter or memo may not read the

reasons for the bad news or notice the helpful alternatives, which an

unskilled writer may have put after the bad news in the document. An

effective bad news letter usually reverses this process, beginning with a

positive tone and giving the reasons for the unfavorable news—and only

then giving the bad news. The advantage of this arrangement is that the

reader’s disappointment or anger is more likely to be softened if he or

she can see the reasoning explained in stages from the beginning. This

kind of letter or memo can be even more effective when the writer can

help the reader by suggesting other ways the reader might achieve the

goal or solve the problem.

� eMPLoyMent docuMentS

Résumés

Most students have at least heard of a résumé, though most do not

know how to write an acceptable one. Few seem to understand that a job

application package has two parts: the résumé and the job application

letter, also known as a cover letter. They also need to know about addi-

tional kinds of letters that are involved in getting a job, such as thank

you letters following interviews, inquiries about the status of an appli-

cation, and letters accepting or rejecting a job.

One of the most difficult lessons to teach about employment docu-

ments is that they must be perfect and conventional. One of the best

ways to make this point is to invite a human resources director or other

executive to the class to discuss the number of résumés that are rejected

simply because of sloppy appearance or a misspelling. Students need to

hear that their résumés may not be read at all if the layout conveys a lack

of attention to convention. (See 64H in The Simon & Schuster Handbook

for Writers for guideliness for résumé writing.)

Before they even begin drafting a résumé or looking at sample

résumés, students should be encouraged to spend time doing a thorough

self-analysis. In particular they should list their previous or current jobs,

activities, academic qualifications, and skills (especially experience with

computers, foreign languages, money management, and travel). School

and community activities can reveal leadership, experience with finan-

cial management, and organizational skills.

Employment Documents



Some students are discouraged about beginning a résumé because they

think they do not have anything to put on one. That empty-résumé feeling,

however, is rarely the case. Students need help in seeing that their four

years’ work with a sorority or a service group has taught them much about

planning, public relations, budgeting, and accountability. On the other hand,

students must learn that employers are on the lookout for padded résumés,

those which contain inflated—or even dishonest—descriptions of routine

jobs or activities.

Once students have done some brainstorming about their own

achievements, they are ready to think about how résumés ought to look.

At this point, teachers may find it useful to have the class critique both

effective and ineffective résumés. Career Placement personnel at the

school may be able to come to class to discuss the most recent trends in

résumé writing.

The most common kind of arrangement for résumés of graduating

or continuing students is the reverse-chronological résumé. Under its

three or four main headings—Education, Employment Experience,

Activities and Honors, and Personal—activities are cited from most

recent to oldest. Because the educational block is generally the most

important for students, it comes first. Often it will include a subheading

for school-related activities. This section normally does not refer to high

school activities or graduation unless they were extraordinary (attending

high school abroad, for example), though students who are not graduat-

ing from college may wish to list their high school and graduation date.

As with employment history, this educational history needs to be

accurate in terms of exact dates. If gaps of a year or more appear, these

need to be explained in the cover letter.

Many job placement experts suggest that in the educational block

students should give their GPA (but only if it is above 3.0 on a 4.0 scale),

and list special courses outside the major that show additional expertise

that might attract an employer’s eye—for example, particular computer

programs, foreign language proficiency, journalism courses, etc.).

As part of this block, often under a heading like Activities and Awards,

students should list their memberships and achievements. The most diffi-

cult part of this section is that many students have difficulty in making

parallel the elements of such a list. They need to be reminded to clarify

(in parenthesis) unclear, abbreviated, or Greek titles of organizations and

to explain briefly what certain responsibilities might mean if an office has

an unusual title. Similarly, in the Employment Experience section, students

should succinctly describe the duties of a position they held, particularly

if the job title is not descriptive. When describing job duties, students




should write telegraphicallly, beginning with verb phrases rather than with

the word “I.”

Job-seekers who have been out of school for a while or who are in

specialized or creative fields may prefer to do an Emphatic Résumé, one

which highlights special talents and achievements first, following these

with Education and Activities sections.

Job placement experts disagree about two elements on résumés, and

they seem evenly split in their vote. Some favor the use of a Job Objec-

tive at the beginning of the résumé, but others argue that such an objec-

tive is a waste of space that could be better used for more specific details

about the applicant. Those who do not favor their use argue that it is the

cover letter that tailors the job application package to the job, not the

résumé.

Similarly, these experts are divided about whether or not applicants

should list references on the résumé or simply state that they are avail-

able. Those who favor listing references on the résumé argue that doing

so saves the company a step and may, in a time of urgency in hiring,

expedite consideration of those résumés that have them listed. Those who

argue against listing them say that references may change and that the list

takes space better used to show the qualifications of the applicant.

Whether or not references appear on the résumé, students need to be

reminded that listing someone as a reference is rude unless permission

to do so has been arranged beforehand. If students opt not to list refer-

ences on their resume, they need to bring an updated reference list with

them to their job interviews. Also students need to be told that family

friends and ministers are not useful references. They should instead list

professors, employers, or supervisors.

The résumé, like the cover letter, should appear on business weight

stationery, not photocopy paper. The paper should be white or off-white,

and the printer cartridge should be fresh and dark.

Cover Letters

Job application letters have one major purpose: to win a job inter-

view for the writer. These letters, which usually accompany resumes,

should be no longer than a page and should avoid overusing first-person

pronouns such as I and me, even though the letter is about the writer.

Such pronouns should be positioned within sentences and paragraphs

rather than at the beginning, where they receive more emphasis.

In general, cover letters have three parts. The first paragraph should

explain how the writer learned about the job. The applicant should say

Cover Letters



that the letter is in response to an ad in a particular newspaper or maga-

zine, giving the date of the ad and the title of the position as it was listed

in the ad. Or, if the applicant found out about the job through a contact,

he or she should mention the person who made the job information avail-

able.

If the letter is a blanket letter, a job solicitation letter, that the appli-

cant is sending to many firms in a particular geographic area or a special-

ization, the opening should make clear that the writer knows what kinds

of positions are typically open so that he or she avoids a vague and nega-

tive opening like “I would like to apply for any entry-level job with your

company” or “Please consider me for any new positions in manage-

ment.” Such statements usually result in the application’s immediate

rejection.

The second paragraph should highlight qualifications, though it

should not simply list what is on the attached résumé. This paragraph

also provides an opportunity for the writer to explain potentially nega-

tive impressions such as gaps in dates on the résumé, low grades, a major

in a field different from the area in which the applicant is pursuing a job,

the lack of extracurricular activities, or reasons why employment was

brief or terminated at a particular company.

The third paragraph, which, like the first, should be only four or

five lines long, should request an interview. Career experts are divided

on whether the applicant should offer to call the employer to set up the

interview or whether the applicant should simply express willingness to

have an interview at the employer’s convenience, leaving it to the

employer to make the initial contact. (Chapter 64I in the handbook

provides sample cover letters and advice for writing cover letters.)

Other Employment Letters

Students should be aware that looking for jobs may require letters

beyond job application letters. Among the kinds of letters they may need

to write are letters requesting recommendations, letters requesting appli-

cations, letters thanking a prospective employer for an interview, letters

inquiring about the status of an application, letters accepting or declin-

ing a job, and letters responding to a rejection letter from a company.

Job-seekers should telephone or write former teachers, current teach-

ers, or former employers and request permission to list them as references

on applications or resumes. Such a letter of request should be brief. If

requesting that a letter be sent to a potential employer, the writer should

give complete information to the person writing the recommendation: to




Proposals and Reports


whom it should be sent (complete name, title, and address) and the dead-

line for receipt of the recommendation. If some time has passed since the

writer worked for or was the student of the person being asked for the

recommendation, he or she should remind the person writing the recom-

mendation about the past job or courses when they knew one another. As

a courtesy, the writer should say that he or she will let the reader know

about the outcome of the application.

Letters requesting applications should specify the exact position for

which the application is being requested and ask about the deadline for

returning it. Similarly, letters soliciting information about possible open-

ings should make clear the exact kind of job the writer seeks.

Once job-seekers have had an interview, they should write promptly

to thank the appropriate personnel for the interview. This brief letter

reinforces the job candidate’s interest in the job at the same time that it

acknowledges the time and energy expended on the interview. It should

mention some comments that were made in the interview or allude to

something the candidate learned about as a result of the interview. Such

a letter should be sent to the primary interviewer, though it should be

sent also to anyone who spent a considerable amount of time with the

job-seeker.

In some cases a person who has had an interview with a company

may not hear immediately about the status of the application. If the

applicant has several offers but has not heard about the status of the

application at his or her top choice, the applicant should write a letter

of inquiry. Such a follow-up letter gives the applicant a chance to share

any additional information that might strengthen the application, and it

gives the applicant an opportunity to express continued interest in the

company.

A letter accepting a job should begin with the positive information of

the acceptance, ask whatever practical questions may have arisen since the

interview, and express enthusiasm about the opportunity. The writer should

begin by thanking the firm for the confidence in him or her expressed in

the offer. Like other “bad news” letters, a letter turning down a job should

briefly give the reasons for declining the offer before it makes the state-

ment of rejection.

When the applicant is turned down by a company—usually in a

rejection letter—the applicant should respond. Occasionally, such

responses, especially those that show appreciation for the interview

process and continued interest in the company, may keep the applicant’s

file alive for future consideration.

Most students do not understand that companies expend much

money and time in the process of hiring. Hiring is expensive. Appli-




cants should always express their appreciation for interviews and for job

offers, even those they decline.

� ProPoSaLS and rePortS

Two of the most common kinds of workplace documents are propos-

als and reports. These documents occur in many kinds of formats and

serve many kinds of purposes in the workplace, everything from docu-

menting travel expenses to studying the feasibility of installing a new air-

conditioning system in a factory. Both kinds of documents may be

extremely brief or extremely long, and they may be either formal or

informal, depending on the purpose and audience.

Most students will have had only the most cursory acquaintance

with many of these kinds of documents, though teachers can remind

students that many of the documents students handle routinely are

versions of these workplace documents. For example, students are famil-

iar with agendas and minutes for meetings, and often they have sent

school administrators requests for funding or arguments for changes in

policies or facilities.

Students usually need to be told that some overlapping occurs with

the terms proposal and report. Proposals are always persuasive: They

always argue for some kind of change. Many documents that are called

reports are, in fact, proposals. For example, feasibility reports always

analyze the need for and potential success of change, but when they go

so far as to argue for particular change based on the findings, they

become proposals.

Reports may be informative or persuasive. Many routine business

documents are informative reports: summaries of articles or speeches,

travel reports, inspection reports, instructions, budget reports, procedural

reports, and research reports, to name only a few.

Reports and proposals are often classified as formal or informal. These

terms have nothing to do with length, and the terms formal and informal

do not refer to the relative difficulty of the material, the tone, or the level

of language. Both informal and formal proposals and reports may take the

form of letters or memoranda. The major distinction is that a formal report

usually is bound and usually contains subordinate documents of various

kinds.

Formal Reports

Formal reports may be as brief as five to ten pages or as long as

several hundred pages. The defining characteristics of formal reports are


Informal Reports and Proposals


the numerous supplementary parts, many of which students will never

have seen.

Parts of Formal Reports in the Order of Appearance in the Report

titLe Page—A page that gives the title of the report, the name of

the company requesting the report, the date, the name of the writer of

the report, and the company represented by the writer of the report.

Letter or MeMo of tranSMittaL—A communication that

accompanies the final report and is addressed to the person designated

to receive the report. A letter is used when the report goes to someone

outside the writer’s firm; a memo is used when the report goes to some-

one within the firm. table of contents—a listing of the page on which

each part of the report appears.

LiSt of figureS—A list by title of graphs, charts, and other visual

aids and the pages on which they are found.

abStract or executive SuMMary—A one-page summary of

the main findings of the report. Abstracts are more technical and are

meant for specialized readers; executive summaries are intended for

more general managers.

body—The text of the report, which may be single- or double-

spaced.

concLuSionS—The findings of the report, often summarized in a

numbered list. In informative reports, this is the last part of the report

before the appendices and bibliography.

recoMMendationS—In persuasive reports, this is a list, usually

numbered, of actions that should be taken based on the conclusions

drawn in the study.

aPPendix—Usually titled and lettered consecutively (Appendix A,

Appendix B, etc.), appendices are used for information that may be of

interest to the reader but which would interrupt the focus if it were in

the body of the report.

bibLiograPhy—A listing of sources used in the report. These may

be classified under such headings as Primary Sources and Secondary

Sources, or they may be combined in a list alphabetized by last name of

the author. Bibliographies in workplace writing may use any of the major

style sheets, but most often they use either the MLA style or the APA style

for documentation.

Unlike informal reports, these kinds of reports are often bound like

books or have other kinds of special binding. Many companies gener-




ate formal reports internally for their own use, but many others hire

consult ants to analyze conditions or to study the feasibility of projects.

Informal Reports and Proposals

Like formal reports, informal reports may be brief or lengthy.

Although they do not include the many parts of a formal report, they may

include such parts as conclusions, recommendations, appendices, and a

bibliography.

If the informal report or proposal is being sent within the company,

it usually has a memorandum heading. If it is being sent outside the

company, it may take the form of a letter, or it may have a letter as a cover

document.

An informal proposal, like a formal one, has four special parts in

the body. The introduction gives the background information necessary

for the reader to understand the proposal. The second section is the

proposal itself. The third section is the budget, and the fourth section is

conclusions, which ties the parts of the document together and discusses

negative and positive results of proceeding with the plan as it is

discussed in the document.

Headings in Reports

Both formal and informal reports and proposals use headings for

separate sections. The major reason for using headings is to make it

possible for the reader to easily find the parts he or she wants or needs

to read. Rarely is a report or proposal read in its entirety. A busy exec-

utive, for example, may read only the executive summary, the budget

part of the body, and the conclusions and recommendations.

Students need to understand, however, that headings do not replace

transition. Headings are required in addition to all of the kinds of tran-

sitional devices good writers use in any kind of writing—repetition of

key words, use of transitional words and phrases, use of pronouns, and

use of parallelism. In a formal report, the headings may correspond to

entries in the table of contents.

The placement and size of headings suggest the relative importance

of the information introduced by them. Writers have five levels of head-

ings from which to choose. These levels are similar to the levels in a

traditional outline that uses Roman numerals, capital letters, Arabic

numerals, small letters, and so on. Here are the kinds of headings, and

information about their relative placement:


Public Writing


FIRST DEGREE HEADING

This level can be used for the title of the report and for major sections

in a long report. It is all capitals and centered.

Second-Degree Heading. This level is used for major sections in a

short report and major subdivisions in a long one. Only the first letters

in words are capitalized, and the heading is underlined.

Third-Degree Heading. This kind of heading looks like a second-

degree heading, but it begins at the left margin.

Fourth-degree heading. This heading is on the same line as the

sentence it precedes. Only the first word is capitalized, and the heading

begins at the left margin.

Fifth-degree headings are part of the sentence that they introduce.

They begin at the left margin, and only the first word is capitalized.

Most students will have had little if any experience in using head-

ings, and as a result, they will have some predictable problems. As with

outlining, they need to be taught that if a section of a report cannot be

divided into at least two sections, it cannot be divided: that is, any head-

ing must always have at least one other at its level. Similarly, as writers

work to achieve structural parallelism in topic outlines, they must also

make subordinate headings in a given section parallel with one another.

In addition, students need to be reminded that headings are not mixtures

of sentences and phrases. Most headings in workplace writing are

phrases. (See section 45d in handbook for more information about head-

ings.)

Just as students generally dislike outlining, they also resist working

to write precise, effective headings. This part of report writing is best left

until students have done enough research and writing to have become

interested in the project.

In addition to learning about headings, students may also be learn-

ing about visual aids, often referred to as graphics, in reports and propos-

als. Although visuals are used in most lengthy reports and proposals,

they also figure prominently in other kinds of workplace writing, espe-

cially oral presentations. (See section 7G in handbook for more infor-

mation about incorporating visuals into a report.)


� PubLic Writing

Part of our responsibility as teachers is helping students understand

how to express themselves on issues important to their own lives. They

may want to write their mayor or senator. They may need to rally neigh-

bors to protest reduced services by the city. They may want to argue

their positions in a letter to the editor, or they may need to write a news

article or press release to publicize a fundraising event for a sorority or

fraternity or for a children’s group. In addition, students are increasingly

posting Web logs and other materials on the Internet.

In all of these cases, students must learn how to write for an audi-

ence that they do not know and they must learn to establish credibility

as a public spokesperson.



Dear Editor:

The recent debate over the cost of enforcing “No Littering”

laws has led to confusion among some citizens of this community,

and as a resident of Mobile for the last twenty years, I would like

to share some thoughts about this important issue.

Surely the projected cost of $73,000 for two full-time offi-

cers to oversee the prosecution of those who trash our streets,

parks, and other green areas is a small price to pay for the many

benefits our community will reap if we can penalize those who

litter.

Not only will the fines imposed on those caught off-set a

third of this cost, according to the recent report of consultants

hired by the city, but the added revenue from taxes paid by new

businesses will more than pay for the rest.

The 2001 reports by two area Chambers of Commerce as

well as a recently released ten-year study by the state’s Economic

Development Commission document that last year alone, our part

of the state lost eighteen businesses that explored opening here

because of the “trashy appearance of the major roads leading into

the city,” according to the state analysis of economic development.

Littering is a selfish, wasteful act that must not be ignored

by our community. We can easily afford to pay for the proposed

employees. Indeed, we can’t afford not to.

Miguel Sanchez

115 Edgemont Road


Activities for Teaching Workplace and Public Writing


We must teach students to analyze what they have in common with

prospective readers, what experiences they bring to the debate that lend

credibility to their argument, what reputable sources they can cite to

shore up their views, and what facts they have found that will strengthen

their position. (See Chapters 4, 15, and 63 in The Simon & Schuster

Handbook for Writers.)

As in any good argument, students writing to share views in a

debate should concede that the opponents may be right on certain points,

because doing so shows that the writer has thought carefully about the

issue from many points of view. The writer should maintain a positive

tone, refraining from name-calling and insults to those who think differ-

ently.

Writing a news release is an important skill for our students to learn,

whether they eventually need to do so as part of a job or as a result of

non-profit activities in the community. A news release should look

professional. Its heading should list the name, address, and telephone

number as well as an e-mail address of the contact person responsible

for verifying information or giving further details. The heading also

should include the release date for the information.

The body of the news release should answer the journalistic ques-

tions of who, what, where, when, why, and how in a brief, clear state-

ment that begins with the most important information to be publicized.

Students should know that many organizations and businesses

attempt to use news releases to promote an individual or publicize a

product or service rather than pay for advertising. Releases that are

padded with promotional details that obscure the news value are likely

to be discarded without a careful reading.

Here is a news release announcing a festival that will raise money

for local nonprofit arts groups.


� activitieS for teaching WorkPLace

and PubLic Writing

In addition to suggestions in other sections of this supplement,

teachers may wish to try some of these activities to interest students in

the complexities of workplace writing and to further their understand-

ing of public writing.

Letter and Memo-Writing Activities

1. Students enjoy role-playing, and teachers can increase students’

enthusiasm for writing by assigning roles in small groups and having

them solve problems by writing letters, memos, and e-mails. For exam-

ple, one student in a group might be a disgruntled parent writing to a

teacher to complain about a class policy; another student might be the

teacher, who must write both to the parent and to inform his or her prin-

cipal; the student who takes the role of the principal may need to write



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Edwin Conners

12 Stonegate Terrace

Charleston, S.C.

843-928-4768

SPRING FLING TO AID ARTS GROUPS

A Spring Fling April 9–10 in downtown Charleston will raise money to benefit

six local nonprofit groups.

Festival-goers will be able to sample specialties of 18 local restaurants, hear six

jazz and chamber music groups, enjoy four folk dance groups, and take in a wide

array of arts and crafts from a three-state area. Games and rides will be available for

children ages 3–10.

On both days Meeting Street will be closed to traffic from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. in

the two blocks around the Visitors’ Center to accommodate stages, display areas, and

temporary food court.

Admission to the festival is free, but musical events will cost five dollars, food

tickets will cost two dollars for each sample, and games and rides will cost one dollar.

Visitors may browse through the arts and crafts areas at no charge. Ten

percent of the sales of arts and crafts items will be donated to the proceeds of the

festival.

Benefiting from the festival’s proceeds will be the Carolina Youth Chorale, the

Young Artists of the Low Country, the Charleston Children’s Theater, the

Symphony’s Candy Concerts, the Lowenthal Ballet Troupe, and the Goosecreek Youth

Orchestra.

* * *


to the school board about the continued harassment of teachers by

parents, etc. Many such scenarios give effective opportunities for

students to practice letter- and memo writing. These scenarios also

provide students with good practice in ascertaining audience and

purpose.

2. Students can assume roles having to do with employment scenar-

ios. They can practice writing all of the kinds of employment documents

they may encounter in trying to find out about jobs, apply for a job,

thank someone for an interview, check on the status of their application,

etc.

3. Students particularly enjoy writing real letters of complaint to

companies and organizations from whom they had poor service or prod-

ucts and sharing the responses with the class. The responses provide

great texts for class discussion of strategy and tone.

4. Students often ask teachers for letters of recommendation, but rarely

have had the chance to write one themselves. Students can develop a letter

of recommendation for themselves or can recommend a friend, classmate,

family member, or colleague for a job, award, scholarship, or other recog-

nition.

5. Students can practice the conventions of e-mail, letter, and memo-

writing by composing class-related communication in these types of

formats, i.e., writer’s memos describing their revision of a particular

essay, formal e-mails to instructor regarding questions or requests, and

cover letters describing the strengths, weaknesses, and learning reflected

in an essay or portfolio.

Report and Proposal-Writing Activities

1. To teach students about precision in language, have groups of

them draft questionnaires all on the same subject, but a subject they

could actually poll the student body at large about. Comparing the ways

each group went about the questioning and the differences in tone and

precision will teach students a lot about efficiency in language.

2. Students could role-play a student government or city council

meeting regarding a specific problem or issue. In groups, students can

develop solution or action proposals to address the issue at hand and

present them to the “council” at an in-class meeting. The council will

then evaluate the proposals they receive and make a decision on which

action to take.

3. Ask students to request sample formal and informal reports from

local companies. Then have them analyze the parts of each report and

offer suggestions for improving it.

Activities for Teaching Workplace and Public Writing



4. For an original experience with a formal report, ask students to

come up with an issue at the school to investigate. For this they might

use a questionnaire for students, interviews with several key people,

primary documents at the school, and secondary reading. With a topic

as simple as “The Campus Security Force: Overcharging for Parking

Violations?” students have the opportunity to write everything from a

letter of transmittal to conclusions and recommendations. You may wish

to require a number of visual aids and an appendix or two.

5. Another way students can gain experience writing formal reports

is to offer to draft a report for a campus or community organization.

Students can gather and report on data for the organization; for exam-

ple, the campus writing center may be curious about how satisfied

students are with their drop-in services. Alternatively, students can

synthesize data an organization has already collected into a formal report

or proposal; for example, the local library may have facts and statistics

about why they would like to extend their services to include Sunday

evenings, and students could use that information to produce a formal

document for the library.

Public Writing Activities

1. Ask students to write a letter to the editor (or respond to a letter

to the editor) in the campus or community newspaper, or have students

write a letter to the dean or president of the college arguing that a certain

policy or requirement should be changed.

2. Students can write a review of a book they have recently read, a

performance they recently attended, or a local eatery to post online.

3. Students can use information from a club or organization they are

involved in to create a portfolio of items such as a news release for an

event, a newletter article about a recent fundraiser, or blog updates about

activities or members.

4. Ask students to use Internet resources to find the name and

contact information for their U.S. senators and/or representative and to

write a letter of support or opposition to a current issue.

5. In groups, have students publish a Web page for the class or for

a campus or community organization. For example, students can take the

information they gathered in their formal report writing activities above

and publish the report online.




Suggested Reading


SuggeSted reading

Adler-Kassner, Linda, Robert Crooks, and Ann Watters. Writing the

Community: Concepts And Models for Service-Learning in Compo-

sition. Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Educa-

tion, 1998.

B1ackburn, Elizabeth, and Kelly Belanger. “You-Attitude and Positive

Emphasis: Testing Received Wisdom in Business Communication.”

The Bulletin of the Association for Business Communication 56.2

(June 1993): 1–9.

Blase, Dean Woodring. “A New Sort of Writing: E-Mail in the English

Classroom.” English Journal 90.2 (Nov. 2000): 47–51.

Boone, Louis E., David L. Kurtz, and Judy R. Block. Contemporary

Business Communication. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall,

1994.

Brusaw, Charles T., Gerald J. Alfred, and Walter E. Oliu. The Business

Writer’s Handbook. 6th ed. New York: St. Martin’s, 2000.

Collins, Paul S. Community Writing: Researching Social Issues Through

Composition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Eribaum Associates, 2001.

Conlin, Joseph. “The Write Stuff.” Sales and Marketing Management

(Jan. 1998): 71–75.

Coogan, David. “E-Mail Tutoring: A New Way to Do New Work.”

Computers and Composition 12.2 (1995): 171–81.

Elliot, Norbert, Margaret Kilduff, and Robert Lynch. “The Assessment

of Technical Writing: A Case Study.” Journal of Technical Writing

and Communication 24.2 (Winter 1994): 19–37.

Faidman, Anne. “Mail.” The American Scholar 69.1 (Winter 2000):

7–11.

Fredericksen, Elaine. “Letter Writing in the College Classroom.” Teach-

ing English in the Two-Year College 27.3 (Mar 2000): 278–84.

Greenly, Robert. “How to Write a Resume.” Technical Communication

40 (Feb. 1993): 42–48.

Guffey, Mary Ellen. Business Communication: Process and Product. 3rd

ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1999.

Henry, Julie. “E-mail Style is :-( for Writing.” The Times Educational

Supplement 4392 (Sept. 1, 2000): 5.

Hyde, Paul. “E-mail: Is It a Blessing or Curse?” The Masthead 52.2

(Summer 2000): 20.




Jablonski, Jeffrey. “Teaching the Complexity of Business Proposals.”

Business Communications Quarterly 62.3 (Sept. 1999): 108–12.

Kowalski, Kathiann M. “Dear Editor . . . (How to Write Letters to the

Editors of Newspapers).” Cobblestone 22.2 (Feb. 2001): 20.

Krajewski, Lorraine, and Gwendolyn Smith. “From Letter Writing to

Report Writing: Bridging the Gap.” Business Communication Quar-

terly 60.4 (Dec. 1997): 88–91.

Krause, Tim. “Preparing an Online Resume.” Business Communication

Quarterly 60.1 (March 1997): 59–61.

Lauer, Janice M. “Persuasive Writing on Public Issues.” Composition in

Context: Essays in Honor of Donald C. Stewart. Ed. W. Ross

Winterowd and Vincent Gillespie. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois

UP, 1994: 62–72.

McCune, Jenny C. “Get the Message.” Management Review 86 (Jan.

1997): 10–11.

Moran, Charles. “Notes Toward a Rhetoric of E-mail.” Computers and

Composition 12.1 (1995): 15–21.

Munro, John, and David Howes. “The Effect of Cognitive Style on

Learning to Write a Letter of Complaint.” The British Journal of

Educational Psychology 68.2 (June 1998): 243–54.

Patterson, Valerie. “Resume Talk from Recruiters.” Journal of Career

Planning & Employment 56.2 (Jan. 1996): 33–39.

Pirto, John. “University Student Attitudes Toward E-mail as Opposed

to Written Documents.” Computers in the Schools 14.3–4 (1998):

25–32.

Rabb, Margaret Y, and Richard Scoville. “Tips for Great Reports.” PC

World 10.4 (April 1992): 224–31.

Shafer, Gregory. “Using Letters for Process and Change in the Basic

Writing Class.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College 27.3 (Mar

2000): 285–92.

Subramanian, Ram, Robert G. Insley, and Rodney D. Blackwell. “Perfor-

mance and Readability: A Comparison of the Annual Reports of

Profitable and Unprofitable Corporations.” Journal of Business

Communication 30.2 (1993): 49–61.

Troyka, Lynn Quitman. Majoring in the Rest of Your Life: College and

Career Secrets for Students. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall,

1999.

Vassallo, Philip. “U-mail, I-mail—More Effective Business E-Mail.”

Etc. 55.2 (Summer 1998): 195–203.


Part Seven:

Integrating Computers into the Writing Classroomby Linda Julian, Furman University

� teChnoLogy In the neW MILLennIuM: tooLS

for readIng and reSearCh

Today most college students, as well as those from kindergarten

through high school, either own a computer or have access to one in

their classrooms, computer labs, or school libraries. In fact, many young

children know more about computer resources and using computers than

their teachers do. Public school teachers and college instructors must

embrace the new possibilities of the computer age if they are to educate

their students as productive citizens of the twenty-first century.

All teachers of writing must understand how to use technology best

to help students improve their skills in writing and research so that they

will not be left behind their peers in entering the workforce or going

into graduate programs. If we do not help all students use computer tech-

nology as a tool for their learning and work, we teachers are, to a great

degree, abdicating our responsibilities to them.

Those teachers who use computers in teaching composition have

done so to greater and lesser degrees. Some have put their entire course

online, everything from the syllabus and assignments to chat rooms and

other resources for their students. Others are wading in slowly, using

word processing programs to help their students come up with ideas,

outline essays, write drafts, and revise them. Some, in fact, limit their

use of computers in the classroom to showing students how to do

research online.

Troyka & Hesse’s Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers, offers

much help in using technology for teachers and students alike (see espe-

cially Chapters 4, 7, 22–24, and 63). In addition, Troyka & Hesse’s

emphasis on the process of writing (see Chapter 5) easily enables teach -

ers to adapt some of the stages of writing to computer instruction, even

if they choose to limit the use of computers. A glossary of basic

computer terminology is included at the end of this chapter of the supple-

ment. Finally, Pearson, the publisher of Troyka & Hesse’s handbook,



offers many multimedia resources for both the teacher and student

through the Simon & Schuster Handbook eText and MyLab software.

� advantageS and dISadvantageS of teaChIng

WIth CoMPuterS

Using computers in the classroom offers both disadvantages and

advantages for students and teachers, though most instructors find the

benefits far outweigh the challenges.

Disadvantages

Among the disadvantages to computer-assisted instruction

mentioned by some teachers are these:

� Valuable time may be spent teaching word processing and

research skills that could be better spent working on students’

writing.

� Class time may be wasted if the technology is not functioning

properly.

� Students who lack access to or experience with technology are

disadvantaged in classrooms that emphasize computer use,

especially if they do not have strong keyboarding skills.

� Some students will be tempted to surf the Net or play computer

games rather then concentrate on instruction.

� Teachers may need special training.

� Students may not learn how to do library research and may rely

on unreliable, but easily accessible Web sources for research.

� In online courses instructors may need to do far more individ-

ualized instruction, which is time consuming.

� Plagiarism can be harder to detect, and it is easier for students

to access “paper mill” essays.

Many of these reasons for not using computers are only minor

concerns at best today, when most students know more technology than

many of their teachers. Those who teach in colleges where a number of

their students still lack basic word processing skills or access to comput-

ers at home will find that, although the computer-assisted classroom may

require writing instructors to spend more time developing computer

skills, this time is time well spent; the ability to use technology will be

essential to students’ success in their academic and professional lives.

Part Seven—Integrating Computers into the Writing Classroom



Advantages

The advantages seem more significant than the disadvantages of

using computers to teach writing:

� Many students find composing on computer easier than first

composing by hand.

� Students will develop skills necessary for them to become more

independent learners.

� The students can more easily identify and move through the

stages of writing, especially revision and editing, and this ease

will underscore Troyka & Hesse’s philosophy that students

must see writing as a process, not a product.

� Students can utilize various software programs designed to help

them brainstorm, organize, or revise their work.

� Many word processing programs provide templates for various

types of documents students will be asked to produce.

� Students will learn skills that will help them in the job market.

In fact, not being able to word process and use the Internet

usually disadvantages students seeking jobs.

� Students will learn writing and research skills that will

empower them in their other courses.

� Students may develop a greater sense of the importance of

document design and creating professional looking final prod-

ucts.

� Students will likely learn to work in a more individualized

way—a real plus since teachers want students to see that they

have their own styles and methods, unlike those of other

students.

� Students can use online spelling and grammar checks (though

we must explain that these are not infallible).

� Doing peer review and other interactive assignments on the

computer may lead to valuable interaction among students.

� The computer-assisted classroom provides a fruitful place for

students to work on collaborative writing projects.

� Teachers can collect disks or have students e-mail their papers

as attachments. This method can also be used for peer-response.

� E-mail can mean contact with the teacher or classmates twenty-

four hours a day, seven days a week, so students will likely feel

more connected to the teacher and classmates.

� Technology enables students to give more professional and

effective presentations by using presentational software.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Teaching with Computers



� Technology allows teachers to develop more creative and moti-

vating assignments, including designing Web pages, blogs, and

developing electronic portfolios.

� Teachers can supplement classroom discussion with threaded

discussions and chat rooms; they can supplement print materi-

als with Web links.

� Learning to use technology can make teachers more marketable

and more effective.

� uSIng CoMPuterS to teaCh WrItIng SkILLS

Today, almost all college writing projects require computer use.

Most instructors will ask for word processed final drafts of papers.

However, the computer can be used for more than typing up a final draft;

the computer can be useful at all stages of the writing process.

PreWrItIng WIth CoMPuterS

Many of our students complain that they do not know anything to

write about, but some brainstorming and other prewriting exercises using

the computer can help them see that they, in fact, know much more than

they realize and that they have things to say that will interest readers.

(See Troyka & Hesse, Chapter 5 for prewriting activities that can be

adapted for use on the computer.)

Teachers may also find that invention exercises using only a word

processing program work well. Having students use the outlining feature

to break down topics to give them a narrowed enough focus for a thesis

can work. Also effective is having the students turn off their monitors

while they do free-writing as brainstorming. Although some may be

uncomfortable at first not seeing what they are writing, most will come

to feel comfortable and see the value in letting ideas flow freely with-

out constant self-censoring. Once students have topics narrowed, pair-

ing students to ask questions about the topic and its development through

e-mail can stimulate the invention of further ideas.

Word processing programs and e-mail may be used to great advan-

tage to help in early drafting stages. One technique is to divide the class

into groups of three and ask them to huddle around one computer, with

one of them as typist. You might have them take an overly general thesis,

which you could submit to all machines at once, and try narrowing it

collaboratively and drafting an introduction together.

You could use this kind of collaborative assignment to reinforce

skills related to any part of the essay. For example, if you are stressing




transitional paragraphs, you might send them an essay lacking these and

have them collaboratively write them. Or, you might ask each group to

do communal brainstorming, coming up with several workable theses

they have pulled out of a too-general statement. On the paragraph level,

one can have small groups write certain types of paragraphs (definition

or compare and contrast, for example).

Prewriting skills can also be enhanced through the use of interac-

tive, Web-based tools, such as the Pearson MyLabs or Blackboard, which

make collaboration and online discussion even easier. Online discussion

of readings or chats about new paper assignments can be fruitful ways

for students to come up with topic ideas. Many textbooks also provide

eTexts or other Web-based resources that supplement the textbook’s

lessons.

Going online can help students in a variety of ways. Narrowing

topics may involve research, and the use of the computer to do research

is a great benefit. (See Using Computers for Research, below.) Addi-

tionally, students can access one of the many online resources to

support their writing at all stages of the writing process. One example

is http://owl.english.purdue.edu/, one of the foremost writing help-

centers online.

draftIng and revISIng uSIng the CoMPuter

Composing with a word processor can make it easy for students to

highlight their thesis and topic sentences and stay on track rather than

going off on tangents. Students can make use of the “highlight” or font

color function available on most word processing programs to call atten-

tion to questions or parts of an essay, which helps their teachers check

for understanding. Highlighting the thesis, topic sentences, transitions,

and perhaps even examples or other supporting details can reveal when

the reality of what they underline does not match what they think they

have written. Once they have considered the highlighted material, they

can easily see what kinds of organizational and substantive change they

need to make. Highlighting questions they want to ask peers or their

teacher also makes it easy for them to get help in the late stages or the

process.

Writing with the computer can also make it easier for students to move

from one part of the paper to another, writing parts out of order or testing

different organizational strategies. Of course having typed drafts also makes

it easier for peers to share each other’s essays than trying to read often-illeg-

ible handwriting. When students are ready to receive feedback on a draft,

the computer, whether through e-mail or an interactive, online classroom

Using Computers to Teach Writing Skills



management tools, such as Pearson MyLabs or Blackboard, can make the

commenting process easier for peers and instructors alike. Students can still

make use of teacher-generated questions or directions for commenting, even

if the peer response session takes place outside of class time. (Troyka &

Hesse’s handbook offers much help with all stages of revision and editing

in Chapter 5.) Some online tools lend themselves to more global comments,

preferred by many instructors on early drafts. However, for those who want

students to help edit one another’s texts, most word processing programs

also have tools in which students can track changes made to their text, allow-

ing peers to make comments or changes while still enabling the writer to

accept or reject suggestions or changes. Many colleges also have online

versions of their writing centers, which students can use to ask questions,

access resources, or receive feedback.

When editing, students will, of course, rely on the spellcheckers

and grammar checkers, but teachers must point out the problems with

totally relying on these tools. Spellcheckers have much smaller dictio-

naries that those in the average desk dictionary, so they often will not

have words the students need to spell. Similarly, grammar checkers,

while they may help with some errors, often do not identify other errors;

and sometimes they give wrong or incomplete advice. Looking at these

tools will not lead the students too far astray, but students need to be

made well aware of their shortcomings and limitations. Students can be

taught to use the “Find” command to seek out their individual writing

problems, such as confusing “there” and “their” or using wordy phrases.

As students move from one draft to another, they should be encour-

aged to keep hard copies of each draft as well as copies on their disks

or jump drives, perhaps using a different computer folder for each revi-

sion. They should also keep a revision log, keeping up with the kinds of

changes they made in each draft. Such records may help them understand

better their own composing process. Keeping a computer list of errors

the teacher points out on each final draft can show them particular types

of errors they need to concentrate on in the proofing and editing process.

Finally, students must be reminded to back up all of their course work

frequently on a separate disk or drive.

Finishing the Final Draft and Designing the Document

Once all of the revision has ended, the student must think about

how he or she wants the document to look. Making the document look

consistent from page to page, easy to read, harmonious, and unified

throughout, the student can show the instructor and peers that he or she

took the assignment seriously. Good document design helps students




make a good first impression on both peers and the teacher (see Troyka

& Hesse’s Simon & Schuster’s Handbook for Writers, Chapter 7).

The first step in designing a document is identifying the genre of

the document (essay, report, etc.), the audience for whom it is intended,

and the purpose of the document—the same questions a writer asks at

the beginning of the writing process. The answers to these questions

help determine design, to some extent, but the writer also has some

personal choices.

Among these choices are decisions about using visuals, page layout,

white space, headings, highlighting, borders and margins, bulleted or

numbered lists, colors, and boxed information, clip art, charts, and

graphs as well as justifying text, adding headers or footers and choos-

ing an appropriate font. Troyka & Hesse also includes information about

designing Web pages (see Chapter 63).

Many word processing programs, such as Microsoft Word, have

easy-to-use features that insert charts, graphs, and tables as well as head-

ers and footers. Such page layout software as Adobe PageMaker and

Microsoft Publisher help students to place text and visuals precisely.

Graphic design software such as Adobe PhotoShop can help students

create and edit graphics, pictures, and other kinds of visuals. The student

must then save these visuals in a format compatible to his or her own

word processing system so that they can insert them in appropriate places

in the document.

Students will generally find documenting a paper easier than ever.

Most word processing programs offer guidelines or templates for the

major styles of documentation, especially MLA, APA, and CM.

Students love to play with design features on the computer, espe-

cially the more unusual typefaces, so teachers need to help them under-

stand which ones are appropriate for the document in question and which

ones are the most readable. Fonts are either serif (they have little “feet”

at the top or bottom of each letter) or sans-serif (these are without exten-

sions at the top or bottom of the letter). Serif fonts are usually chosen

for text because they are more comfortable to read, especially in a long

text. One of the most common of these is Times New Roman.

Sans-serif fonts may be more easily read from a distance, so they

may be the better choice for charts and signs. They are often used also

for headings in documents.

Font sizes are measured in points ranging from six points to seventy-

two, but many teachers stipulate a particular size (usually 12-point) to

ensure readability as well as to help students write the appropriate amount

of text if they have stipulated that an assignment be a certain number of

pages.

Using Computers to Teach Writing Skills



� uSIng CoMPuterS to do reSearCh

Most students will need to access the Internet even to find library-

based materials in the campus library. And beyond college library hold-

ings and databases, the Internet is a rich source of information for

students when they know how to use it effectively. Our instruction

should involve explanations of what the Internet and the Web are, how

to use search engines to locate the information they need, how to eval-

uate the information they find, and how to use information without

violating privacy or copyright laws.

underStandIng the Internet

The Internet is a network of sites found at universities, businesses,

research centers, and government agencies worldwide.

The best way for students to access the Internet is through the

World Wide Web, a collection of what are called Web pages or

websites. These interlinked Web pages each have their own home page,

a catalogue of what the site offers and directions for finding information.

Not a replacement for all library research, the Internet offers more

up-to-date information than libraries are able to, so accessing the Inter-

net is especially important for research on current topics.

Students access the Web through a browser, a search engine that

helps them locate the kind of information they are seeking. They need

to understand that a urL is an address on the Internet that should be

typed into the search box of the browser. urL is an acronym for

“Universal Resource Locator.” (Chapter 22 of the handbook discusses

how to locate information on the Internet.)

Well known browsers include Apple Safari, Google Chrome,

Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Internet Explorer, though there are many

other browsers available. Most recent computers will have an icon on the

start-up page listing at least one of these among other programs avail-

able on that computer.

PLaCeS to BegIn

Jumping into an Internet search is not the best beginning for most

research projects. First, students need to have a general idea of the

narrowed topic they want to find out about and some of the key terms

that will help in the online search for information. Often a preliminary

online search can help students narrow the topic even further, taking an

angle that they had never thought of.

Before they can make the best use of online resources, students need

to be instructed by the teacher or an information technology specialist




in the school’s library about the most efficient ways to use keywords to

search, the ways to narrow searches, and the ways to use Boolean oper-

ators to help reduce frustration. Boolean operators are various combi-

nations of words and symbols like and, or, not, and near and symbols

help narrow the search and to stipulate what kinds of related words made

of the keyword the student would like to check. Different search engines

use variations on these Boolean operators and symbols. For those unfa-

miliar with Boolean operators, most search engines allow users to limit

searched by selecting the “Advanced Search” option.

In addition, some keywords can be truncated so that related words

containing that root will also be searched if the searcher types in a

symbol like *. For example, in some searches * typed at the end of the

keyword’s root checks for all related words with that root: if the student

is searching for information on communism and types in the root comm,

the search will turn up such words as common, communal, commune,

and community, along with communist and communism. Many of the

terms have nothing to do with the subject of the search, so to avoid such

frustrating paths, students must be carefully instructed about using trun-

cation in a search.

Once students are on the Internet, however, they have many other

browsers at their fingertips. Among the most popular are these:

� AltaVista, a fairly comprehensive engine that searches both the

Web and news sources: www.altavista.com

� Excite, a large database that searches by both subject and

keywords: http://www.excite.com

� Infoseek, which searches by keyword and subject:

www.go.com

� Northern Light, which sorts information into requested folders:

www.nlsearch.com

� Webcrawler, which finds information with either a keyword or

subject: www.Webcrawler.com

� Yahoo!, which searches by keyword and subject directory:

www.yahoo.com

In addition to these basic search engines, the Web offers several

that are called metasearch engines, because they search several of the

browsers simultaneously. Among the best known are these:

� Ask Jeeves at www.ask.com

� DogPile at www.dogpile.com/

Using Computers to Do Research



� Google at www.google.com

� Savvysearch at www.search.com (This one translates the

search term into the appropriate form for each search engine it

checks.)

Also available online are many other sites to check out, including

those of university libraries, the Library of Congress, and government

as well as standard references such as the Oxford English Dictionary

and encyclopedias. Language students may find help and practice access-

ing foreign language sites.

Some sites are general; some are narrowed to subject areas. A

sampling includes these:

� Encyclopedia Britannica at www.britannica.com

� Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations at www.bartleby.com/bartlett

� Center for Responsive Politics at www.crp.org

� How Stuff Works at www.howstuffworks.com

� American Statistical Index at www.fedstats.gov

� FindLaw at www.findlaw.com

� Library of Congress Research Tools at

www.loc.gov/rr/tools.html

� National Institutes of Health at www.nih.gov/

� American Chemical Society’s ACS Web at www.acs.org

� Math Archives at http://archives.math.utk.edu

� National Academy of Sciences at www.nasonline.org

School libraries also have databases that include newspapers, peri-

odicals, current business information, book reviews, and many others.

These may be available on the library’s own network.

evaLuatIng reSourCeS on the Internet

Researchers with online information must always approach that

information cautiously. Knowing what is reliable, what is questionable,

and what is downright unreliable comes with experience. New computer

users do not realize that almost anyone can put a website on the Inter-

net without regard for its authenticity, fairness, or accuracy. Researchers

should always ask these questions of a site:

� What is the purpose of this site—to inform, persuade, sell

something?




� Who is the author of this website and what are his or her qual-

ifications? Does the site offer contact information?

� Does the site explain where its information has come from?

� How current does the information seem to be?

� Is there a bibliography or other list of sources?

� How well developed is the site’s content, especially when

compared to that offered by other sites?

� Can you detect any bias in the information that suggests the

site has an agenda?

� Is the information recent? How often does the site seem to be

updated?

The site is more likely to be reliable if it is from an educational or

nonprofit organization, government organization, those with Internet

addresses ending in edu, org, gov, or a country abbreviation, such as us

or uk. Students should be alerted, however, that when country abbrevi-

ations, such as uk, appear in the URL, the site’s information is often not

relevant to U.S.-specific topics. Another criterion is whether the author

is someone respected and well known in his or her field. We can teach

students to learn who is respected by checking out this person in the

library’s catalogue, reference books, or bibliographies given by other

writers in the field. Online versions of well-known print sources, such

as newspapers, magazines, or journals are just as reliable as the print

versions. Students should be taught to look for copyright or update dates

and sponsor or publisher information. Credible sites generally make

publication and sponsorship information clear, including copyright infor-

mation. Reliable sources should be current or recently updated and

should provide evidence in a balanced, unbiased manner, often with links

to other reliable sources of information and in-text cites or bibliogra-

phies. Much of what is posted on the Internet may be plagiarized from

other sources. Students should learn to be overly cautious and suspi-

cious of all sources on the Internet. (Refer students to Chapters 19, 22,

and 23 of the handbook for more information on evaluating Internet

sources and avoiding plagiarism.)

handLIng CoPyrIght ISSueS and PLagIarISM

Many kinds of dishonesty appear as a result of the openness of the

Internet and ease with which students can view others’ work and share

papers online. However, some strategies and resources help teachers

cope with these kinds of problems.

Using Computers to Do Research



The best tool for reducing plagiarism is usually the instructor him-

or herself. Becoming familiar with each student’s writing style by

frequently reviewing student work often enables teachers to detect shifts

in syntax or surprisingly sophisticated vocabulary. Typing a sentence

from a suspicious portion of a student’s essay into a search engine will

often reveal if the students has copied the text from an online source.

Teachers should steer clear of assignments that make it easier for

students to copy from others: using fresh paper topics each term, requir-

ing references to specific class-related readings, and requiring multiple

drafts of essays will all help reduce plagiarism. Teachers can also help

prevent plagiarism by ensuring students both understand the severe

consequences plagiarism carries and know how to use and document

sources correctly in their work.

These days buying a term paper is easier than ever. If a student

types in “term papers,” he or she has access to thousands of papers.

When teachers find papers that they believe to have been plagia-

rized, they can access several helpful Internet sites:

� http://www.academicintegrity.org (This site is by the Center

for Academic Integrity.)

� http://chronicle.com/free/v46/i12/12a04701.htm (“How to

Proctor from a Distance”)

� http://chronicle.com/free/v46/i12/12a04901.htm (“Web

Services Help Professors Detect Plagiarism”)

Many teachers, departments, or colleges also subscribe to sites offer-

ing plagiarism detection software, such as www.turnitin.com,

www.mydropbox.com, or http://plagiarism.com.

The freedom of the Internet has also brought thousands of copy-

right problems and questions, many still unresolved. Teachers must help

students understand what kinds of information they need to document

and what they must request permission to use. In some cases, teachers

need to request permission for their students to access a site.

Generally students may link to any site on the Web that is available

to the public. However, Netiquette suggests that you ask permission of

every site you plan to send your students to. Some sites, not equipped

to handles numerous hits at one time, may crash if all your students sign

on at once when many others are also using the site. Although govern-

ment sites can be accessed without permission, Netiquette suggests that

one should ask permission of city, county, and state sites.

Students and teachers must never copy material from a site and post

it on their own websites—unless the owner gives permission. In Chap-




ter 24 of their handbook, Troyka & Hesse also give general information

about avoiding plagiarism.

To learn more about copyright and the Internet, teachers can access

this site:

� “Copyright Office Study on Distance Education” from the U.S.

Copyright Office: http://www.loc.gov/copyright/disted/ “The

Code of Best Practices in Fair use for Media Literacy Educa-

tion,” from National Council of Teachers of English and Center

for Social Media: www.cenerforsocialmedia.org/resources/

publications/code_for_media_literacy_education

� gLoSSary of BaSIC CoMPuter terMS

Bit—The smallest amount of information read by a computer.

Blog—A Web log is a website on which a writer posts a series of

messages, whether personal diaries or interest-based commentary, that

anyone can read through on the Internet.

Bookmark—A method of telling the browser to save a particular Inter-

net address so that one can more easily access it again.

Boolean operators—Words like and, or, but, near and certain symbols

that help users narrow or define keywords for a search.

Byte—Eight bits treated as a unit of information that takes up the space

of about one character on a typed page.

Cable modem—A fast modem that uses cable TV lines to connect Inter-

net sites.

Cd-rom—“Read Only Memory,” that is, a computer disk that cannot

be changed, containing references works. These are available for

purchase or for use in libraries.

Cookie—A tiny bit of information left on your computer by a site, espe-

cially a commercial site, to help the sender recall your last hit at the site

and to enable other websites to see what sites you have accessed.

Cyberspace—The medium where electronic communication over

networks occurs.

digital portfolio (or electronic portfolio)—A collection of several texts

in electronic format that allows a writer to represent his or her range of

skills and abilities.

download—Copying information from the Internet to your hard drive

or a disk.

Glossary of Basic Computer Terms



ftP—“File Transfer Protocol,” a way of moving files between Internet

sites.

htML—“Hypertext Markup Language,” the code used to create Web

pages and to enable users to move from one Web page to another. It

includes regular words as well as codes.

hypertext—A document that provides links that allow access to other

sites when the user clicks on the links.

kilobits—The speed of transmitting 1,000 bits per second.

Megabits—A speed of one million bits per second.

Message board—A site where users can post questions or make

comments on a particular topic.

Modem (sometimes known as a dial-up Modem)—a device that uses

telephone lines to access the Internet.

newsgroup—A discussion group among users who post messages for

all users in the group.

operating System—The controlling system for a computer, such as

Windows and Mac OS.

Podcast—Brief sound files that are shared over the Internet, somewhat

like online radio broadcasts.

raM—“Random Access Memory.” The part of a computer’s memory

that enables the computer to run programs.

Secure website—A site that requires certain protocols, like a password

and a user name, for viewing it.

Spamming—Sending unsolicited messages to mass mailing lists, often

to advertise products or services.

Subject directory—A list of categories of information with links to

related websites.

truncation—Listing only the first few letters of a keyword in a search

so that the search will also look for closely related terms. The trunca-

tion is usually noted by a symbol such as *.

urL—A Universal Resource Locator, a specific address on the Inter-

net.

virus—A destructive program, often from an unknown source, that can

destroy or scramble data or programs. Once imported, computer viruses




can spread quickly through your system and can infect any users you

send messages to.

Webmaster—A person who maintains the content and operation of a

website.

Wiki—A Web site that allows multiple readers to change its content.

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Part Eight:

the role of Visual rhetoric in Writingby Susan Loudermilk garza, Texas A&M

University—Corpus Christi

When we think about teaching visual rhetoric, the tendency often is to

focus on advertisements and how the creators of such ads attempt to

create some action in readers. (See Simon and Schuster Handbook.) And

while advertisements are one mechanism through which to study visual

rhetoric, focusing on visual rhetoric from this view may keep us from

seeing the larger picture of what visual rhetoric

is, what it does, and how we can use it to make

meanings. When we ask ourselves what do we

mean when we talk about writing today, when

we examine what we need to do to teach our

students to write, can we afford to look away

from the important and expanding role that

visual rhetoric plays in making meaning in

today’s world? Kathleen Blake Yancey in her

chair’s address at CCCC 2004, “Made Not

Only in Words: Composition in a New Key,”

states that our students “compose words and images and create audio

files on Web logs (blogs), in word processors, with video editors and

Web editors and in e-mail and on presentation software and in instant

messaging and on listservs and on bulletin

boards—and no doubt in whatever genre will

emerge in the next ten minutes” (298). Carolyn

Handa, in the Introduction to Visual Rhetoric in

a Digital World, points out that “outside of our

writing classrooms, students surround them-

selves with multimedia and cybertexts. . . .

manipulate and edit images. . . use Web

browsers to create pages that almost always include visual elements. . .

. create their own visuals, even their own typography” (3). And Charles

A. Hill adds that “since so many of the texts that our students encounter

are visual ones, and since visual literacy is becoming increasingly impor-

tant for everyday social functioning and even for success in the work-


Our present understand-

ing of rhetoric and its

tradition can no longer

account for ways that the

visual functions rhetori-

cally. . . . To understand

visual rhetoric better, we

need to reanimate its

tradition, and in doing so,

reconsider our concep-

tion of rhetoric itself as

primarily a verbal art.

(Blakesley)

Though classroom

teaching often assumes

essay organization as

the norm, outside the

classroom visually infor-

mative prose is perva-

sive, and not just in

scientific or technical

fields. (Bernhardt 95)


place, it would seem obvious that our educational institutions should be

spending at least as much time and energy on developing students’ visual

literacies as these institutions spend on developing students’ textual liter-

acy” (109).

How do we go about bringing the study of visual rhetoric into our

writing classes? One tendency might be to introduce PowerPoint activi-

ties into the syllabus. While this is certainly one way to help our students

begin to think about visual rhetoric, we are limiting their understanding

of what visual rhetoric can do if we limit our study of it to only certain

types of documents. And PowerPoint has been so overused and incor-

rectly used that students can miss the point of the importance of the visual

elements in presentation documents. In fact, Edward Tuft, in “Power-

Point is Evil,” likens PowerPoint to “a widely used and expensive

prescription drug that promised to make us beautiful but didn’t,” and

“induced stupidity, turned everyone into bores, wasted time, and degraded

the quality and credibility of communication.” PowerPoint, Tufte contin-

ues, “elevates format over content, betraying an attitude of commercial-

ism that turns everything into a sales pitch.”

Students tend to automatically default to a PowerPoint presentation

as the only way to do a presentation. When I assign a presentation,

students will ask, “You want us to do a PowerPoint?” We have to make

sure that our students understand that when they need to present any

type of information, they need to focus on audience and purpose, and one

of the first questions they need to ask is, “What tool(s) should I use?”

to develop the presentation. PowerPoint is one type of presentation tool

and it can be used in myriad ways, but we seldom discuss its use and

effects on audience. As Tufte explains, PowerPoint can be an effective

tool, “but rather than supplementing a presentation, it has become a

substitute for it. Such misuse ignores the most important rule of speak-

ing: Respect your audience.” So let’s not let our students simply take

content, copy and paste it into slides, put in a few pictures, and most

dreaded of all, use those sound or motion elements indiscriminately just

because they seem to provide some whiz-bang. And, we shouldn’t let

ourselves as teachers do this either!

While many of us may see ourselves as being progressive if we

allow our students to create those ever present PowerPoint presentations

to accompany the essays they write for our classes, or to create a Power-

Point presentation in place of one essay, how much do we really know

about this overused tool, and how much do we know about how to use

it well?

Part Eight—The Role of Visual Rhetoric in Writing



The study of visual rhetoric is not just

about studying ads or creating PowerPoint

presentations or Web pages that have

pictures and color added to text, although

these are documents in which visual

rhetoric does play an important role. Even

traditional ways of writing, essay writing

for example, are shaped by visual rhetoric.

Visual rhetoric functions in every docu-

ment we create, often without our knowl-

edge of its presence or its effects. Even a

blank document has elements of visual

rhetoric built into it, so we begin to write

with these elements, often unaware of their presence. Open a blank docu-

ment, then click on “Format” and choose “Style.” This will display the

visual elements of a blank/default document. Under the “List:” section,

“Styles in use” will probably be displayed as the default selection. Click

on the drop-down menu and choose “All styles.” This opens up a longer

list of options of visual elements that the user can add to a word document.

I am still amazed at how many of my students are not aware of the

“Styles” function, even though in general they have more computer

knowledge and experience than their predecessors. So first steps for

incorporating visual rhetoric into our teaching may require that we

discover the tools that are available and increase student awareness of

those tools.

� What iS ViSuaL rhEtoric?

Before we, as composition instructors, can begin to construct

a coherent pedagogy of the visual, we might ask ourselves what we need

to understand about our discipline and what our assumptions about teaching are,

exactly. Why do some writing curricula

continue to focus only on words when today’s documents are increasingly

hybrids of words, images and design? In what ways might

we begin to address the visual on par with the verbal

in our classrooms?(Handa 9)

What Is Visual Rhetoric?


If teachers would begin to look at

naturally occurring discourse

forms which have evolved

outside the classroom, they

would begin to develop a

descriptive base for visual

design. A preoccupation with

conventional essay format allows

little attention to visual features.

Instead of helping students learn

to analyze a situation and deter-

mine an appropriate form, given

a certain audience and purpose,

many writing assignments merely

exercise the same sort of writing

week after week, introducing

only topical variation. (Bernhardt

103)


Why format this quote as right-aligned text rather than simply format-

ting it as block text indented five spaces,

Simply applying methods and concepts designed specifically forverbal language to persuasive images is not the most productive oraccurate way to develop a methodology for the study of visualrhetoric; doing so often results in misleading (or sometimes simplyuseless) assertions about the ways in which persuasive imageswork. (Hill 27)

or simply centered text?

The range of visual elementsthat could be considered rhetorical is vast …

(Hill 25)

Placing text in the right-aligned position illustrates how much visual

rhetoric affects our engagement with texts (online as well as more tradi-

tional hard copy types of documents) and how changing one element of

visual presentation creates a change in the reading experience. Most read-

ers probably would pay more attention to text that is right-aligned because

it goes against the norm. However, when we think of visual rhetoric, we

don’t usually focus on using right-aligned text. When I ask students to think

about and use visual rhetoric, their first tendencies often are to center and

bold text, use many different fonts, use lots of color, and put in lots of

pictures, all reflective of misconceptions of just what it means to apply

visual rhetoric to a document. Just think about the types of flyers that are

part of every campus culture. Many are student-made and reflect these

misconceptions. Once I get students to realize the effect that these actions

have on the readers of the documents, it becomes easier to get them to

focus on other elements of visual rhetoric that are readily available in most

word processing programs, such as the following:

Headings Guide readers from section to section.

Bulleted lists Help readers see the relationships among items by

chunking information.

Lines Break up the visual plane and/or provide motion

across the visual space.

Boxes Can be used to separate one part of a text from

another. (Note the use of boxes within this discus-

sion to draw attention to some of the quotes.)

Links Create paths and connections. Usually thought of

as part of Web pages, but can be useful in other

types of documents as well. (For example, they are




highly underused in those overused PowerPoint

documents.)

Pictures/Images Supplement explanation for written text, but

perhaps the most misused/overused element.

Typography Shows relationships. Fun to play with, but using

one-two fonts is usually more visually effective.

Location on Helps reader navigate. Page/Layout

Color Affects mood. Easy to overuse, but using one-two

colors is usually more effective.

(For a more extended discussion of these elements, see Teaching VisualRhetoric, Prentice Hall Resources for Writers, by Susan Loudermilk Garza,2006.)

While it is interesting, and perhaps even fun, to incorporate these

elements into the way we teach writing, we should not lose sight of the

importance of understanding the rhetorical reasons for using them. Our

purpose should be to get students to think about how writers work, how

writers make decisions that affect audience and purpose, including decisions

about elements of visual rhetoric, “how textual elements capture an audi-

ence’s attention and convey a point of view” (Handa 4). We should make

decisions about visual rhetoric part of the process of teaching writing and

help students understand that different decisions are required for each audi-

ence situation. We can help our students understand that even an essay has

multi-genre elements so that they can begin to see an essay as being more

than just a flat, linear surface, as more than the flatland that Tufte attempts

to move us away from: “Escaping this flatland is the essential task of envi-

sioning information—for all the interesting worlds (physical, biological,

imaginary, human) that we seek to understand are inevitably and happily

multivariate in nature. Not flatlands” (12).

So when we teach students in our writing courses now, if we don’t

talk about concepts such as white space, chunking, and gridding, are we

providing them with a complete understanding of the rhetorical nature of

writing?

Writing teachers today are living through a revolution in liter-

acy brought about by the capability of computers to combine

blocks of text—or verbal lexias—with graphic images, sounds,

video, and other multimedia. . . . We are forced—at times by

our failures—to grapple with the potential relationships

between the ubiquitous and chaotic new visual and the comfort-

What Is Visual Rhetoric?



ingly familiar, more linear verbal. Awash in both good and bad

examples—on the Web, but also on TV and, lest we forget, still

in traditional print—we are discovering that it is no longer

enough to fragment our concepts of literacy, bracket off our

traditional blocks of text, and just stick to what we know.

(Hobbs 55)

The visual creates meaning in our written texts; “visual and verbal

literacies have become increasingly interdependent” (Handa 4). So we

must teach students the rhetorical concepts of picturing ideas. And before

we can do this, we need to understand the role of visual rhetoric in vari-

ous texts. Bernhardt provides a good starting point:

We might think of texts arranged along a continuum, from

texts at one end which convey relatively little information visu-

ally, to texts at the opposite end which reveal substantial infor-

mation through such visible cues as white space, illustrations,

variation in typeface, and use of nonalphabetic symbols, such

as numbers, asterisks, and punctuation. In terms of this contin-

uum, an essay would fall well toward the nonvisually infor-

mative end. Certainly, paragraph indentation, margins,

capitalization, and sentence punctuation provide some infor-

mation to the reader, but such information is extremely limited,

with most of the cues as to organization and logical relations

buried within the text. At the other extreme of the continuum

would be texts which display their structure, providing the

reader/viewer with a schematic representation of the divisions

and hierarchies which organize the text. (94)

And although essays “fall well toward the nonvisually informative

end,” we can begin to incorporate more elements of visual rhetoric into

these documents, especially since our sharing and reading of such texts

are occurring more and more in online environments, allowing us to

implement more physical movement into the process.




How Should We Teach Visual Rhetoric?


� hoW ShouLd WE

tEach ViSuaL

rhEtoric?

It is one thing to argue that

university students should be

exposed to more explicit instruc-

tion about the uses of visual

communication, and it is quite

another to develop a workable

pedagogy for dealing with visual

rhetoric. Such a pedagogy has not

yet been developed, partly

because no one recognizable

discipline has staked a claim

around the immense and vaguely

defined area that is variously

referred to as “visual communi-

cation,” “visual rhetoric,” or

“visual literacy.” (Hill 111)

With a visible text, it may not be

fruitful to talk about paragraphs in

terms of topic sentences and

support, or opening and closing

sentences, or sentences of transi-

tion. In fact, it may not be useful

to speak of paragraphs at all, but

of sections or chunks. In the visi-

ble text, the headings take over

the task of generalizing or identi-

fying the topic. Levels of subor-

dination are indicated by variation

in typeface, type size, or place-

ment of headings, rather than

through subordinators or cohesive

ties which indicate semantically

dependent relations. (Bernhardt

101)


We design every time we write. We either choose the visual elements

in a word document—elements of white space, font, color, headings, etc.—

or they are chosen for us if we go with the blank/default document. What

we see when we look at a text defines how we will understand it, so visual

elements are very important when we think about how they will affect the

reader.

In Picturing Texts, Faigley et al. offer that good design

� Directs the reader

� Provides clear emphasis

� Conveys the writer’s message

� Makes the text memorable

� Sets an appropriate tone

� Builds the writer’s credibility

� Helps persuade the reader to take the text seriously. (454)

Robin Williams in his book The Non-Designer’s Design Book, a

favorite among design teachers, focuses on the elements of proximity,

contrast, alignment, and repetition. Williams’s list is another example of

how we can engage students in a discussion of visual design. And Tufte

reminds us that we make decisions about visual rhetoric to serve many

purposes: “We envision information in order to reason about, communi-

cate, document, and preserve that knowledge—activities nearly always

carried out on two-dimensional paper and computer screen. Escaping this

flatland and enriching the density of data displays are the essential tasks

of information design” (33). And we have the tools available to us today

to enrich our information presentations and create environments that func-

tion as multi-dimensional documents.

When I teach writing I try to impress upon students what I call “The

Elements of Good Design”:

� Simple is best

� Determine one focal point

� Don’t decorate just for the sake of decoration

� Focus on purpose/audience

� Try to achieve balance on the page

� Use easily readable fonts

� Use different sizes and styles of one font, rather than several

different fonts

� Use color sparingly for effect, not decoration




� Think about how the reader will move through the document

� Strive for consistency

While simple and clean are usually best practices for designing

documents, students love to play with new tools, especially if they have

never played with them, or never been allowed to use them before. I

usually begin with an easy activity that will allow students to play, and

at the same time allow those who may not be comfortable with tech-

nology to learn how to use these tools.

In this section I include some of the activities I use to incorporate

the study of visual rhetoric into my writing classes. I begin with one

easy activity that I use to introduce students to the study of visual

rhetoric.

analyze and redesign a Flyer

Flyers are everywhere, so they are a good resource for teaching

visual rhetoric. Have students leave the classroom and look at the vari-

ous bulletin/message boards that they encounter. Students can do this

individually or as a group. Have them decide which flyer grabs their

attention first. Also have them bring back a flyer (preferably one that is

no longer current) that they want to redesign. Using “The Elements of

Good Design” list, have students analyze the flyer and then redesign a

flyer based on those guidelines. Students can use a basic word program

to develop the flyers. PowerPoint is also useful for this type of activity

as the program has many elements of visual rhetoric already built in,

such as grids, centered text, ready-made backgrounds, color contrast,

etc.

Perform the “Squint test”

When we look at a text we usually take in the entire page/screen

simultaneously, then we look at individual elements. One activity that

illustrates this is the “squint test.” I ask students to perform this test

when they are analyzing documents created by others, and then to

analyze documents they have created. To do the squint test, first squint

your eyes, then look at a document and whatever stands out on the page

is the element that will first draw the reader into the document (Hilligoss

and Howard 97). In designing documents, it is a good practice to deter-

mine what element of the document the reader’s eye will be drawn to




first. In a basic essay document, that element would most often be the

title, which is why having a catchy title is important to editors.

analyze Video game documents

Most of our students today have some experience with video games.

All video games have licensing, instructions, and other types of docu-

mentation. Ask students to find an example from a video game and

analyze how the information is presented using elements of visual

rhetoric. Students can also examine how the visual presentation differs

from one game to another and determine which presentation is better

and why. Games that are played online present different challenges

related to visual rhetoric, which opens up a wider discussion of how

information is presented in different formats. Students could also rewrite

the documents they find.



Fi g. 1 Parade Essay Grid


analyze Your college’s catalog

This is an activity I did with one of my classes, and it worked very

well. Ask students to examine the catalog for your school. Most

colleges/universities have both hard and online copies of their catalogs,

so in addition to analyzing one or the other, students can compare the

two and determine what types of visual elements work best in each of

the environments. Students can also examine catalogs from other schools

and determine which documents do the best job at reaching the intended

audience. Students can also compare their school’s catalog to the cata-

logs of other schools. When I did this activity with my students I also

asked them to make suggestions for changes to the catalog.

Write a Parade Essay

We are so used to formatting/designing essays in the same way,

including starting with the generic heading, or a standard cover page

format. Ask students to find examples of documents that go beyond the

traditional essay format. Students are exposed to many of these different

formats, but they may not be aware of how the presentation formats affect



Fi g. 2 Invention Example


the ways readers interact with the documents. One example is the “In Step

With” essay that appears in the weekly Parade magazine published in

many Sunday papers throughout the country. This type of document is an

excellent example for discussing chunking information, or how we group

information in a document.

Ask students to focus on the layout of the page and how the infor-

mation in each of the sections relates to the information in the other

sections. What kind of information should go in the box on the right-

hand side of the page and how does that information relate to the main

text? Have students create a grid in a word document similar to the grid

in the Parade document, like the example in Fig. 1.

Students could create a different grid layout based on the type of

document they are producing. The Parade essays are biographies, but

students could adapt the visual layout to many other types of essays.

For example, if students are working on an argument essay, how could

the boxes be used to illustrate relationships among information in an

argument? The Parade essay has a picture of the person who is being

highlighted that week, which provides an excellent opportunity for

discussing whether pictures or other images would be useful for other

types of essays/documents. To use the argument example again, what

pictures/images could be included in such a document that would

increase the effect of the argument on the reader? And where should the



Fi g. 3 The Way to Rainy Mountain Layout


pictures/images be placed? By bringing documents such as the Parade

essay to the attention of our students, we encourage them to expand their

thinking in regard to writing essays and to incorporate some of the same

visual practices into their own documents.

use the tools of Word Programs for invention

While most of the examples included to this point focus on the

format of finished documents, visual rhetoric is a useful tool for students

to use during the invention stage of the writing process as well. Head-

ings and links are useful visual rhetoric tools to use during invention. As

students begin thinking about putting together their documents, encour-

age them to post their initial thoughts as headings and/or links. For

example, in the early stages of putting together this document, my inven-

tion page looked like the document in Fig. 2.

In this document I listed the main elements that I initially thought

about including. As I thought of what I wanted to say or found infor-

mation from other sources that I wanted to include, I would place that

information under one of the headings. As students begin to write they

can dump information below the headings where they think the infor-

mation belongs at that point in the writing process. As headings fill up

with lots of information, students can then make the headings into links

and move the information to another page. As students write, the visual

elements of headings and links on the page help them to see the rela-

tionships among the important points of the document. So rather than

indenting five spaces and starting a new paragraph (or skipping one line

and starting a new paragraph), a practice that shows very little about the

informational relationships, by using headings as they add and work

with the information, students will visually see these relationships and

more actively manipulate the chunks of information in the document. By

using headings and links students can easily move information around,

combine information, and even see what information no longer fits and

should be cut.

Write an Essay Modeled on The Way to Rainy Mountain

In The Way to Rainy Mountain, N. Scott Momaday uses elements

of visual rhetoric to recount the story of his family heritage. Momaday

includes three different versions of one story displayed across two pages,

as illustrated in Fig. 3.




In the text box on the left-hand page, Momaday recounts the story

as it was told within the tribe. In the top text box on the right-hand page,

Momaday includes historical information related to the story. And in the

box below that, he tells the story from his own point of view in first

person. Students could follow a similar format by laying out three parts

of an essay/document in this manner. One of the misconceptions we

have about the use of visual rhetoric is that it is useful for creative types

of documents, but the same elements can be useful in other types of

documents as well. So while Momaday’s story is a biographical story,

we can borrow his use of layout and adapt it to other types of docu-

ments.

analyze and design Menus, Brochures, Websites

These are documents that students encounter quite often, and they

offer opportunities for analyzing and practicing the use of visual rhetoric.

Again using “The Elements of Good Design” list, students can find and

analyze sample documents and then redesign those documents, or use

what they learned to create new ones. It is important, as Hill points out,

to teach students to understand how documents “are used to create action

in readers,” to understand “the psychological processes by which images

persuade,” to understand “the psychological processes that are brought to

bear while interpreting and reacting to persuasive images,” to understand

“that images are not just ornamental supplements to written texts, but

complex texts in their own right,” and to consider “their own responses

to such images” (119-122).

re-view reality using the Turnabout Map

I was first introduced to the Turnabout Map, created by Jesse

Levine, as a graduate student. I still remember the impact it had on how

I view and interpret visual representations. The map shows the usual

view of the Americas; however, the map is flipped with south at the top

and north at the bottom. Introducing students to the Turnabout Map will

emphasize the importance and impact of visual rhetoric on beliefs and

ideas, how visual rhetoric shapes knowledge. After discussing the Turn-

about Map, students can find other examples of visual representations

that create/subvert meaning in this way. Then students can redesign the

representations to affect the meaning of the visual, in the same way that

Levine did with the Turnabout Map. Ask students to write about how the

elements of visual rhetoric create meaning in the original representa-




tion, and how they used the elements of visual rhetoric to change the

meaning.

Examine images from other cultures

With the emphasis today on international events and the global

nature of our world, students are more aware of the rhetorical elements

of other cultures. And it is important to increase their awareness of the

importance of the rhetoric of other cultures and to create documents

based on this awareness. “Students need to learn to appreciate the power

of images for defining and for reinforcing our cultural values and to

understand the ways in which images help us define our individual roles

within society” (Hill 116). Ask students to identify elements of visual

rhetoric in documents from other cultures and analyze those elements,

including how the use of these elements compares to the use of the same

elements in their own cultures. Then ask students to create documents

with an international audience in mind. Students can then describe the

different decisions they made in designing the documents based on the

international audience.

I have attempted to utilize in this document many of the elements

of visual rhetoric that I have discussed, thus creating a multi-layered

feeling to the text, and perhaps creating a different type of reading expe-

rience. As we move more and more into the online environment, our

reading experiences will continue to change and visual rhetoric will

receive more emphasis as a tool for creating texts. But even if you

continue to focus on the traditional essay as a tool for teaching writing,

you can still introduce and encourage the use of visual rhetoric, as I

have attempted to illustrate. So have fun as you endeavor to learn more

about visual rhetoric and add it to your pedagogy, but don’t forget the

importance of visual rhetoric as a tool for making meanings.

Resources for Teaching Visual Rhetoric



rESourcES For tEaching ViSuaL rhEtoric

Online Resources

Blakesley, David. “What Is Visual Rhetoric, and What Is Its Tradition?”

Position statement for the Alliance for Rhetoric Society Conference

(Sept. 11-14, 2003). <http://www.comm.umn.edu/ARS/Tradition/

blakesley,%20tradition.htm?

Cortés, Claudia. Color in Motion. 2003. Excellent Flash demonstration

of the implications of color, including social and cultural symbol-

ism. <http://tc.eserver.org/24857.html>

Howard, Rebecca Moore. Visual Rhetoric: Some Sources. Syracuse

University. Extensive bibliography of scholarship, including sources

on film and art. <http://wrt-howard.syr.edu/Bibs/Visual.bib.html>

Iowa State University. First-Year Composition Web Center. Online

resource provided for teachers and students with practical lessons

on visual design and visual literacy. <http://learn.ae.iastate.edu/

omega/Anthony/

FYC/FYC.html>

Pinkel, S. The On-Line Visual Literacy Project. Pomona College, Clare-

mont, CA. A comprehensive introduction of many of the basic

elements of visual rhetoric. <http://www.pomona.edu/Academics/

courserelated/

classprojects/Visual-lit/intro/intro.html>

Propen, Amy. Visual Rhetoric Portal. University of Minnesota. One of

the most extensive resources available. Includes lists of online

resources, journals and conferences. <http://www.tc.umn.edu/

~prope002/

visualRhet.htm>

Also available at <http://mattlevy.home.mindspring.com/rhetcomp/

visual.html>.

Richardson, James F. “The Visual Dimension of Writing.” Very inter-

esting and different approach to thinking about writing using

elements of visual rhetoric. <http://www.intellectbooks.com/

iconic/writing/

writing.htm>

Visual Communication–Visual Rhetorics. University of Iowa Department

of Communication. List of resources in the field of communication,




with an emphasis on film and media studies. <http://www.uiowa.

edu/~commstud/resources/visual.html>

“Visual Rhetoric.” E-server Library. This cooperative library for tech-

nical communicators provides links to over 100 scholarly articles

related to the topic. <http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Visual-Rhetoric>

“Visual Rhetoric for Students.” OWL. Purdue University. Handout

provided to introduce students to the concept. Covers color, images,

and overall design. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/

vizrhet/>

Zulik, Margaret. Sources in Visual Rhetoric. Wake Forest University.

List of articles in communication journals and recommended art

theory and history of rhetoric and art articles and books.

<http://www.wfu.edu/~zulick/454/visrhetbib.html/>

Syllabi/Course Websites

Blakesley, David. “Visual Rhetoric and Composition.” Purdue Univer-

sity, Spring 2002. <http://web.ics.purdue.edu/%7Eblakesle/680/

680course.html> “Visual Rhetoric,” Fall 1999. <http://www.sla.

purdue.edu/people/engl/dblakesley/visual/>

Bowers, Bege K. “Document Design and Production.” Youngstown State

University, Summer 2000. <http://cc.ysu.edu/~bkbowers/

bowe944.html>

Dubinsky, Jim. “Visual Rhetoric and Document Design.” Virginia Tech.

<http://www.english.vt.edu/~dubinsky/5334_vr/syllabus.htm>

Kimme Hea, Amy C. “Spatial & Visual Rhetorics.” University of

Arizona, Spring 2003. <http://www.u.arizona.edu/~kimmehea/

svrhet/svrhet.htm>

Murray, Joddy. Washington State University. Several examples of

courses related to visual rhetoric. <http://www.tricity.wsu.edu/

%7Ejmurray/>

Salvo, Michael. “Visual Rhetoric: Argument, Persuasion, Narrative.”

Purdue University, Spring 2004. <http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~salvo/

680V/info.htm>

Vitanza, Victor J. “Rhetoric, Poetics, and Cultural and Digital Studies.”

University of Texas at Arlington, Spring 2001. <http://www.uta.edu/

english/V/digital/>

Resources for Teaching Visual Rhetoric



Weisberg, Meredith. “Persuasion in a Digital Age.” Purdue University,

Fall 2000. <http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~weisberg/103c/>

Zemliansky, Pavel. “Visual Rhetoric.” James Madison University, Spring

2005. <http://courses.pz-writing.net/sp05/node/122>

Articles

Bernhardt, Stephen A. “Seeing the Text.” College Composition and

Communication 37:1 (Feb 1986):66-78. Rpt. In Visual Rhetoric in

a Digital World: A Critical Sourcebook. Ed. Carolyn Handa. Boston:

Bedford, 2004. 94-106.

Blakesley, David and Collin Brooke. “Visual Rhetoric.” Special Edition

of Enculturation: A Journal for Rhetoric, Writing, and Culture 3:2

(2001). <http://enculturation.gmu.edu/3_2/>

Freenzweig, Tim. “Aesthetic Experience and the Importance of Visual

Composition in Information Design.” The Orange Journal 2001.

<http://tc.eserver.org/10285.html>

George, Diana. “From Analysis to Design: Visual Communication in the

Teaching of Writing.” College Composition and Communication

54:1 (Sept. 2002), 11-39.

Tufte, Edward R. “PowerPoint is Evil.” Wired Magazine 11:9 (Sept.

2003). <http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html>

White, Jan V. “Color the Newest Tool for Technical Communicators.”

Technical Communication Online 50:4 (Nov 2003).

Yancey, Kathleen Blake. “Made Not Only in Words: Composition in a

New Key.” College Composition and Communication 56:2 (Dec

2004): 297-328.

Books/Chapters

Faigley, Lester, Diana George, Anna Palchik, and Cynthia Selfe. Pictur-

ing Texts. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004.

Garza, Susan Loudermilk. Teaching Visual Rhetoric. Prentice Hall

Resources for Writing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education,

Inc., 2006.

Handa, Carolyn, ed. Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World: A Critical

Sourcebook. Boston: Bedford, 2004.

Hill, Charles A. and Marguerite Helmers, Eds. Defining Visual Rhetorics.

Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.




Hill, Charles A. “Reading the Visual In College Writing Classes.” Inter-

texts: Reading Pedagogy in College Writing Classrooms. Ed.

Marguerite Helmers. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,

2003. 124-150.

Hill, Charles A. “The Psychology of Rhetorical Images.” Eds. Charles

A. Hill and Marguerite Helmers. Defining Visual Rhetoric. Mahwah,

NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004. 25-40.

Hilligoss, Susan and Tharon Howard. Visual Communication: A Writer’s

Guide. New York: Pearson, 2002.

Hobbs, Catherine L. “Learning from the Past: Verbal and Visual Liter-

acy in Early Modern Rhetoric and Writing Pedagogy.” Language

and Image in the Reading-Writing Classroom. Eds. Kristie Fleck-

enstein, Linda T. Calendrillo and Demetrice A. Worley. Mahwah,

NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002. 27-44. Rpt. In Handa.

Mitchell, W. J. T. Picture Theory. Chicago: The University of Chicago

Press, 1994.

St. Clair, Robert N. “Visual Metaphor, Cultural Knowledge, and the New

Rhetoric.” Learn in Beauty: Indigenous Education for a New

Century. Eds. Jon Reyhner, Joseph Martin, Louise Lockard, and W.

Sakiestewa Gilbert. Flagstaff: Northern Arizona University, 2000.

<http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/LIB/LIB8.html>

Stephens, Mitchell. “By Means of the Visible.” Rise of the Image: Fall

of the Word. Oxford University Press, 1998.

Tufte, Edward R. Envisioning Information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics

Press, 1990.

Tufte, Edward R. Visual Explanations. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press,

1997.

Williams, Robin. The Non-Designer’s Design Book. Berkeley, CA:

Peachpit Press, 1994.




Works Cited

Bernhardt, Stephen A. “Seeing the Text.” College Composition and

Communication 37:1 (Feb 1986):66-78. Rpt. In Visual Rhetoric in

a Digital World: A Critical Sourcebook. Ed. Carolyn Handa. Boston:

Bedford, 2004. 94-106.

Blakesley, David. “What Is Visual Rhetoric, and What Is Its Tradition?”

Position statement for the Alliance for Rhetoric Society Conference

(Sept. 11-14, 2003). <http://www.comm.umn.edu/ARS/Tradition/

blakesley,%20tradition.htm>

Faigley, Lester, Diana George, Anna Palchik, and Cynthia Selfe. Pictur-

ing Texts. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004.

Garza, Susan Loudermilk. Teaching Visual Rhetoric. Prentice Hall

Resources for Writing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education,

Inc., 2006.

Handa, Carolyn, Ed. Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World: A Critical

Sourcebook. Boston: Bedford, 2004.

Hill, Charles A. “Reading the Visual in College Writing Classes.” Inter-

texts: Reading Pedagogy in College Writing Classrooms. Ed.

Marguerite Helmers. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,

2003. 124-150. Rpt. In Handa.

Hill, Charles A. “The Psychology of Rhetorical Images.” Eds. Charles

A. Hill and Marguerite Helmers. Defining Visual Rhetoric. Mahwah,

NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004. 25-40.

Hilligoss, Susan and Tharon Howard. Visual Communication: A Writer’s

Guide. New York: Pearson, 2002.

Hobbs, Catherine L. “Learning from the Past: Verbal and Visual Liter-

acy in Early Modern Rhetoric and Writing Pedagogy.” Language

and Image in the Reading-Writing Classroom. Eds. Kristie Fleck-

enstein, Linda T. Calendrillo and Demetrice A. Worley. Mahwah,

NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002. 27-44. Rpt. In Handa.

Momaday, N. Scott. The Way to Rainy Mountain. Albuquerque, NM:

University of New Mexico Press, 1976.

Tufte, Edward R. Envisioning Information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics

Press, 1990.




Tufte, Edward R. “PowerPoint is Evil.” Wired Magazine 11:09 (Sept.

2003). http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html

Williams, Robin. The Non-Designer’s Design Book. Berkeley, CA:

Peachpit Press, 1994.

Yancey, Kathleen Blake. “Made Not Only in Words: Composition in a

New Key.” College Composition and Communication 56:2 (Dec

2004): 297-328.




CHAPTER 1

Ten Top Tips for College Writers

The only real advice you can give anyone is to keep writing.

—David Sedaris

OVERVIEW This chapter outlines frequently recommended strategies for

approaching the college writing process.

Quick Boxes1.1 Ten top tips for college writers, p. 2

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: Coming early in the course, this chapter provides a good

opportunity to highlight “best practices” related to handling source mate-rial. Many academic institutions require instructors to include informationin their syllabus about the school’s policies on academic honesty andpenalties for plagiarism. Tip 8 provides an opportunity to discuss thesematters in a helpful way.

Teaching Tip: Make your students aware that you, too, are a workingwriter by sharing your own tips, as well as talking about bad habits thatyou’ve had to overcome in order to become a better writer.

Activity: While most of the ten top tips focus on how to create content,students also need to understand their own writing process in order to con-trol and enhance it. Give students ten minutes to jot down their notes abouttwo different experiences: a writing assignment that went successfully forthem, and one that did not. Have them focus on delineating what led toeach outcome. Are there habits or practices that they would recommendthat other writers adopt or avoid?

Activity: Have students reflect on the following details about how theyapproach the writing process and share their responses: (1) time of daywhen they write most (or least) successfully; (2) physical details thatenhance or detract from their writing activity (e.g., lighting, clothing,music); (3) medium in which they find it most (or least) comfortable tocompose––laptop, computer, pen and paper, dictation, or some combina-

Copyright © 2013, 2009, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc.337

UNIT 2CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER RESOURCES

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Chapter-by-chapter Resources


tion of these. This activity is designed to help students understand thatthere are many individual variations in how writers approach the task, aswell as to learn about approaches that others have used and that may workfor them.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe Penn State Graduate Writing Center has a useful handout on

“Overcoming Writer’s Block” available at http://composition.la.psu.edu/resources/graduate-writing-center/handouts-1/Overcoming%20Writers%20Block%20Fall%202010.pdf. Unlike many articles that approach writer’sblock from the perspective of creative writing, this handout focuses onacademic writing.


CHAPTER 2

Ten Troublesome MistakesWriters Make

I never made a mistake in grammar but one in my life and as soon as I doneit I seen it.

—Carl Sandburg

OVERVIEW This chapter briefly explains ten of the most common and trouble-

some mistakes in the grammar, usage, and punctuation of first-year writ-ers and refers students to handbook chapters that provide more detaileddiscussion of the errors.

Quick Boxes2.1 Ten troublesome mistakes in writing, p. 10

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIES, AND EXTRA EXERCISESTeaching Tip: A key concept for students to understand is that readers

of standard academic written English expect writers to adhere to conven-tions that may not apply in speaking or in less formal types of writing. Inthis sense, academic writing represents a separate register—a discoursestyle associated with a specific purpose, situation, and group of users. Asa specific style to which students may have had limited exposure andwhich, as a result, they may not yet have mastered, remind your studentsthat academic writing is a code that they can learn if they become con-sciously aware of its conventions.

Activity: Have students start an individual log in which they keep trackof any of the items listed in this chapter that appear in their own drafts orrevisions. Normally these will be items pointed out during peer review ornoted by you during your review of a preliminary or final draft. Keepinga log can help students become aware of which mistakes they need tofocus on; it can also help them see progress as they master solutions toparticular errors.

Extra ExerciseIn a 1981 article, “Not All Errors Are Created Equal: Nonacademic

Readers in the Professions Respond to Lapses in Usage, College English43: 794–806, Maxine Hairston reported results of a survey of 100 profes-sional people such as business executives, realtors, and social workers.She asked respondents to predict how they would react to dozens of sen-





tences if they encountered them in someone else’s writing: “Does notbother me,” “Bothers me a little,” or “Bothers me a lot.” Below are someof the items from Hairston’s survey. First, have students rate each item.Then have them try to identify the prescriptive rule violated by each item.Students will find some sentences much easier to reach consensus on thanothers, which can lead to a discussion about “degrees of error” in writing.

a. The situation is quite different than that of previous years.

b. People are always impressed by her smooth manner, elegant clothes,and being witty.

c. The small towns are dying. One of the problems being that youngpeople are leaving.

d. Having argued all morning, a decision was finally reached.

e. If the regulating agency sets down on the job, everyone will suffer.

f. The data supports her hypothesis.

g. Him and Richards were the last ones hired.

h. The reporter paid attention to officers but ignores enlisted men.

i. If I was in charge of that campaign, I would be worried about opinionpolls.

j. There has never been no one here like that woman.

k. The worst situation is when the patient ignores warning symptoms.

l. When Mitchell moved, he brung his secretary with him.

m. Three causes of inflation are: easy credit, costly oil, and consumerdemand.

n. The lieutenant treated his men bad.

o. He went through a long battle. A fight against unscrupulous oppo-nents.

p. We direct our advertising to the young prosperous and sports-mindedreader.

q. That is her across the street.

r. Calhoun has went after every prize in the university.

s. Its wonderful to have Graham back on the job.

t. When we was in the planning stages of the project, we underesti-mated costs.

Answers to Additional Exercise (numbers reflect the ratings of Hairston’s respondents; 1 = “Does not

bother me,” 2 = “Bothers me a little,” 3 = “Bothers me a lot”)

a. 1 different than instead of different from

b. 3 faulty parallelism

c. 3 fragment

d. 3 dangling modifier

e. 3 sets instead of sits


f. 1 singular verb with data, which is technically plural

g. 3+ objective case pronoun in subject position

h. 3 inconsistent tense

i. 2 was instead of subjunctive were

j. 3+ double negative

k. 2 situation is when

l. 3+ nonstandard past tense form

m. 1 colon after form of be

n. 3 adjective in adverb position

o. 3 sentence fragment

p. 3 comma omitted in a series

q. 2 objective case pronoun in subjective complement position

r. 3+ past tense form in past participle position

s. 1 omission of apostrophe in It’s

t. 3+ subject-verb agreement problem (plural subject, singular verb)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESLarry Beason, “Ethos and Error: How Business People React to

Errors,” College Composition and Communication 53.1 (2001): 33–64.Beason reports on a study of business people’s range of reaction to errorsand how readers’ reactions affect their perception of the writer’s ethos.

Robert J. Connors and Andrea Lunsford, “Frequency of Formal Errorsin Current College Writing, or Ma and Pa Kettle Do Research,” CollegeComposition and Communication 39.4 (1988): 395–409. The authors pres-ent a study of error frequency based on their examination of over 21,000papers.

Andrea A. Lunsford and Karen J. Lunsford, “‘Mistakes are a Fact ofLife’: A National Comparative Study,” College Composition and Commu-nication 59.4 (2008): 781–806. Based on a national sample of first-yearcollege writing, the study attempts to replicate research conducted twenty-two years ago and to chart the changes that have taken place in studentwriting since then. The findings suggest that papers are longer, employdifferent genres, and contain new error patterns.

Joseph M. Williams, “The Phenomenology of Error,” College Com-position and Communication 32 (May 1981): 152–168. This classic articleis essential reading for all instructors who want a better understanding ofprescriptive rules and the notion that different rules elicit different degreesof reaction from readers.

Chapter 2—Ten Troublesome Mistakes Writers Make




CHAPTER 3

Thinking, Reading, andAnalyzing Images Critically

Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed.

—Blaise Pascal

OVERVIEW This chapter introduces students to the complex topic of thinking crit-

ically about the texts and images that they encounter in spoken, written,and visual discourse. It is concerned with helping students appreciate thequalities of clear, accurate discourse and recognize common problems thatarise in reasoning—both in their own writing and in the spoken, written,and visual discourse of others. As such, the skills emphasized in this chap-ter lay a foundation for many of the analytical and writing processes dis-cussed in later chapters, in particular those related to argumentation andresearch writing.

Quick Boxes3.1 Questions critical thinkers ask themselves, p. 17

3.2 Three central principles of rhetoric: the persuasive appeals, p. 18

3.3 Steps in the critical thinking process, p. 20

3.4 More ways to help reading comprehension, p. 24

3.5 Strategies for analysis, p. 25

3.6 Examples of differences between primary and secondary sources,p. 28

3.7 Questions for analyzing evidence, p. 29

3.8 Assessing cause and effect, p. 30

3.9 Questions to move from analysis and synthesis to evaluation, p. 34

3.10 Features of inductive reasoning, p. 35

3.11 Features of deductive reasoning, p. 36

3.12 Some helpful questions for analyzing visual images, p. 41

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIES, AND EXTRA EXERCISESActivity: Many contemporary theories of argument and persuasion also

emphasize the idea that argument should lead to a dialogue between thosewho hold differing views on a topic. Peer review of drafts can assist stu-


Chapter 3—Thinking, Reading, and Analyzing Images Critically


dents in refining their thesis and the arguments to support it. Worksheetsfor peer reviewers to use in class might ask readers to identify not only thewriter’s thesis and main supporting arguments, but also the assumptionsunderlying those arguments. Exercises about argument mapping, for exam-ple the tutorial at http://austhink.com/critical/pages/argument_mapping.html, may assist students in identifying and articulating assumptions, bothin their own writing and that of others.

Activity (Summarizing and Comprehending): Your students are likely toappreciate some in-class time devoted to learning and practicing the“SQ4R” approach to active reading. Here are some instructions to helpyour students through the process:

• S = Scan/Survey. Take just a few minutes to glance quickly at head-ings, subheadings, italics, photos, charts, and graphics in what youare about to read.

• Q = Formulate questions based on your survey findings. For example,from the heading “Reading for literal meaning,” you could deriveseveral questions: “What is meant by literal reading?” “Howcan/should I read for literal meaning?” “Why is literal meaningimportant for me to grasp?”

• R = Read. Note that “reading” is the third, not first, step in an activereading process.

• R = Record answers to your questions by taking notes that highlight thekey ideas, including answers to the questions you have raised.Underline or highlight print text; marking online text with a colorfont or bold print.

• R = Recite. Summarize aloud, in your own words, what you have justread. If you cannot restate what you have read, you may need toreread the passage.

• R = Reflect and Review. Reflection is a key component of criticalthinking. For reading assignments that you will need to recall later(for presentations, extended projects, test-taking, etc.), a reviewwithin 24 hours will move into long-term memory those facts,ideas, and details stored initially in short-term memory.

Allow ten minutes for students to apply the first four steps in “SQ4R”to a short passage. Then, ask students to pair with a partner and take turnstelling each other what they have just learned. Students will probably beamazed at how much more effective (and, ultimately, time-saving) theirreading becomes when they take the time to “SQ4R” their reading. (Note:This process works well, too, for online “reading” of both graphic-inten-sive and text-based Web sites. Students can develop questions from linksand photos as well as from regular print text.)




Extra ExerciseDetermine which sentences state facts and which state opinions.

1. Nuclear fusion releases energy.

2. Nuclear fusion is a possible solution to our energy problems.

3. Solar energy has attracted a great deal of public attention over thepast decade.

4. Many people hope that it will produce a clean, nonpolluting means ofheating our homes and offices.

5. Oil and gas production in the United States has been falling for overa decade.

6. The petroleum industry is shrinking yearly.

7. In the interest of national security, the petroleum industry should beencouraged by government legislation.

8. The early pioneers generated energy from the wind on the frontier.

9. Such nonpolluting means of creating energy should immediatelyreplace those produced by fossil fuels.

10. Because natural gas, methane, is a clean fuel, the government shouldencourage its use.

Answers to Extra Exercise1. fact 2. opinion

3. fact 4. fact

5. fact 6. fact

7. opinion 8. fact

9. opinion 10. opinion

Teaching Tip (Inductive and Deductive Reasoning): Using analogy is away to think inductively. An analogy compares two dissimilar objects,ideas, or experiences by focusing on what they have in common. Forexample, some people make an analogy between the role of a teacher andthat of a coach. Like coaches, teachers train people in fundamentalsthrough repetition and practice, recommend changes in technique, and tryto inspire excellence. However, despite points of similarity, two dissimilaritems remain dissimilar. First, coaches work primarily with the body ratherthan the mind, developing physical rather than mental skills. Second, teamcoaches praise the team player, whereas good teachers reward independ-ence and originality. Thus, the analogy between teachers and coachesbreaks down at some point. In the absence of other evidence, an analogywill not prove anything. Nevertheless, although an analogy can always beshown as flawed under close scrutiny, it can still help explain a point andthus help persuade an audience.

Teaching Tip (Logical Fallacies): Many students enjoy finding and cor-recting logical fallacies in newspaper editorials and opinion columns. You




might distribute copies of works containing fallacies, as a spur to classdiscussion or for revision. A less advanced class might benefit from a pre-liminary lesson based on a list of logical fallacies you can cull fromassorted sources (newspapers, political literature, advertisements); tell thestudents all the passages are illogical and have them explain why, as aprelude to revision (oral or written, as time allows).

Extra ExerciseIdentify the kind of fallacy in each item, then explain why it’s a fallacy.

1. Joanna Hayes should write a book about the Central IntelligenceAgency. She has starred in three films that show the inner workings ofthe agency.

2. It is ridiculous to have spent thousands of dollars to rescue those twowhales trapped in the Arctic ice. Why, look at all of the peopletrapped in jobs that they don’t like.

3. Every time my roommate has a math test, she becomes extremelynervous. Clearly, she isn’t good at math.

4. Plagiarism is deceitful because it is dishonest.

5. The local political coalition to protect the environment would get mysupport if its leaders did not drive cars that are such gas hogs.

6. UFOs must exist because no reputable studies have proved conclu-sively that they don’t.

7. Water fluoridation affects the brain. Citywide, students’ test scoresbegan to drop five months after fluoridation began.

8. Learning to manage a corporation is exactly like learning to ride abicycle: Once you learn the skills, you never forget how, and younever fall.

9. Medicare is free; the government pays for it from taxes.

10. Reading good literature is the one way to appreciate culture.

Answers to Extra Exercise1. False authority. An actor is not an authority on the CIA.

2. Red herring. The social issue is introduced to divert attention from the realissue— whether or not money should have been spent to rescue the whales.

3. Irrelevant argument, or non sequitur. A person can be nervous about some-thing and still be good at it.

4. Begging the question, or circular argument. “Dishonest” is merely a slightlydifferent term for “deceitful.”

5. Argument to the person, or ad hominem. These people are being attacked formaterialism, but they are perhaps serious environmentalists whose cars areirrelevant to their environmental stance.

6. Appeal to ignorance. Just because no evidence exists for one side of the argu-ment does not mean that the other side of the argument is valid.




7. False cause, or post hoc, ergo propter hoc. The sequence of events does notprove any connection between them.

8. False analogy. Analogies are dangerous in argument because they equatethings that are not the same. Riding a bicycle is much different from learningto run a company, and although the skills for riding a bicycle remain thesame, those of running a company may change with the economy and otherpressures so that one could “fall” if he or she did not adapt those skills.

9. Self-contradiction. Medicare cannot be free if it is paid for.

10. Either-or fallacy. Reading good literature is not the only way to appreciateculture.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESDiscussions of critical thinking, especially at the pre-secondary level,

often evoke Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy of educational objectives (and its2001 revision/updating by Anderson & Krathwohl). Briefly, Bloom’s tax-onomy is a hierarchy of cognitive processes; a useful summary of Bloom’staxonomy and the revised Anderson & Krathwohl version can be found atwww.uwsp.edu/education/lwilson/curric/newtaxonomy.htm.

The Web site “The Critical Thinking Community” at www.criticalthinking.org offers a variety of resources for both instructors andstudents.

A review of the history of critical thinking, beginning in the Westwith the Socratic method, may help students better understand its valueand importance. For a concise history of critical thinking, have your stu-dents visit www.criticalthinking.org/pages/a-brief-history-of-the-idea-of-critical-thinking/408.

In “Advertising and Interpretive Analysis: Developing Reading,Thinking, and Writing Skills in the Composition Course” (Teaching Eng-lish in the Two-Year College 29.4 [2002]: 355–366), Matthew Henryexplains how teaching students to analyze advertisements develops broadcritical thinking, reading, and writing skills.

The Journal of Visual Literacy is published online twice annually atwww.ohio.edu/visualliteracy.

The Web site Austhink (2008). Critical thinking on the web: A direc-tory of quality online resources at http://austhink.com/critical/ provideslinks to a good variety of resources, including statistical data for class-room discussion and other classroom exercises.

A good overview of various approaches to argument in the contextof composition studies is provided by Carolyn R. Miller and Davida Char-ney’s essay “Persuasion, audience, and argument” in Charles Bazerman(Ed.), Handbook of research on writing: History, society, school, individ-




ual, text. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. (2007), pp. 583-598. Thesource is available online at www.dwrl.utexas.edu/~charney/homepage/Articles/MillerCharney_2007_ArgAud.pdf.

In the essay “Intertextual Composition: The Power of the Digital Pen”(English Education 35.1 [2002]: 46–65), Meg Callahan contends thatinstructors of English must use technology in literacy not merely to rein-force conventional practices. If language is to be seen as something morethan a conduit or technology for information dispersal and retrieval, stu-dents must experience the production of multimodal texts and learn how tointegrate seamlessly multiple modes of text from multiple sources (such asmusic, song lyrics, strangers’ stories, proverbs, and a variety of visualmedia). Only through this direct experience can students become view-ers, readers, and listeners capable of analyzing texts critically.

Visual literacy has become increasingly important in compositioncourses. Diana George, in “From Analysis to Design: Visual Communica-tion in the Teaching of Writing” (College Composition and Communica-tion 54.1 [2002]: 11–39), provides an extensive review of theories,research, and pedagogy on visual literacy. Calling contemporary culture“aggressively visual,” George notes that students today need to be skillednot only as analysts but also as producers of visual rhetoric. For additionalbackground on this topic, see John Berger’s Ways of Seeing (London: BBCand Penguin, 1977); Lester Faigley’s “Material Literacy and VisualDesign,” in Rhetorical Bodies: Toward a Material Rhetoric (Madison:University of Wisconsin Press, 1999: 171–201), edited by Jack Selzer andSharon Crowley; and Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzi’s Multiliteracies: Lit-eracy Learning and the Design of Social Futures (2000).

ANSWERS TO EXERCISESEXERCISE 3–1

Answers will vary. Have students review their results via some kind of communal exer-

cise such as small group discussion. If you have time, encourage students to review answers

on the board so that students can visually appreciate the differences between different stu-

dents’ notes.

EXERCISE 3–2

1. opinion 5. fact

2. fact 6. fact


4. fact 8. opinion

EXERCISE 3–3Answers will vary. Whichever thesis they pursue, encourage them to include both pri-

mary and secondary sources.




EXERCISE 3–4Answers will vary. Below are some possible additional causes.

1. Attendance may have declined because the team started losing; there was unseasonably

bad weather; there was competition from other sporting events.

2. Test scores may have improved because the school added more tutoring hours; teach-

ers spent more time in class preparing students for tests; the PTA has encouraged par-

ents to become more involved in helping students study.

3. There are many reasons Williams could have been elected: her previous record, her

popularity, her ideas, her campaign strategy, and so on.

EXERCISE 3–5Answer: Calling college students spoiled and lazy is biased, and assuming that all stu-

dents only party and hang out is not factual. The writer insults those who disagree by call-

ing them “fools,” and there is other inflammatory language (for example, “carcasses”).

Rewrite answers may vary. One possibility is:

Recently a group of students requested that the library be open later at night so

they can study longer. While we should applaud commitment to studying, the students should

consider other options before we undertake the expense of longer library hours. Because the

library is open early in the morning, students might rearrange their schedules to study then,

reserving the evening for the kinds of socializing and entertainment that we agree are an

important part of college.

EXERCISE 3–6Answers will vary. Students should consider whether a smaller number of students will

cause the college’s reputation to be enhanced, what other factors go into a college’s reputa-

tion, any adverse effects that may come from decreasing enrollment, and why a college’s rep-

utation is important to begin with (i.e., who stands to gain from an enhanced college

reputation).

EXERCISE 3–7Here are some of the main points from each passage.

A. Literal Information: Girls outnumbered boys in almost half the countries of the

world; the number of countries where the gap between the sexes has disappeared has risen

by 20 percent since 1991; girls outnumber boys at the university in 83 of 141 countries; in

Mongolia and Guyana, university education in the past has not been “for everyone” [i.e.,

for women].

Implied Information: In almost half of the countries, boys still outnumber girls by

a ratio of 84/171; many countries still have significant gender inequalities at the secondary

level; developed countries are more likely to educate women than poorer countries.

Opinions: “[T]he sexual balance of power is changing, slowly but surely.” “It is

something to celebrate.” “The most obvious changes are in education.” “They do so not only

in the rich world, which is perhaps not surprising. ”




EXERCISE 3–8

1. Invalid. The shirt’s being expensive does not mean that it shares other characteristics of

faddish clothing.

2. Valid. The conclusion follows logically from the premises.

3. Invalid. Some outstanding literary works have not received a Pulitzer Prize.

4. Invalid. All states do send representatives, but that does not mean that all representa-

tives come from a state.

5. Invalid. The first premise does not say that patience alone is sufficient to find a good

job.

EXERCISE 3–9Answers will vary. Following are possible analyses.

1. Mike1218 relies heavily on ad hominem argument. He attacks the mayor for being

wealthy (yet provides no evidence that she is) rather than providing arguments against

the proposal. He also uses hasty generalizations by claiming that “everyone knows”

the mayor’s motives; that “no one I know likes this plan”; and that “if you’re working

hard” you won’t have time for the trail. He provides no evidence for any of these

claims, which are also a form of jumping on the bandwagon. He makes an extreme

assertion that the mayor would “turn schools into art museums or the park into a golf

course,” which is a form of false analogy. Finally, the tone of the letter tends to be

biased. He characterizes the mayor as wanting a “place to play” and as being part of

“the wine and cheese set,” and he calls the plan “nonsense.” His final statement is con-

frontational, which implies he is not someone who has examined this issue openly.

2. Bikerdude begs the question. The claim that “Good recreation facilities are the key to

the success of any community” comes without any evidence, and the assertion that

building the trail will guarantee success is just that: an assertion, which is debatable.

She also uses a false-cause argument. Just because the town of Springfield went into an

economic decline after it failed to build a new park does not mean that the absence of

the park caused the town’s decline. Calling opponents “narrow-minded, selfish, and

almost unpatriotic” is an ad hominem argument. Quoting John Paul Jones has nothing

to do with the issue at hand.

EXERCISE 3–10Answers will vary, depending on which version of the assignment you require. One

good technique may be to have students write informal notes on one image and a mini-essay

on the other. In this way, you can be sure they understand the ways to read an image criti-

cally before they try to do so in essay form.

EXERCISE 3–11Answers will vary, depending on which version of the assignment you require. One

good technique may be to have students write informal notes as a group on one visual argu-

ment and an individual mini-essay on the other.



CHAPTER 4

Understanding College andOther Writing Situations

Writing is the hardest work in the world not involving heavy lifting.

—Pete Hamill

OVERVIEW In this chapter, students will be introduced to purpose and audience,

role and gender.

Quick Boxes4.1 Elements of writing situations, p. 46

4.2 Purposes for writing, p. 47

4.3 Questions important to informative writing, p. 50

4.4 Persuasive writing, p. 51

4.5 Ways to analyze your audience, p. 54

4.6 Questions for analyzing genre, p. 58

4.7 Some digital genres, p. 59

TEACHING TIPS ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: The concept of a writing situation may be new to many

students. In this book, writing situation is used as an inclusive term for thecombination of topic, purpose, audience, and special requirements suchas word or time limits. Each of these variables influences every decisiona writer makes. These variables are especially important in narrowing atopic, as demonstrated by the inclusion of writing situations in the exam-ples in Chapter 4.

Teaching Tip: To help students better understand the Elements of aWriting Situation, choose 3–4 different students to be on a panel at thefront of the room. Assign each student the same topic and purpose, but adifferent audience, role, and context. For example, ask students to talkabout whether or not file sharing for music should be legal. One studentcould play a student trying to convince a dean that the college’s networkshould not prohibit file sharing; another student might play a music exec-utive providing testimony in a legal case that file sharing affects profits forartists; still another student might play the role of an artist who, in aninterview, explains why she prefers to let her fans download her music


Chapter 4—Understanding College and Other Writing Situations


for free. For a homework assignment, students might be asked to find“real life” examples of each audience and role and to analyze the elementsof the writing situation in each piece.

Teaching Tip (Tone): One good way to help students understand tone isto select a particularly sarcastic editorial or letter to the editor from a cur-rent newspaper and ask students to rewrite the selection in an objectivevoice with a somewhat formal tone. This assignment adapts well for onlineclasses, for an out-of-class assignment, or for in-class work—whether as areflective, solo activity or for collaborative group work. When studentspost their rewrites online or read them in class, they are able to see orhear and evaluate a variety of options.

Teaching Tip (Audience): To help students understand the importanceof audience, you may want to ask them to submit sample blogs that theyenjoy reading. You can add to that list by choosing some well-written,audience-focused blogs. In your list, make sure that you have a good rangeof diverse opinions, writing styles, and topics. Divide students into groupsand ask them to think about the ways in which various blogs are addressedto different types of readers. The blogs and the diverse audiences theyassume can lead to lively conversations, especially if the class is dividedinto groups for early discussion and later reconvenes as a whole class.You can also modify this assignment to focus on current publications.Giving students a list of publications popular with varied groups of peoplewill ensure effective contrasts in the articles they find. (The monthly mag-azine Writer’s Digest lists publication sources, with a brief description ofaudiences for many magazines.) In either case, this exercise can help stu-dents to understand the idea of audience awareness and the distinctionsbetween a generally educated or specialist audience.

Activity: Ask students, individually or in groups, to choose somethingspecific about their college or university that they would like to see devel-oped, eliminated, or improved in a particular way. Ask them to jot downnotes on the details, including what, when, where, how, and why. Next,ask them to imagine three different audiences: an administrator or profes-sor who might have the power to act on their request; a group of peerswhose support they may want to secure; a Board of Regents or Trustees orother formal body to whom they may appeal if their request is notapproved by the administration. Allot the students some time to makethree-column notes (a column for each audience), responding to the fol-lowing questions: What and how much detail should be mentioned? Whattone should be used? At this point, all can come together in small groups(best) or in one large group. The ensuing discussion should help studentsconnect with the concept that audience differences call for different tonesand techniques. Further guided discussion might reveal how audiences




themselves are not static, how one member of a board, for example, mayhave different needs and expectations from another.

Activity: As a collaborative project, choose a single subject aboutwhich your students are likely to have some knowledge (for example, theirfirst experiences at college). Assign each group an audience to whom theywill write a letter describing the subject. To get them to think about thedifferent language choices they must use to make a favorable impressionon different audiences, it is often very effective to assign groups a com-paratively informal, friendly relationship—a parent, a grandparent, a goodfriend, a sibling, a member of the clergy, a favorite high school teacher.Even without being coached, students will notice the difference that audi-ence makes to word choice, information selection, and tone.

Activity (Audience): One way to engage students in thinking aboutaudience (Quick Box 4.5) is to ask students to prepare a collage on theirpotential audience, answering all of the questions posed in the Quick Box.

Teaching Tip (Audience): Make sure you help students identify thepotential audience for each writing assignment in your class. Section 4C.3on the instructor as audience will be helpful information for your students.If you are also using extensive peer review or online publication strategiesin your class (e.g., blogs), you will want to help students widen their def-inition of audience.

Teaching Tip: Today’s students are apt to be far more technologicallysavvy than many or most of their instructors. If you are highly experi-enced with the software programs your students are already using (or withthose you want them to learn), be sure to share some of your own “goofs”as well as successes. Students relate more keenly to an expert who admitsmistakes. Ask your students to self-identify as to level of expertise withvarious technologies, and encourage student experts to demonstrate toothers what they know. If each student volunteers to share at least one“helpful hint,” the classroom (including the “virtual classroom”) becomesa more exciting environment. In the process, students see that traditionallines of expertise are blurred and that all benefit when each person in thegroup contributes her or his own special knowledge and skill.

Teaching Tip: Michelle Comstock (University of Colorado at Denver)begins an online course with a technoliteracy narrative in which studentswrite about a moment or event when technologies for writing or readingfigured prominently in their personal lives. While serving the students asan engaging catalyst for online learning, this assignment also allows theinstructor to understand student needs more fully and to frame the onlinecourse in a way that takes into account learners’ diverse backgrounds.Even if you choose not to begin with a technoliteracy narrative, you might


Chapter 4—Understanding College and Other Writing Situations


consider giving your students a technology survey at the beginning of thesemester to see how many students already use technology regularly. Dothey know how to spell check and grammar check documents? Do theyknow how to use the college’s e-mail system? An external e-mail serv-ice? Include questions on any of the technologies you intend to use in theclass so that you have a baseline on what technologies you will need tospend more time teaching. Even if students are familiar with basic tech-nologies, a brief lesson on file management, especially in saving multipleversions of the same document, might prove invaluable for your students’coursework. Also, to avoid student issues around access to computers andthe Internet, you might consider providing a copy of the open hours for thecomputer lab on your campus.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe various concepts of purpose in three rhetorical traditions are

explored by Arthur Walzer in “The Meanings of Purpose” (ERIC ED 303799). He examines the subject as it is understood from the classical-poetic,romantic, and classical-rhetorical viewpoints.

A Theory of Discourse by James L. Kinneavy (New York: Norton,1980) is a classic citation in composition and rhetoric. To this day, manytheorists, researchers, and practitioners rely on Kinneavy’s work. Kinneavyexplores the fundamental purposes for which people use language. Heexplains the centrality of the concept of purpose in writing.

In the essay “Online Teaching: Purpose and Methods” (ejc/rec: TheElectronic Journal of Communication/La Revue Electronique de Commu-nication 9.1, 1999 www.cios.org/www/ ejc/v9n199.htm), Zane Berge (Uni-versity of Maryland) notes how increasing numbers of adult learners,along with the development of new technologies, are changing the face ofpostsecondary education, particularly in the demand for distance educa-tion.

Carmen Luke’s 2003 article on “Pedagogy, Connectivity, Multi-modality, and Interdisciplinarity” provides a brief look at the ways inwhich technology mediated learning can be effective in the classroombecause it relies on multiple pedagogical approaches (Reading ResearchQuarterly 38.3 [2003]: 397–403).

“Becoming Literate in the Information Age: Cultural Ecologies andthe Literacies of Technology” by Gail E. Hawisher, Cynthia L. Selfe, Brit-tney Moraski, and Melissa Pearson also provides a powerful argument forthe changing nature of the composition classroom (College Compositionand Communication 55.4 [2004]: 642–692).

In his essay “Field Trips to Virtual Public Squares? Purposes, Audi-ences, Teachers, and Student-Written Web Pages,” in Public Works: Stu-




dent Writing as Public Text, edited by Emily J. Isaacs and Phoebe Jackson(Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook-Heinemann, 2001, 61–68), JonathanBenda explores issues that students confront when they write for the Internet.


Answers will vary. You might want to make a chart on the board, with the categories

“Résumé,” “Cover Letter,” “Sociology Research Paper,” “E-mail to a friend,” “Poster,” and

“Newspaper Editorial.” Working as a class, you can solicit ideas from students about the

ways in which the discourse changes for each writing situation. The emphasis for this exer-

cise, whether it is completed as a class, in small groups, or individually at home, is for stu-

dents to understand how the role, purpose, audience, context, and specific requirements of

any writing situation affect the writing.

EXERCISE 4–2A. Informative. While the paragraph is written in an interesting and engaging way,

Trefil does not take a position on what one should do with the information found there.

There is no “call to action.” The fact that trees contain precipitation and temperature records

is not debatable, but based on scientific research. The point is to inform the reader that trees

contain information that is useful to future generations.

B. Persuasive. Is physical location a thing of the past? Lanham is writing to per-

suade the reader that “physicality” does not matter. This is an interesting and debatable argu-

ment; therefore, Lanham has to persuade a reader to agree with him.

C. Expressive. This paragraph is purely the author expressing himself, as evidenced

with such words as phrases as “I’ve had it” (used three times), and “I wish.”

D. Entertainment and informative. The author not only informs us that soybeans are

used as fillers, but does so in the way she creatively describes the smell of soybeans, how

“locals are used to” them, and her description of corn as being “Midwestern” and “rural.”


CHAPTER 5

Essential Processes for Academic Writing

I write rather quickly. I’ve come to accept it. For a long time I was ashamedof myself for writing fast because I talked to people and I thought I wasn’t takingenough pains or something. But I do write the first draft very quickly, and then Icome back and work on it.

—Eilis Ni Dhuibhne

OVERVIEW This chapter begins by describing the writing process and then takes

the student through the steps for writing: developing ideas, writing effec-tive thesis statements, using outlines.

Quick Boxes5.1 Steps in the writing process, p. 61

5.2 How to think like a writer, p. 62

5.3 Strategies for developing ideas, p. 65

5.4 Basic requirements for a thesis statement, p. 70

5.5 Outline formats, p. 72

5.6 Ways to overcome writer’s block, p. 77

5.7 Types and levels of revision, p. 78

5.8 Revision checklist, p. 80

5.9 Editing, p. 81

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: Some students have difficulty thinking abstractly or lin-

early when they hear general statements such as “limit the topic” and“broaden or enlarge the topic.” These students are often “visual picture”learners, and they, as well as their classmates of other learning styles, arelikely to find the task of limiting the topic a bigger challenge than enlarg-ing it. One way for you to help them grasp the concept of limiting is foryou first to think of a broad (and fairly dull) topic such as “The environ-ment” and then ask students to limit it by imagining with you somethinghighly specific and concrete, something that can be pictured. Encouragestudents to think in sensory terms, involving as many of the senses as pos-sible. If no one comes up with an image or something else, perhaps have





them close their eyes and think of a lake. Where is it? What is its name?What does it look like? How clean is the water? What wildlife is there?Next, ask the students to zoom in on one aspect of the lake environmentthey find intriguing or disturbing. Name it. Provide a title: “Eagle Soars atEagle Lake” or “The Murky Waters of Lake Claire,” for example. Nowask the students to work in groups to repeat the exercise with “Buildings”or perhaps “Big ideas.”

Teaching Tip: Students may be surprised to learn that all writers findthe blank sheet of paper (or blank computer screen) a source of anxiety.The experienced writer knows that the most effective way to move pastthat feeling is to write something, regardless of its value. Once the cleansurface has words on it, other words follow more easily. Unrelated ideas,notes, questions, and examples—all help relieve the writer’s discomfortwith getting started. A good habit for students to cultivate is to jot downresponses and reactions to writing tasks as soon as the tasks are given.These jottings can sometimes be effective, lively catalysts for writing.

Teaching Tip: Getting started seems hardest for writers at the pointwhen they have to move from planning and shaping to actual writing.Dealing with writer’s block is no small matter for writers, instructors ofwriting, and students. You might take some class time to discuss mythsabout writing.

Teaching Tip: Lynn says, “The facsimile of my writing and revising atthe opening of this chapter is completely authentic (though the handwrit-ing is not mine because I tend to scrawl illegibly). I have included thisdraft to show students that most teachers and professional writers evolvea text rather than produce it in one fell swoop. When I do this in my writ-ing classes, the students never fail to be surprised that their instructor’sfirst draft could be so rough. You might also bring in a few examples ofyour own drafts. A paragraph or two can suffice. And if you write at acomputer, as I do, plan ahead and keep those sentences you love to deletewith the press of a key. Interestingly, I have found that a few studentssometimes think that my rough drafts are better than their final drafts,which can be discouraging. I try to emphasize that I am not as much of anapprentice writer as the students are. And I am writing from a base ofwhere I am after decades of writing, not from the base where I started incollege.”

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESIn “Digital Mirrors: Multimodal Reflection in the Composition Class-

room” (Computers and Composition online, Spring 2008, www.bgsu/cconline/Digital_Mirrors), Debra Journet, Tabetha Adkins, Chris Alexan-


Chapter 5—Essential Processes for Academic Writing

der, Patrick Corbett, and Ryan Trauman offer an extensive look at the pos-sibilities for using reflection in the composition classroom.

In “Mediated Texts: A Heuristic for Academic Writing” (Journal ofBasic Writing, September 1998: 56–72), Eileen Biser, Linda Rubel, andRose Marie Toscano offer an innovative invention technique that may beparticularly valuable for ESOL and basic writers.

In “Ethical Issues Raised by Students’ Personal Writing” (CollegeEnglish, March 1998: 318–325), Dan Morgan explores an instructor’sresponsibility to respond to student writing that is “confessional.” He sug-gests assignment topics that circumvent this problem.

In “Using Principles of Universal Design in College CompositionCourses” (Basic Writing e-Journal 5.1, Spring 2004 /www.asu.edu/clas/english/composition/cbw/BWEspring 2004.html), Patricia J.McAlexander (University of Georgia) supports the view of other propo-nents of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) that there is no single bestway to teach writing and that students’ individual learning strengths andmotivation require individual approaches for students—all students, thosewith and those without physical or learning disabilities.

In Composition-Rhetoric: Backgrounds, Theory, and Pedagogy (Pitts-burgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1997), Robert J. Connors recountsvarious notions of invention that have been studied and taught in Ameri-can colleges since the early nineteenth century.

In “Writing Rituals” (ERIC ED 295 172), Ann B. Dobie shares theresults of her study of students’ and professional writers’ composinghabits. Dobie suggests that an understanding of these rituals can helpimprove student writing.

In her essay “The Effects of Computers on Traditional Writing” (Jour-nal of Electronic Publishing 8.1, August 2002 http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=jep;view;rgn=main ;idno=3336451.0008.104>),Sharmila Pixy Ferris questions the validity of our viewing electronic writ-ing as an extension of traditional writing in print.

In “Revision and Process: ‘Round Robin’ Group Writing” (TeachingEnglish in the Two-Year College, March 2000: 342), Judith Platz describesa group drafting assignment that encourages students to thoughtfully con-sider organization, structure, and content.

Beth L. Hewett and Christa Ehmann Powers call for those who haveimplemented successful programs to provide comprehensive and system-atic online support for online instruction (“How Do You Ground YourTraining?” Kairos: Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy 10.1,Fall 2005 //english.ttu.edu/kairos/10.1/binder.html?praxis/hewett/index.htm).





In “The Ill Effects of the Five Paragraph Theme” (English Journal90, September 2000: 57–60), Kimberly Wesley argues that adhering toorigidly to the five-paragraph theme format hinders the development of crit-ical thinking. In contrast, Robert Perrin defends the five-paragraph essay,arguing that the maligned form may actually foster creativity (“10:00 and2:00: A Ten-Paragraph Defense of the Five-Paragraph Theme,” TeachingEnglish in the Two-Year College, March 2000: 312–314).


Answers will vary according to the categories students choose. In this activity, help

students to understand how categorization will help them in taking material from a brain-

stormed list and using it in an essay. Some categories for this assignment might include

“Viewer-Driven Advertisement,” “Fan-Based Advertisement,” “Interviews,” and “Advertis-

ing.”

EXERCISE 5–2Answers will vary.

EXERCISE 5–3A. The fourth thesis statement succeeds because it states a main idea (about maga-

zine advertisements’ appeal to readers); it reflects a purpose (to persuade); it has a focus

(that magazine advertisements must be skillfully done); and it briefly presents subdivisions

(language, color, and design). The first and second thesis statements are too general, show-

ing neither a purpose nor a focus. The third thesis statement shows a persuasive purpose but

is still too general and has no focus (“must” isn’t explained).

B. The fourth thesis statement succeeds because it states a main idea (about playing

soccer for fun and exercise); it reflects a purpose (to inform); it has a focus (what is required

for playing soccer for fun and exercise); and it briefly presents subdivisions (agility, stamina,

and teamwork). The first statement is too general (“widely played” is a very broad term)

and shows no purpose or focus. The second statement is also too vague (“fun” is a very

broad term when used without a context) and shows no purpose or focus. The third statement

reflects an informative purpose but lacks a focus (“various skills” is too vague).

C. The fourth thesis statement succeeds because it states a main idea (about car emis-

sions standards); it reflects a purpose (to persuade); and it has a focus (the specific action that

Congress should take). The first statement uses vague language (“pay attention” and “envi-

ronment”), and it suggests neither a persuasive nor an informative intent. The second state-

ment reflects a persuasive purpose, but “worry” is vague. The third statement reflects either

an informative or a persuasive purpose, but the broad claim is so obvious that it will not lead

to an effective paper.

D. The fourth thesis statement succeeds because it states a main idea (about cell

phone usage); it reflects a purpose (to persuade); and it has a focus (cell phone usage while

driving should be illegal). The first statement is too general (“cell phones are popular”) has


Chapter 5—Essential Processes for Academic Writing

neither a persuasive nor an informative intent and lacks a purpose or focus. The second state-

ment is equally general and lacks a focus. The third statement suggests an informative pur-

pose but lacks a focus.

EXERCISE 5–4Answers may vary.

Thesis statement: Taxpayers should demand more investment in public transportation.

I. Inadequate public transportation

A. Cities need to move residents

1. Increased population

2. Good responses

3. Poor responses

B. People need to move easily and cheaply

1. Dependent on cars

2. Cheaper and easier in Europe

II. Lack of public transportation = problems

A. Cars = pollution

B. Limited space for new roads and highways

C. Congestion limits productivity

D. People cannot drive themselves

1. Young and old don’t drive

2. Expense of cars

III. Improving public transportation possible

A. Bus service and light rail

B. Wider national rail

C. Even though costly, affordable

1. Money from new roads

2. New transportation = jobs = new tax base

3. Savings offset tax increases




CHAPTER 6

Writing Paragraphs, Shaping Essays

One of the most difficult things is the first paragraph. I have spent manymonths on a first paragraph, and once I get it, the rest just comes out very easily.

—Gabriel García Márquez

OVERVIEW In this chapter, students will begin to work on paragraph develop-

ment, using topic sentences, as well as utilizing rhetorical patterns in theirparagraphs.

Quick Boxes6.1 Introductory paragraphs, p. 86

6.2 The RENNS test: checking for supporting details, p. 92

6.3 Techniques for achieving coherence, p. 93

6.4 Transitional expressions and the relationships they signal, p. 94

6.5 Common rhetorical patterns of thought (strategies) for para-graphs, p. 98

6.6 Comparison and contrast, p. 101

6.7 Strategies for concluding paragraphs, p. 105

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIES, AND EXTRA EXERCISESTeaching Tip: Most newspaper articles and many magazine articles

make poor models for paragraphing (unless you are teaching journalism).Be aware that composition textbooks often include some newspaper andmagazine articles as model essays. Second, encouraging students to read anewspaper regularly may make them better informed and expose them tonew vocabulary, but such reading alone is not likely to help them formsubconscious ideas about paragraph structure that can be usefully appliedto academic writing. To learn to write essays, the student must—at leastpart of the time—read essays. One way to show your students the differ-ence between essay paragraphing and newspaper paragraphing is to givethem copies of pieces dealing with the same experience: a newspaperaccount of a fire and an essay written in response to the event, or a news-paper account of a trial and a magazine essay discussing the case. Askstudents to list the differences. At minimum, they will mention differencesin length and number of paragraphs and in the presence or absence of per-


Chapter 6—Writing Paragraphs, Shaping Essays

sonal opinion. They may also notice the lack of a thesis statement and aconclusion in the newspaper article and the presence of both in the essay.You might also ask students how satisfied they would be if they weregiven only the first paragraph of the newspaper article and of the essay.The article’s introduction will probably be far more satisfying in terms ofinformation but less satisfying in terms of graceful presentation, back-ground, pacing, and the like. Another way to underscore the differencebetween the genres is to give students (or assign them to find) a meatynewspaper article—the kind that runs for two pages. Have them rewritethe article as an essay. Before the students write, you might discuss withthem the kinds of changes they anticipate making.

Teaching Tip: Students know that first and last impressions are impor-tant. For example, they probably want to project a positive image whenthey meet someone for the first time, and they want to reinforce this imagewhen they leave. Explain that, similarly, an introduction and a conclusionare important parts of any essay. Together they provide the first and lastcontact students have with their reader. You might have students look at astory in a literature textbook, an article in a magazine, and a newspapereditorial. Ask them to underline a key statement or phrase in the intro-duction and conclusion of each. What was memorable? Why? If the stu-dents were advising the writer, what, if anything, would they change tocapture interest at the outset and cement a lasting impression at the end?

Teaching Tip: Ask students to locate (or to write themselves) severaldifferent types of introductions for an essay on a particular topic. Optionsmay include the following: an interest-getting anecdote; a startling fact orstatistic; a rhetorical question; a “quotable quote”; an exaggerated state-ment. Students often enjoy working collaboratively on this activity, andthey certainly learn the value of “baiting” the reader through a lively intro-duction.

Teaching Tip (ESOL): Some ESOL students may attempt to weave everyfact included in the body of the paper into their introductions. Unfortu-nately, this “tapestry” technique usually strikes native speakers as repeti-tive, even though it demonstrates considerable skill. Instructors mightexplain that introductions in English are less all-encompassing and moresubtle.

Extra Exercise AProvide students with the first sentence and last sentence of an intro-

duction, then ask them to write enough middle sentences to connect thetwo. Following are two example first and last sentences. (Answers willvary. The most important criterion for success in this assignment is howseamlessly the students were able to bridge the gap between first and lastsentence.)





A. First sentence: I went shopping at the grocery store today. Last sen-tence: This is why it is important for the American government tosubsidize agriculture in the United States.

B. First Sentence: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the UnitedStates’ official poverty rate in 2004 was 12.7 percent, up from 12.5percent 2003. Last sentence: Even if we must pay higher taxes, weneed to do more to help the less fortunate in our country.

Teaching Tip: The root cause of weak writing is often unclear thinking.You may want to encourage your students to practice writing strong topicsentences at the beginning of their paragraphs as a way to ensure that theyhave a clear focus and clear direction. Help them to see that only carefullycrafted paragraphs can have a legitimately “implied” topic sentence andthat most paragraphs will gain coherence through a clearly stated topicsentence. Class or online exercises that allow sharing of the students’ ownwriting provide a good way to reinforce this concept.

Teaching Tip: Regardless of students’ interests, virtually any topic, ifwell written, can capture their imaginations. You can choose to invite stu-dents to bring in feature articles of events that intrigue them or case stud-ies of industries that capture their attention. Ideally, ask for writingsamples on topics that initially don’t seem interesting but which promptthem to dive in and read because of the writing style and delivery. Ask stu-dents to pinpoint a paragraph or even a sentence that they especially like.

Teaching Tip: In writing clinics, many top writers of fiction haveadmonished their students to “show, don’t tell” the reader. Instead of writ-ing, “The grocery clerk was angry and upset when she was fired for mis-takenly overcharging a customer,” the experienced writer is more apt towrite the following: “With a sudden rush of blood splotching her neck,Jenny gritted back tears as she snatched off the grocery clerk’s apron andthen called over her shoulder as she headed for the door, ‘You could havetaken $1.46 out of my paycheck, you know!’ ” Your students will enjoy anassignment that asks them to revise, appealing to as many senses as pos-sible as they show the reader. You may want to extend this discussion byasking students how they might “show, not just tell” the reader in argu-mentative and persuasive writing. Be sure that they mention the use ofexamples, statistics, expert testimony, and the like.

Activity (Collaboration): With full class participation, establish a sharedtext by having students retell a traditional children’s story such as “Jackand the Beanstalk” or “Little Red Riding Hood.” Divide the class intogroups, assigning each group one pattern for developing a paragraph. Askeach group to choose any element in the story and write a paragraphaccording to the assigned pattern of development. One group might writea detailed description of the hen that lays golden eggs. Another might



explain the process by which Jack climbs the beanstalk. Another mightanalyze the root cause of Jack and his mother’s poverty. Have one memberof each group read its paragraph aloud, providing you and the class withan opportunity for comment and response. Such entertaining activities canalso make the writing process seem less onerous to resistant students.

Teaching Tip: Most students will be familiar with the marvelous repe-tition in the “I Have a Dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. How-ever, you may want your students to listen to the speech again, preferablyto the recording of Dr. King’s voice. Spend a few moments eliciting stu-dent response to questions of how the repetition worked and why it waseffective in this speech. Students are likely also to remember the conclu-sion of Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” (“that a government ofthe people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth”)and a memorable quotation from John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what yourcountry can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Enjoywatching your students groan when you ask if anyone would have remem-bered Lincoln’s saying “that a government developed by the people, onethat was meant to include all the people and that would be led by some ofthe people, would surely not fail.” Nor would anyone have remembered“Ask not what your country can do for you; instead, you need to be rais-ing the question of what you can do for your country.” Students may enjoylooking for other examples of memorable repetition or parallelism. Betteryet, ask them to experiment with some sentences of their own, especiallyin their introductions and conclusions.

Teaching Tip: In her paper “The Preliminaries,” Esther DiMarzio ofKishwaukee Community College (in Illinois) extols the power of repeti-tion. She recommends that writers judiciously repeat “a sentence . . . orperhaps refer to the title” of an essay for a “unified effect.” Most studentsare aware that repetition plays a key role in memorization. You might askstudents how a writer uses repetition for maximum impact. Perhaps read-ing to the class a poem that repeats certain words or phrases (such as A. E.Housman’s “When I Was One-and-Twenty”) can serve to illustrateDiMarzio’s point. Housman’s poem is available online at Bartleby www.bartleby.com/123/13.html.

Example of Spatial Sequence: The wash [low land that is sometimesflooded and at other times nearly dry] looked perfectly dry in my head-lights. I drove down, across, up the other side and on into the night.Glimpses of weird humps of pale rock on either side, like petrified ele-phants, dinosaurs, stone-age hobgoblins. Now and then something alivescurried across the road: kangaroo mice, a jackrabbit, an animal thatlooked like a cross between a raccoon and a squirrel—the ringtail cat. Far-ther on a pair of mule deer started from the brush and bounded obliquely





through the beams of my lights, raising puffs of dust which the wind,moving faster than my pickup truck, caught and carried ahead of me outof sight into the dark. The road, narrow and rocky, twisted sharply leftand right, dipped in and out of tight ravines, climbing by degrees towarda summit which I would see only in the light of the coming day. —EdwardAbbey, “The Most Beautiful Place on Earth”

Example from General to Specific: We all listen to music according toour separate capacities. But, for the sake of analysis, the whole listeningprocess may become clearer if we break it up into its component parts, soto speak. In a certain sense we all listen to music on three separate planes.For lack of a better terminology, one might name these: (1) the sensuousplane, (2) the expressive plane, (3) the sheerly musical plane. —AaronCopland

Teaching Tip: One function that paragraphs serve is to cue readersabout shifts in ideas. Paragraphs, then, have an aspect of design to them,however modest. Consider, for example, how pages would look differentwithout the white space breaks provided by paragraphing. Web pages cuereaders in other fashions. In pages that were designed specifically for theWeb (as opposed to being first written for traditional print, then copiedonto the Web), the screen functions in ways parallel to the paragraph. Inother words, writers and designers think in terms of what readers andviewers will grasp in one screen, without scrolling down. You might havestudents look at several documents that are designed to be read online andcompare the relationship between paragraphs and screens full of the infor-mation in those documents.

Extra Exercise B: Mark all of the transitional expressions used in the following para-

graph. Answers appear in italics.

Edith Newbold Jones was the descendant of wealthy, sociallyprominent New York families. As a result, she made her formaldebut before she married Edward Wharton of Boston in 1885.Soon after her marriage, she began writing as a therapeuticmeasure. She also used her writing as a means of occupying herfree time when her husband was suffering from a mental illness.Naturally, much of her writing was concerned with the closed,wealthy New York society she had known as a child. In the1890s, as a result of her “hobby,” she published her first shortstories in Scribner’s magazine, using her married name, EdithWharton. Subsequently, she was recognized as one of America’sbest popular writers. For example, in 1924 she became the firstwoman ever to receive an honorary degree from Yale University.Equally important, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1921



for The Age of Innocence, a novel about the unbreakable moralcode of Victorian society. Her most famous work, however, isEthan Frome, a tragic love story. Although she continued to writeabout American subjects and characters, she spent much of herlater life in France, where she had a home. She died there in1937.

Extra Exercise C: Rewrite the following paragraph, using transitional words and phrases

to make it more coherent. Combine and rearrange the sentences as youthink necessary. Answers will vary.

Americans are beginning to recognize the importance of reg-ular exercise. Jogging gives the heart a good workout. It candamage the runner’s ankles and calves. Jogging by itself doeslittle to exercise the upper body. Some people prefer to walk.Bicycling is popular. In a pleasant setting, it provides visualpleasures as well as a way to burn calories. Some people ride astationary bicycle at home. They can watch television while theyrotate the pedals. Swimming involves the upper body as well asthe legs. It allows a person to exert as much energy as possiblewithout straining muscles. On a hot summer day, swimmingseems more like fun than like exercise.

Extra Exercise D: Using paragraph 20 as an example, have students write a paragraph

about a time in their lives when an unplanned encounter has led to a pos-itive consequence. After they have finished, have them share their essayswith each other, either aloud or in small groups. Afterwards, ask them tothink about what essay topics this narrative might fit well.

Extra Exercise E: Write a paragraph defining one of the terms listed below. You may

find it helpful to begin by determining the class (genus) of the term andthe characteristics that distinguish it from other members of the class. Ina paragraph of definition, you might find using synonyms, etymologicalinformation, and contrasting examples helpful. (Answers will vary.) 1.chemistry 2. extrasensory perception 3. movies 4. weather 5. physical fit-ness.

Extra Exercise F: The sentences below have been jumbled. They are intended to form a

paragraph of definition. Indicate which is the topic sentence; then, recordthe order of the remaining sentences by numbering them.

1. It is the total of all substantive things called economic goods.





2. In other words, wealth is a stock, while income is a flow of economicgoods.

3. The wealth of a nation is the stock of economic goods owned by itsinhabitants as individuals or as members of the national group.

4. Economists use the term economic goods to refer to sources of satis-faction that are scarce enough to command a price.

5. Wealth differs from income in that wealth is the sum of the goodsowned at a particular time, whereas income is derived from the quan-tity of goods consumed during a specific period.

Answer to Extra Exercise F The order of sentences should be 3, 1, 4, 5, 2.

Extra Exercise G: To practice the principles of classification, arrange the following

terms into three groups on the basis of their similarities. Give each groupa heading.

1. violin 2. helmet

3. bulb 4. conductor

5. perennial 6. referee

7. concerto 8. touchdown

9. blossom 10. baton

11. Mozart 12. quarterback

13. leaves and stems 14. spectators

15. nursery

Answers to Extra Exercise G Symphony Orchestra: violin, conductor, concerto, baton, Mozart

Football: helmet, referee, touchdown, quarterback, spectators

Flowers: bulb, perennial, blossom, leaves and stems, nursery

Extra Exercise H: To practice the skills of comparing and contrasting, list the most

important aspects of the following pairs of items. Using that information,write a topic sentence about their relative value or about their similaritiesand differences.

1. baseball and football

2. Halloween and the Fourth of July

3. small towns and large cities

4. apartments and houses

5. books and television

Answers to Extra Exercise H Answers will vary, but the information listed should lead to a topic

sentence.



Teaching Tip: One way to help students succeed with Exercise 6-7 is totalk them through these imaginary essays before they think about the end-ings and how they might relate to the beginnings they wrote in Exercise 6-1. A class discussion about what details might support the topics of eachparagraph can strengthen students’ understanding of the importance of evi-dence. At the same time, it can give students a fuller concept of the essayson which they based their introductory paragraphs and are now basingtheir concluding paragraphs. When the students write their conclusions,you can alert them to the lists of useful devices and of what to avoid,explained in Quick Box 6.7.


Answers will vary. Students may learn more by writing a different type of introduction

for a single prompt than they might by writing different introductions for different prompts.

If you find yourself short on time—and what instructor doesn’t?—have students write mul-

tiple kinds of introductions for a single prompt.

EXERCISE 6–2A. The topic sentence is the first sentence.

B. The topic sentence is the last sentence.

C. The topic sentence is the first sentence; the second sentence is a limiting sen-

tence.

EXERCISE 6–3A. Reasons include learning current knowledge, continuing your learning throughout

life, having a job, and being a spouse, a parent, and a member of the community. Examples

include job, spouse, parent, and member of the community. Number named is six.

B. Names include oak, deer, firefighters. Senses are invoked by sound of crashing

oak, sight of flames, “fiery tomb,” smoldering in ashes, deer family darting furiously, and the

smell (implied) of burning trees.

C. Examples include colonial Virginians using their cravats as handkerchiefs and

people putting their knives in their mouths. Names include the French traveler, distinguished

people, and people in the theater. Numbers include the dates the 1830s and the 19th century.

Senses include the noise—chants, jeers, and shouts—made by the audience in the theater.

EXERCISE 6–4A. Pronouns: her, she. Deliberate repetition: Kathy, arms, hands opened, closed. Par-

allel structures: Many parallel clauses, starting with “Her shoulders raised”; open hands

reaching out, and closed hands bringing back.

B. Pronouns: we, our, whom, this. Deliberate repetition: world, we, racism, preju-

dice. Parallel structures: once set in motion, will remain in motion; we must.





EXERCISE 6–5Each paragraph will differ in content, but this exercise should help students see that

they need to support general statements with graphic details (developed through RENNS, dis-

cussed in 6F) that are smoothly linked by the techniques of coherence discussed in 6G: tran-

sitional expressions, pronouns, repetition, and parallel structures.

EXERCISE 6–6Some paragraphs can be interpreted to illustrate more than one pattern. This is a basic

list only.

A. (paragraph 32). Extended definition (or illustration)

B. (paragraph 33). Description, narrative, analysis, examples

C. (paragraph 34). Cause and effect, definition, analogy

E. (paragraph 35). Classification, examples

EXERCISE 6–7Answers will vary. As suggested before in regard to introductions, students may learn

more by writing a different type of conclusion for a single prompt than they might by writ-

ing different introductions for different prompts.


CHAPTER 7

Designing Documents

In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing.

—Oscar Wilde

OVERVIEW An important aspect of delivery a writing is the visual element. Chap-

ter 7 introduces to students important instruction on what constitutes agood design, how to use text and headers in a useful way, how to incor-porate photographs and other visuals into the text, and how to layout pagesin a document.

Quick Boxes7.1 Elements of document design, p. 107

7.2 Checklist for document design, p. 107

7.3 Common types of headings, p. 111

7.4 Guidelines for using visuals, p. 115

7.5 Guidelines for positioning text and visuals, p. 115

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESActivity: A good classroom activity is to have students gather examples

of flyers and brochures to bring to class for discussion and analysis. Indi-vidually or in groups, they can critique the materials, pointing outstrengths and weaknesses in their designs by using the four principles ofunity, variety, balance, and emphasis. This activity can be most effectivewhen students gather “amateur” as well as “professional” examples. Aneffective further question to ask is, “What was the intention of thedesigner?” In other words, what seemed to inform the choices that thewriter/designer made?

Teaching Tip: A basic review of color theory can help students avoidcreating hard-to-read, distracting, or visually unappealing designs. TwoWeb sites where students can find information about the use of colors arewww.colormatters.com colortheory.html (for a basic overview) andwww.worqx.com/color (for a more extensive overview). If nothing else,students will want to examine the color wheel—and possibly keep onehandy—to help them use colors effectively in their designs.

Teaching Tip: Much like grammar rules, the “grammar” of designchanges and evolves over time; it is not static and fixed. Be sure to informstudents that sometimes the best design violates some received rule about





design. For instance, there are many “grunge” fonts available now thatare intentionally smeared, faded, and harder to read that traditional fonts;these fonts, however, evoke a certain counterculture mindset that maymore effectively connect with some audiences. When students design doc-uments for class, have them consider when they might violate some designprinciple in order to communicate more powerfully.

Activity: Have students design their own personal logo. A logo is oneof the ways in which organizations, businesses, and artists quickly andeasily identify themselves to the world at large (the marketing concept forthis falls under the rubric of ”brand management”). Have students con-sider what kind of logo they would create to represent themselves to theoutside world, and then have them create it. For inspiration, have themlook at some recent trends in logo creation at www.logolounge.com/ articles/default.asp?ArticleID=540. Once they have created a logo,have them include it on all assignments they submit for the class. This isone fun way to help them remember the importance of design elementsand visual presentation.

Teaching Tip: Several students will be familiar with zines, alternative orunderground magazines with origins in fanzines and published in print oronline. Having groups of students produce a zine on a particular topic orsubject matter offers a good opportunity for them to try design strategies.Owing to their spirit and origins, zines typically use counterculture or retroformats, even relying on pasted and taped photocopied documents in araw pastiche. However, some zines are becoming more polished in theirdesign, and the freewheeling nature of these publications, designed forlocal or insider distribution, provides a kind of free experimentation areathat more staid genres do not. A clearinghouse of information on zine pub-lishing is available from The Book of Zines: Readings from the Fringe,edited by Chip Rowe (New York: Henry Holt, 1997). The online site forthe clearinghouse can be found at www.zinebook.com. Dagmar Corriganand Chidsey Dickson published an article on electronic zines in the class-room in the online journal Kairos (Summer 2002). The article, found athttp://english.ttu.edu/kairos/7.2/binder.html?sectiontwo/corrigan/descrip-tion.html, contains links to specific assignments and directions to students.

Teaching Tip: Clip art that is recognizable as clip art—for instance, theclip art that comes packaged with Microsoft Word—almost alwaysdetracts from a document’s design. A little effort spent on either findingless-common clip art or, even better, taking original photographs will helpmake documents less generic and more interesting.


Chapter 7—Designing Documents

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESKaren A. Schriver’s Dynamics in Document Design (New York:

Wiley, 1997) offers practical approaches to teaching design in the class-room. Her fourth chapter, for example, examines the ways in which poordocument design may cause readers to lose confidence in their own intel-ligence rather than lose faith in the document’s designer. Schriver’s sixthchapter examines the integration of verbal and visual features in texts.

The Non-Designer’s Design Book, 2nd ed., by Robin Williams (Berke-ley, CA: Peachpit Press, 2003) is an excellent introduction to design prin-ciples. Williams suggests that document design can be reduced to fourbasic principles: proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast. This worktakes readers through each principle, suggesting guidelines for each andproviding examples from brochures, pamphlets, newsletters, posters, andflyers that use or abuse these principles.

In The Computer and the Page: The Theory, History, and Pedagogyof Publishing, Technology, and the Classroom (Norwood, NJ: Ablex,1996), James Kalmbach provides an overview of how technologicaladvances have altered writing classrooms. Reading Images: The Gram-mar of Visual Design, by Gunther R. Kress and Theo Van Leeuwen(London: Routledge, 1996) explains how visual elements have specificeffects on readers that writers should recognize and use to their advan-tage. Kress’s later work, Literacy in the New Media Age (Literacies)(London: Routledge, 2003), takes his thinking a step further, as Kress con-tends that the screen and the image have replaced the book and writing asthe dominant medium of communication.

Susan Hilligoss’s Visual Communication (Boston: Longman, 2001)includes a discussion of the rhetoric of visual information. This textbookoffers chapters that detail tips for planning effective documents: brochures,newsletters, Web sites, and others.

Many design experts consider Edward R. Tufte’s The Visual Displayof Quantitative Information, 2nd ed. (Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, 2001),the best source on how complex information can most effectively be pre-sented graphically. Tufte presents examples of bad design as well as good,and the charts, graphs, and other visuals provide useful illustrations forteaching.

“Why Teach Digital Writing” by the WIDE Research Center Collec-tive provides a compelling argument for the shift towards digital writing(Kairos 10.1). Two excellent new multimodal texts provide an interestingintroduction to teaching in a digital age. Barbara Ganley’s collage “Bal-ancing Acts: Transformations & Tensions in the 21st-Century WritingClassroom,” at www.vuvox.com/collage/detail/29836, examines old and





new medias contrasted to demonstrate how students write and learn dif-ferently today. The YouTube video “A Vision of Students Today” examineshow education and information literacy is changing. Created by KansasState University Professor Michael Wesch in collaboration with his Spring2007 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology students, this digital ethnog-raphy provides a powerful challenge to contemporary pedagogy, see http://youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o. Cynthia L. Selfe’s MultimodalComposition: Resources for Teachers (Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press,2007) has a variety of excellent essays on the use of multimodal compo-sition in the classroom.


Answer: Among the things that students should point out is that the several photo-

graphs are randomly arranged and in various sizes, that the clip art looks silly in combina-

tion with the photographs, that the various typefaces are distracting, and that the most

important information on the poster is hard to find. Suggested improvements will vary.


CHAPTER 8

Creating a Writing Portfolio

It doesn't matter how you write the first draft or even the second draft, butit makes all the difference in the world how you write the final draft.

—Elizabeth White

OVERVIEW This chapter not only helps the student create a writing portfolio, but

guides them through writing a self-reflective essay or letter introducingthat portfolio. Section 8D.2 talks about digital portfolios.

Quick Boxes8.1 What’s in a writing portfolio? p. 117

8.2 Structure of a self-reflective essay or letter, p. 118

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: The portfolio mantra that students and instructors should

always remember is “collect, select, reflect.”

Teaching Tip: A basic review of color theory can help students avoidcreating hard-to-read, distracting, or visually unappealing designs. TwoWeb sites where students can find information about the use of colors arewww.colormatters.com/colortheory.html (for a basic overview) andwww.worqx.com/color/ (for a more extensive overview). If nothing else,students will want to examine the color wheel—and possibly keep onehandy—to help them use colors effectively in their designs.

Teaching Tip: Although the individuality and flexibility of portfoliosare their chief benefits, sometimes the process of managing the paperworkseems overwhelming. To avoid the helter-skelter stress associated withportfolios, use a three-phase portfolio template, which should allow forsensible implementation and yet maintain the diversity of instructional andlearning needs. This is just one approach that has proved workable; feelfree to design your own program.

Diagnostic Portfolio (Weeks 1–4)

This portfolio is created during the early weeks of the term throughthe assembly of all early work, which could include everything frominclass and formal writing assignments to journal entries to text and classnotes. The whole point of this phase is to provide a clear, written record ofthe student’s current abilities and commitment. This means that studentsmust reflect (in a cover essay) on the implications of their work by ana-





lyzing their grades and their instructors’ comments; self-analysis allowsstudents to set individual goals to be fulfilled throughout the remainderof the semester. This process is a modified application of the scientificmethod (see Chapter 60).

Working Portfolio (Weeks 5–13)

This portfolio contains all the work produced during the semester(except, of course, for the work already housed in the Diagnostic Portfo-lio): all formal and informal writing assignments, all prewriting and drafts,and any independent work on individual needs identified in the Diagnos-tic Portfolio, such as grammar remediation. The Working Portfolio couldalso contain all work associated with the research project, such as bibli-ography and note cards and photocopies of articles. The purpose of thisphase in the portfolio process is to document progress and commitmentand the relationship between the two. This does, indeed, profile time ontask. In fact, this is the phase that clearly illustrates the relationshipbetween quantity and quality of work.

Display Portfolio (Weeks 14–16)

This portfolio contains best works only. Therefore, the only pieces inthis phase will be clean, polished drafts of writing produced and chroni-cled in the previous portfolio phases. The only new work in this sectionwill be the student’s final reflection essay that discusses in depth the stu-dent’s achievement and establishes the evidence of the grade desired bythe student. This discussion should include references to the work con-tained in both of the other portfolios.

Activity (Sharpening the Listening-Reading-Writing Connection): Portfo-lios offer a structured, systematic “reading in the content course”approach. Indeed, the success of portfolio assessment rests in the com-forting roots of its pedagogy, the synergistic relationships among listening,reading, and writing. Understanding this fundamental connection, as usedin portfolio assessment, will make for effective and exciting results. Fosterstudents’ critical reading skills by asking them to pay attention to the pur-pose of each assignment, your feedback, and the textbook’s information.For example, the Diagnostic Portfolio not only establishes preexisting abil-ities and becomes a measuring tool for future growth and reflection butalso quickly establishes the ongoing connections among listening, read-ing, and writing.

Using a variety of early semester learning activities—such as in-classand take-home writing assignments, instructor feedback and scores, inter-est and behavior inventories, a diagnostic grammar test, and class notes—ask students to discuss their strengths and needs by providing a set ofreflective questions. Once the student has identified an individual list of


Chapter 8—Creating a Writing Portfolio

needs, require a textbook reconnaissance for the solutions for each prob-lem, and have the student create a study plan based on the pages requiredto study, projected amount of time needed to study, and ways to measuremastery of each skill. Notice that the student has had to actually readinstructor comments, survey the textbook, establish prior knowledge, anduse inference, prediction, and time-management skills.

Teaching Tip (Instructor Feedback in the Use of Portfolio Assessment): Toooften, instructors hold on to information that students really need. Portfo-lio assessment can be a tool to communicate this very information in anonthreatening and motivational manner. Instructor feedback is a valuablecommunication opportunity. Generally speaking, feedback comes to thestudent in one of two ways: grades and instructors’ comments. Studentsvery often ignore the comments and are angered or discouraged by thegrades. The portfolio process can help students make insightful connec-tions between the two.

Activity (Individual Assignments): First, be sure that feedback never cor-rects the mistake but only identifies it. Use correction symbols (see“Response Symbols” at the back of this book) to identify the error; thenask students to look up the rule, pull the faulty sentence out of contextfor a grammar exercise, and explain why the rule applies and how to fixthe error. In this way, feedback becomes an opportunity for a reflectivejournal entry.

If the paper is holistically scored, the score itself becomes the feed-back, and students should be provided with a rubric or definition of whatthat score represents. The student is then required to analyze, in a reflec-tive journal entry, the reasons the paper received the score it did, in addi-tion to the ways in which the paper could be rewritten to improve it. Bothholistic and trait scoring should then allow the student to read the audienceby responding to the implications of the feedback.

Teaching Tip (Portfolio Feedback): Regardless of the kind of portfolioyou implement, the scoring process can be a valuable opportunity to fur-ther the dialogue between student and instructor, and it can be accom-plished rather quickly with a score sheet. Simply identify beforehand (thisis an excellent occasion to include the class’s participation) the traits andcharacteristics you expect to observe at each grade level; then, create achecklist or rubric for each of those characteristics. Be sure to leave roomfor a section marked “Comments” for individual explanations of yourscore, as needed. In this way, the scoring of portfolios can be a quick,holistic approach that provides meaningful feedback to the student. Inaddition, include peer review as part of the feedback process.





Teaching Tip (Portfolio Scores): If you decide to use the three-phase port-folio, you have available three separate but distinct scores reflecting spe-cific skills, strategies, and achievement that can be translated intopercentages. Some instructors prefer to weight specific assignments withineach portfolio. This weighted value can be included in the assessmentscore sheet. Again, the purpose of portfolios is to showcase the process aswell as the product, so you want to create a scoring system that clearly andefficiently communicates your values.

Activity (Student Reflection): The most crucial step in portfolio assess-ment is training students to think about their own work and the instructor’sresponse to that work. This training occurs through the use of instructor-generated reflective questions about individual assignments as well as col-lections of assignments, as in a portfolio. That means that these questionscan be used to introduce or review concepts, track progress, and justifyachievement. The following questions serve as models that can be adaptedto fit the individual needs of a group, program, or student; actual questionsshould come from the instructor’s observation of obstacles to achieve-ment. Therefore, any of the Quick Boxes featured throughout this hand-book can be turned into reflective journal entries to focus the student on animmediate and apparent need, yet the best source for reflective questionsis the behavior of the student in both cognitive and affective domains.

REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS FOR DIAGNOSTIC PORTFOLIOS

Describe your current writing process.

Has your writing process changed in any way?

How long do you spend writing an essay?

In what ways do you use your textbook?

What information learned in class has helped you the most so far?

What do you like or dislike about writing?

Which is your strongest piece of writing (in-class or take-home work)and why?

What is the relationship between your performance on the grammartest and your writing scores?

What do the grammar test and instructor feedback show that you needto study?

How many pages in the handbook do these skills cover?

How long do you think you need to study each skill?

How will you measure your mastery of these skills?

Do you practice writing outside of the classroom?


Chapter 8—Creating a Writing Portfolio

What kinds of writing do you do regularly?

Does this writing practice strengthen your writing for class? Why orwhy not?

What is your plan of study?

How will you use your textbooks?

What is your greatest strength as a writer?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESA few key background texts include:

Pat Belanoff and Marcia Dickson’s Portfolios: Process and Product(Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1991).

Kathleen Blake Yancey’s Portfolios in the Writing Classroom: AnIntroduction (Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1992); Laurel Black’s New Directions inPortfolio Assessment: Reflective Practice, Critical Theory, and Large-Scale Scoring (Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1994).

Kathleen Black Yancey and Irwin Weiser’s Situating Portfolios: FourPerspectives (Logan: Utah State UP, 1997).

Additionally, back issues of College Composition and Communica-tion have a rich offering of articles on portfolio implementation and port-folio pedagogy.

A good way to investigate current ePortfolio practice is to visit theInter/National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research at http://ncepr.org/. While many colleges and universities involved in ePortfolio devel-opment are not focused exclusively on writing and composition, an exam-ination of the members and their projects reveals the depth and diversitypossible in ePortfolio projects. Several of these schools also have digitalgalleries of ePortfolios, which you can explore with your students as realexamples of online portfolio production.

You might also be interested in exploring the 2007 CCCC PositionStatement on “Principles and Practices in Electronic Portfolios” atwww.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/electronicportfolios.




CHAPTER 9

Writing with Others

Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the onewhere it sprang up.

—Oliver Wendell Holmes

OVERVIEW This chapter introduces students to collaboration, guides them through

the steps to successful collaborative writing, and provides suggestions forgiving useful feedback, in groups and as individuals. From the perspectiveof the student receiving feedback, it gives suggestions for incorporatingtheir peers’ comments. The chapter acknowledges that often students willbe participating in online discussions and section 9E offers effective strate-gies in this area.

Quick Boxes9.1 Guidelines for collaborative writing, p. 124

9.2 Guidelines for participating in peer-response groups, p. 127

9.3 Guidelines for online discussions, p. 131

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip (Collaboration): The concept underlying collaboration is

that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Providing opportunitiesfor students to work together allows them to see other points of view, tocapitalize on one another’s strengths, to develop concepts more exten-sively than they could on their own, and to learn from others. When youassign groups, allow students a little time to introduce themselves and getto know one another. Personalizing learning can be an important part ofcollaboration. Collaborative groups work best when they comprise two orthree students whose schedules allow them to work together outside class,if practical. When groups meet in class only, students can work towardthe group’s goals by completing individual responsibilities outside classand then merging all their work during class time. Collaborative papers,like single-authored texts, go through a series of drafts. But unlike single-authored texts, collaborative papers will actively integrate concepts ofaudience, tone, planning, and purpose into the writing process because atevery step students must articulate to one another what they think thepaper needs and why.

Teaching Tip (Collaboration): In both workplace and college settings,writers often team up to develop a single document. When two or three


Chapter 9—Writing with Others

students write a paper together, they usually see the need to articulate thehow and why of every dimension of the writing task, from topic selectionto word choice. This ongoing discussion within collaborative groups abouttheir writing encourages students to view effective writing as a processunder each individual’s conscious control.

Teaching Tip: Sometimes, talented and academically adept students,who otherwise perform well in your class, may balk at the idea of work-ing collaboratively with others. They may cite different reasons: they maysee themselves as creative, high-performing students who would only be“slowed down” by having to work with other students; they may worrythat, since they are the “smart kids in class,” other classmates may expectthem to do most of the work on the project; they may feel that they mustpick less ambitious and/or less sophisticated topics in order to complete aproject with other students whom they feel are not as devoted to their edu-cations as they are. It is important to remind these students that, in theworkplace and in other areas in their lives, they will be required to workwith others. As instructor, you can also try to group these students withmembers of the class with whom they may be more likely to work effec-tively and to monitor groups to make sure no one is taking on the lion’sshare of the work, perhaps by requiring students to submit logs of thework they have performed on the project. Conversely, make sure yourmore vocal students are not drowning out dissent nor prematurely limitingbrainstorming sessions, and provide feedback to students several timesthroughout the writing process, so that they know that their work is meet-ing your expectations at each stage.

Teaching Tip: Experts in educational group dynamics point out thatinstructors can facilitate student collaborations by ensuring that each stu-dent in a group takes a specific role each time the group gets togethereach day or each time it starts a new project. For example, you can ask thestudents to number off—1, 2, 3, and so on—and then say, “Number 4,you’re the discussion leader today; Number 2, you’re the recorder;Number 1, you’re the timekeeper; Number 3, you’re the ‘on-point’ person,responsible for ensuring that your group stays on-topic and on-task.”Assigning these roles randomly and changing them from one session toanother or from one activity to another keeps students focused, energized,and responsible.

Teaching Tip: If you choose to have students work in particular peer-response groups over time, you can help them build cohesiveness in theirgroups from the outset by asking them to share important informationabout themselves with others in the group. After initial get-acquaintedremarks (names, where students are from, etc.), students can completethese statements: “I will do my best in this group if you _____”; “A par-ticular ability/resource I can contribute to the success of this group is





_____”; “If you are displeased with me or my contribution at any point inour process, I will appreciate your (doing/saying) _____”; “If we need tomeet outside of class (or outside of class time), please know that _____.”The information presented helps individuals feel more accountable to thegroup, and it allows all to understand the special strengths and limitationsof others. Note: Most multilingual students new to U.S. classrooms arelikely to be reticent about filling in honest answers or even any answers(being confessional is antithetical to most cultures outside the UnitedStates). If your class has a large number of such students, you will find itbetter not to use this technique, or you may elect to work with each stu-dent privately to fill in the form.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESIn his article “Teamwork and Feedback: Broadening the Base of Col-

laborative Writing,” Richard Gebhardt advocates for the use of collabora-tive writing at every stage of the writing process: not just toward themiddle and end, where instructors tend to use them. Early collaborationcan help students, among other things, “locate promising topics,” “gener-ate details,” “[clarify] the focus of subjects,” and “develop a clearer senseof audience” (College English 42.1 [1980]: 69–74 [qtd. 73–74]).

In “Asynchronous Electronic Peer Response in a Hybrid Basic Writ-ing Classroom” (Teaching English in the Two-Year College 30.2 [2002]:145–155), Virginia Crank shows how basic writers can benefit from peerresponse.

Joseph Janangelo warns in “Intricate Inscriptions: Negotiating Con-flict Between Collaborative Writers” (ERIC EJ 544 163) that collaboratorsdon’t always treat each other with reciprocal integrity and compassion.Janangelo suggests several precautions that writing instructors can take tohelp ensure more responsible collaboration.

For an introduction to the history of collaborative writing in the com-position classroom, please see “Writing as Collaboration” by James A.Reither and Douglas Vipond (College English 51.8 [1989]: 855–867).


Answers will vary. You may wish to use this assignment several times, switching the

groups and the project each time. Doing so will not only give students more practice at plan-

ning collaborative writing projects, but it may give them a sense of which class members

they might wish to work with once they have an actual assignment to complete.

EXERCISE 9–2Answers will vary.


CHAPTER 10

Personal Essays

We breathe, we think, we conceive of our lives as narrative.

—Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

OVERVIEW This chapter introduces students to strategies for writing personal

essays. It provides a frame to help students organize and develop a per-sonal essay, as well as stylistic pointers.

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: Personal essays are typically written from the first-person

point of view and in the past tense. However, more advanced studentsmay want to try a different approach—for example, writing in presenttense.

Teaching Tip: The list of “Personal Narrative Prompts” at www.iss.k12.nc.us/curriculum/sallred/pnprompts.htm may help students generatetopic ideas; a similar list may be found at http://grammar.about.com/od/developingessays/a/topnarrative07.htm.

Activity: Have students read “Writing Really Good Dialogue” athttp://ywp.nanowrimo.org/files/ywp/ywp_10_hs_dialogue.pdf and com-plete the worksheet at the end of the file.

Activity: Students may need to learn or review the mechanics of punc-tuating and formatting dialogue. Use a worksheet like “Dialogue Rules,Worksheet, and Writing Assignment at http://trudyamiller.wikispaces.com/file/view/DIALOGUE+RULES.pdf to help students master these con-ventions.

Activity: Show students visual prompts (e.g., photographs and paint-ings) and have them brainstorm on situations and dialogue that build oneach image.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESAlthough designed for teachers and students of English as a

Second Language, the exercises and tips at www.eslflow.com/descriptivewriting.html and www.eslflow.com/narrativeessay.html ondescriptive and narrative writing can easily be extended to all students.




CHAPTER 11

Informative Essays

I don’t feel overwhelmed with information. I really like it.

—Marissa Mayer

OVERVIEW This chapter introduces students to strategies for writing informative

essays. It provides a frame to help students organize and develop aninformative essay, as well as stylistic pointers.

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: Have students review the rhetorical strategies outlined in

Chapter 6 for organizing paragraphs and essays—in particular, examples,definition, analysis, classification, and comparison and contrast. One ormore of these rhetorical strategies can often form the basis for an inform-ative essay.

Teaching Tip: Have students articulate the purpose of their essay morespecifically than simply to “inform.” Doing so, in turn, can lead studentsto a strategy for organizing and developing the essay—for example, defi-nition, classification, or comparison and contrast.

Teaching Tip: Because informative essays are often required in essayexams, students may respond well to a discussion of how to interpretessay exam questions effectively. Have them review guidelines such asthose given by Laraine Flemming in “Reading and Responding to EssayQuestions” at www.laflemm.com/handouts/EssayQuestionsFormatted.pdf. A useful list of “task” and “directive” words that frequently appearin essay questions can be found in the handout “Understanding EssayQuestions” at:

www.massey.ac.nz/massey/fms/Student%20services/Student%20Learning%20Development%20Service/Documents/Albany/Brochures/Assignment%20Writing/Understanding%20Essay%20Questions.pdf.

Activity: Adapt Flemming’s guide by pulling out some of the sampleessay questions from it and having students discuss the best rhetoricalstrategies for answering each sample question, using evidence from theway the question itself is worded. Then compare their analyses with Flem-ming’s. You may also find sample essay questions in the Reiner et al.source listed at the end of this chapter.

Activity: The title of an essay provides an important signal to readersabout content and purpose. Conduct an informal demonstration of this


Chapter 11—Informative Essays


using the “laundry” passage at http://scienceblogs.com/mixingmem-ory/2007/11/30/my-favorite-experiments-bransf/. Provide half of your classa copy of the passage with the title “Washing Clothes.” Provide the otherhalf of your class a copy of the passage with no title. After students havehad a few minutes to read the passage, ask them to set the passage asideand jot down as many details as they can remember. Typically, studentswho had the title at hand before they read the passage will be able to recallmany more details than students who did not receive the title.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESChristian M. Reiner, Timothy W. Bothell, Richard R. Sudweeks, and

Bud Wood, Preparing Effective Essay Questions: A Self-Directed Work-book for Educators. New Forums Press, 2002 (n.p.). Available: http://testing.byu.edu/info/handbooks/WritingEffectiveEssayQuestions.pdf.



CHAPTER 12

Process Essays

Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I justwant to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say hasmore lasting value.

—Robert M. Pirsig

OVERVIEW This chapter introduces students to strategies for writing essays

intended to explain a process to a reader or to instruct the reader in howto perform a process. While the chapter focuses primarily on strategiesand examples of instructional prose, students should be aware thatexplanatory process writing is also a common genre in academic andworkplace writing. In fact, instructional writing in the workplace, forexample in the case of writing software documentation, can be a highlyspecialized type of technical communication.

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: Students often respond positively to assignments that are

applicable to “real-world” situations and are of interest to potentialemployers. According to Steven Gerson, Writing that Works: A Teacher’sGuide to Technical Writing (Topeka, KS: Kansas Curriculum Center, n.d.),“454 professional technical writers nationwide were asked which type ofdocumentation they most often wrote. The writing of instructions wasnamed by 90.1% of them” (p. 54).

Teaching Tip: Effectively written instructions require clear, concisesyntax and a consistent point of view. Because instructions are often writ-ten in a list format, this type of writing provides a perfect opportunity tohave students work on stylistic and grammatical skills such as parallelstructure and consistency in voice and point of view (e.g., use of activevoice and second-person pronouns).

Teaching Tip: In addition to thinking about their audience and purpose,students writing instructions must also consider the context or situation inwhich the instructions will be carried out. This caveat is especially impor-tant for instructions that must be carried out in a particular physical spaceor digital environment or during which the reader must use physicalobjects.


Chapter 12—Process Essays


Teaching Tip: Depending on their topics, students may need to add sec-tions to their process essay: for example, sections on materials needed,equipment needed, warnings and cautions, and troubleshooting.

Activity: Have students bring in an example of a particularly effectiveor ineffective set of instructions. Arrange to project the instructions to theentire class (or provide individual printed copies if feasible). Ask the stu-dent to lead off a critique of the instructions, then ask other students toevaluate the instructions against some of the principles you have discussedin class.

Activity: Have students work in teams or small groups to draft instruc-tions for a simple activity (e.g., making a peanut butter and jelly sand-wich; filling a stapler), under the assumption that their readers have neverperformed the task before and are not familiar with the objects needed forthe task. After each group has drafted a set of instructions, have them carryout a mini-usability test in which a user group carries out the instructionswhile the writing group watches and takes careful notes. Be sure that theuser group refers only to the written instructions, rather than asking ques-tions of the writing group. Following the usability test, have the writinggroup debrief amongst themselves and revise the instructions to addressany problems or questions that the user group encountered. You may alsowant to have the writing group compose a brief report on principles aboutwriting instructions that they learned from the exercise.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESDennis G. Jerz’s Web site “Instructions: How to Write Guides for

Busy, Grouchy People” provides some humorous yet concise guidelinesfor writing instructions. Find it at http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/technical-writing/instructions-how-to-write-for-busy-grouchy-people/.

Marcea K. Seible’s Web site at www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/writing-technical-instructions-1101.html?tab=1#tabsoutlines a lesson plan on teaching students the basics of writing technicalinstructions. While geared toward high school students, the materials andmethods are easily adaptable to first-year writing classes.

For academic resources related to the rhetoric of process writing, seethe following:

David K. Farkas, “The Logical and Rhetorical Construction of Pro-cedural Discourse,” Technical Communication 46.1 (1999): 42–54.

Franck Ganier, “Observational Data on Practical Experience and Con-ditions of Use of Written Instructions,” Technical Writing and Communi-cation 39.4 (2009), pp. 401–415. An observational study of behavior andstrategies by users encountering a particular appliance for the first time.




Michael Steehouder, Joyce Karreman, and Nicole Ummelen, “MakingSense of Step-by-Step Procedures, IPCC/SIGDOC Proceedings of IEEEProfessional Communication Conference (2000), pp. 463–475. The authorsdiscuss syntactic, semantic, and situational levels of mental representationneeded for better understanding and performance of procedural instruc-tions.

Michael Steehouder and Carel J. M. Jansen, “The Sequential Order ofInstructions: Impact on Text Quality,” Proceedings of the Society for Tech-nical Communication (1996): 247–250. The authors discuss guidelines foroptimizing the sequential order of procedural steps.


CHAPTER 13

Essays Analyzing Cause or Effect

Life is a perpertual instruction in cause and effect.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson


intended to explain a cause or effect. It provides a frame for organizingand developing cause and effect analyses.

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: One challenge in cause-effect writing is narrowing the

topic to an appropriate scope. Relatedly, students may need to be encour-aged to move beyond obvious, broad causes or effects and to providedeeper analysis of more subtle issues. To help in this process, have stu-dents consider subcategories of causes or effects when brainstorming abouttopics. For example, when having students brainstorm a topic such as thecauses of rising obesity among elementary school children, encouragethem to move beyond obvious points such as “too many calories” and“not enough exercise” by defining broad terms and examining more spe-cific subcategories: are too many calories the effect of increased portionsize? Sugared beverages? Fast food? Decline in breakfast consumption?Proportion of fatty foods eaten?

Teaching Tip: In cause-effect analyses, it is especially important forwriters to use transitional words to express relationships among ideas.Some students, especially those for whom English is a second language,may have difficulty using appropriate transitional words and syntactic pat-terns to convey cause-effect relationships. The Web site www.eslflow.com/AcCauseEffect.html contains work sheets and sampleessays that you can use to help students recognize and master these skills.

Activity: Cause-effect essays are especially prone to several logicalfallacies, in particular, the false cause fallacy (post hoc, ergo propter hoc),slippery slope fallacy, and irrelevant argument fallacy (non sequitur).Review logical fallacies with students using a worksheet such as thatfound at http://people.oregonstate.edu/~petersp/ORST/WR121_files/Argument%20Documents/logical%20fallacies%20activities.doc.





Activity: Help students distinguish among necessary conditions, suffi-cient conditions, and contributory conditions. An overview of the conceptsof necessary and sufficient conditions, along with a quiz enabling studentsto test their understanding, can be found at http://faculty.uncfsu.edu/jyoung/necessary_and_sufficient_conditions.htm.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe Roane State Community College OWL offers useful tips for stu-

dents on how to narrow a complex cause-effect topic area into a manage-able essay topic: http://www.roanestate.edu/owl/Cause.html.

A useful PowerPoint presentation on “Writing Cause and EffectEssays,” developed by Cristina Maldonado for the Roxbury CommunityCollege Writing Center, can be found at www.rcc.mass.edu/wc/CauseAndEffect.ppt.

The Huntingdon Library provides a useful background discussion on“Cause, Effect, or “Coincidence?” at www.huntington.org/uploadedFiles/Files/PDFs/GIB-CauseEffectAndCoincidence.pdf

The Technical Communication Center offers examples of correct andincorrect ways to express causality in technical writing in the Web page on“Technical & Copy Writing—How to Use Causality Correctly” at www.technicalcommunicationcenter.com/2009/04/04/technical-copy-writing-how-to-use-causality-correctly/.


CHAPTER 14

Essays Analyzing a Text

If it is true that there is always more than one way of construing a text, it isnot true that interpretations are equal.

—Paul Ricoeur

OVERVIEW This chapter introduces students to strategies for writing a textual

analysis. It provides a frame to help students organize and develop a tex-tual analysis, as well as stylistic pointers.

Quick Box2.1 Ten troublesome mistakes in writing, p. 10

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: Although analysis is not at all the same as summary,

many analyses will begin with a summary or description of the item beingevaluated. Typically, this material may be incorporated into the introduc-tion of the textual analysis.

Teaching Tip: An essential early step in composing a textual analysis isformulating a claim about the purpose, effect, or theme of the piece beinganalyzed. Remind students that they do not have to agree with or endorsethe purpose/effect/theme. For example, a history assignment may ask stu-dents to identify the rhetorical techniques used in a particular piece ofpropaganda or political campaign—not necessarily one that the studentendorses. Make students aware that the item under analysis may be onethat accomplishes a controversial or even repugnant purpose effectively.

Activity: The Web site “Representing Detroit” at http://detroit.edublogs.org/teaching-activities-2/textual-analysis-exercise/ offers a short video,“Detroit: A City in Crisis” along with questions for analysis of it. At justover six minutes, the video is short enough to show in class and have stu-dents complete the questions listed at the site. Focus on questions 1–4 inparticular. As preparation, have students make notes on which images arejuxtaposed with which spoken text.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe Norton Field Guide to Writing at www.wwnorton.com/college/

english/write/fieldguide/writing_guides.asp#07 offers useful tips forpreparing a textual analysis.





The Florida State University English Department Web site athttp://wr.english.fsu.edu/First-Year-Composition/The-Inkwell/Analysisoffers classroom exercises to develop skills needed for a textual analysisassignment.

The Colorado State University Writing Center Web site at http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/co301aman/pop7b.cfm offers class-room activities related to textual analysis.


CHAPTER 15

Argument Essays

Rhetoric may be defined as the faculty of observing in any given case theavailable means of persuasion.

—Aristotle

OVERVIEW This chapter emphasizes the essential points of an argument—a thesis

statement supported by sound reasoning––and introduces students to twoframes for organizing and developing arguments: classical and Rogerian.

Quick Boxes15.1 Purposes and types of arguments, p. 174

15.2 Toulmin model for analyzing arguments, p. 176

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIES, AND EXTRA EXERCISESTeaching Tip: Before beginning a discussion of written, formal argu-

mentation, you may find it helpful to ask students to think of two differ-ent times—one effective, one ineffective—in which someone tried topersuade them to change their mind, to adopt a new position, or to takesome action toward a particular situation, approach to a problem, or otherdebatable circumstance. Then, ask them to list, in double-column format,what type of evidence, tone, approach, etc., they discovered worked welland did not work well to convince them of the need to change a view-point or to act. Allow students time to share and compare their responses.These can then be examined alongside the techniques and approaches rec-ommended in this chapter for written arguments. If points of disagreementarise, ask students to take notes on them and hand them in to you, so thatthey serve as good points for stimulating debate in a later class.

Teaching Tip: Have students write down definitions for any or all of thefollowing words: “politician,” “education,” “power,” “beauty,” “war,”“money,” “freedom,” “duty,” “intelligence,” “success.” The discussion thatwill follow will no doubt give you a clear basis on which to discuss theimportance of definition in arguments!

Teaching Tip: Persuasive writing has much in common with argumen-tation. Both aim to lead the audience to agreement with the opinions of thewriter. Persuasion additionally attempts to induce the reader to commit toa particular action. Advertising is probably the form of persuasive writingwe encounter most often in the course of our daily lives. Because studentsenjoy looking at familiar advertisements in an analytical way, you may





want to ask them to bring their favorites to class, or perhaps you willprefer to provide some. Helpful background information is available insuch publications as Advertising Age.

Teaching Tip: When students write to convince their peers in the class-room or online class, they may find it helpful to submit several key ques-tions for an opinion survey on their topic to be answered by each studentin the class. The survey results can help students shape their writing for areal world audience, an audience that is likely to include a number of dif-ferent perspectives and needs.

Teaching Tip: When students write to convince their peers in the class-room or online class, they may find it helpful to submit several key ques-tions for an opinion survey on their topic to be answered by each studentin the class. The survey results can help students shape their writing for areal world audience, an audience that is likely to include a number of dif-ferent perspectives and needs.

Teaching Tip: Most newspapers, including campus newspapers, carrynumerous pieces of persuasive discourse in the letters to the editor, dailycolumns, and editorials. You may want to ask students to bring examplesto class that can be analyzed in terms of claims and thesis, as well as theorder and means of development. A different kind of experience, but anequally interesting one, can come from analysis of a longer, more sus-tained argument, such as Henry David Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedi-ence” or Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”

Activity: An assignment that has caught more than one student offguard but led to powerful results is to ask a class to brainstorm a numberof topics that, while not “hot button topics” for most, are yet likely to pro-voke controversy: animal testing of cosmetics; building nuclear powerplants in heavily populated areas; authorizing government subsidies torescue a bankrupt airline or automobile company; and the like. Have stu-dents sign up for a topic of interest, allowing only two students per topic:one to argue for, one against. When all have signed up for a topic and aposition, inform the students that those listed in the “for” column will takethe “against” position and vice versa. You will definitely hear groans!However, tell the students that they will be guided in their efforts by theirpartner who has a feel for (and with luck some knowledge of ) the oppo-site point of view. During the development of this writing project, stu-dents meet in pairs (in class or online) to ask each other questions and toget feedback on their tone and their style of presentation. Each can helpdirect the other to resources beyond those readily found by the researcher.This project helps students to understand the “other” side more fully andto discover what kind and how much evidence the opposition may requireto become convinced.


Chapter 15—Argument Essays


Extra Exercise AWhich of the following topics are concerned with fact, and which

state a position open to debate?

1. The term journalism refers to the business of publishing a regularlyrecurring text.

2. Television news programs are more influential than they should be.

3. Journalists in the United States operate under the protection of theFirst Amendment to the Constitution.

4. Most reporters are biased in their descriptions of political figures.

5. The government should not let journalists have access to informationdealing with national security.

6. Journalism involves both reporting the news and forming public opin-ion.

7. Reporters should verify a controversial story with two sources beforerunning it.

8. Weekly newspapers are becoming increasingly popular in large cities.

9. Cartoons are one of the most entertaining features of newspapers.

10. Television commentators should not give their own opinions aboutpolitical and social matters.

Answers to Extra Exercise A1. fact 2. opinion

3. fact 4. opinion

5. opinion 6. fact

7. opinion 8. fact


Extra Exercise BPractice devising claims and thesis statements by working with the

following topics. Answers will vary.

1. Safety on interstate highways

2. The value of knowing a second language

3. The use of television commercials in elementary schools

4. Paperless offices

5. Should everyone who wants to go to college be admitted?

6. Installing metal detectors in public schools

Extra Exercise CRewrite the following paragraph, improving its persuasiveness by

defining key terms that may be vague to the reader.



Some Americans react strongly to actions that show disrespect for ourflag. They revere it as a symbol of the values for which the United Statesis known around the world. They are quick to rise up against those whowould use their freedom to desecrate Old Glory, calling them traitors tothe Constitution and all it upholds: our rights and our democratic form ofgovernment. Calling for a Constitutional amendment, they even want torestrict our freedoms by making it illegal to misuse the flag. Wouldn’tsuch an amendment show disrespect for the freedom the flag represents?

Answer to Extra Exercise CAnswers will vary. Here is one possible answer.

Some Americans react strongly to acts that they construe as insultingto our flag. Television news footage showing the flag being burned or tornapart makes them violently angry because they revere our flag as a symbolof the freedom and liberty for which this country is known around theworld. They are quick to rise up against fellow citizens who use their free-dom to desecrate Old Glory, calling them traitors to the Constitution andits guarantees of legislative representation and civil rights, such as theright of free speech. Calling for a constitutional amendment, they evenwant to restrict citizens’ freedoms by making it illegal to misuse the flag.But what constitutes misuse: Wearing it? Letting it fly outside on a rainyday? Displaying it on a banquet table? A more important question is,Wouldn’t such an amendment show disrespect for the freedom the flagrepresents?

Extra Exercise DAnalyze the following excerpt from John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural

Address to determine its dominant type of appeal.

We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of free-dom—symbolizing an end as well as a beginning—signifying renewal aswell as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the samesolemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quartersago. The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal handsthe power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of humanlife. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears foughtare still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man comenot from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God. We dare notforget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word goforth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch hasbeen passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tem-pered by war; disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancientheritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those



Chapter 15—Argument Essays


human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and towhich we are committed today at home and around the world.

Answer to Extra Exercise DAnswers will vary. Here is one analysis.

In his Inaugural Address, John F. Kennedy makes extensive use ofethical appeal. By referring to the “solemn oath” he has just taken beforeGod and the American people, he calls attention to his commitment towork for what is good and right. When, in reference to the complexity ofthe modern world, he again invokes the name of God as the source of“the rights of man,” he underscores the high moral calling of his office. Inthe final paragraph, he appeals to the ethical sense of the audience byexhorting citizens to join him in the struggle to make a better world. Byusing the pronoun we, he repledges himself to work with all Americans forthe spread and preservation of the beliefs on which this country wasfounded.

It is also worth pointing out to students that Kennedy also makes useof numerous rhetorical devices at the sentence and word levels. Seewww.speaklikeapro.co.uk/JFK_inaugural.htm for an analysis of some ofthese.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESIn “Teaching Critical Thinking in First-Year Composition: Sometimes

More Is More” (Teaching English in the Two-Year College 29.2 [2001]:162–171), Ruth Stewart advocates teaching argument by having studentsanalyze primary source materials. Stewart details her approach by explain-ing how her students used documents from the 1763 Conestoga Massacre.

Andrea Greenbaum’s book Emancipatory Movements in Composition:The Rhetoric of Possibility (Albany: SUNY Press, 2002) argues that firstyear writing instructors should help students develop abilities to think andargue clearly as citizens in a democracy. Greenbaum synthesizes recentdevelopments in rhetorical theory.

In “Moments of Argument: Agonistic Inquiry and ConfrontationalCooperation” (College Composition and Communication 48.1 [1997]:61–85), Dennis A. Lynch, Diana George, and Marilyn M. Cooper arguethat we need to stimulate students to debate, challenge, and oppose inwriting arguments. The authors explain that the approach of cooperationand collaboration in finding common ground does not prepare studentsfor a “bureaucratic world that resists change.”



CHAPTER 16

Proposal or Solution Essays

I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solu-tion, they will be moved to act.

—Bill Gates


intended to identify a problem, propose a solution to it, and convince read-ers of its worth. It provides a frame for organizing and developing a pro-posal or solution essay.

Quick Box16.1 Four aspects of audience for problem or solution essays, p. 187

TEACHING TIPS ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: Topic selection is a critical step in prewriting for a pro-

posal assignment. Have students consider the following points when theyare selecting topics: (1) Does the student have enough technical knowl-edge to write about the subject? If not, is he or she prepared to conduct thenecessary research? (2) Is the scope of the topic appropriate? It is usuallybetter to explore a more specific problem in detail than to take only asuperficial look at a larger problem. (3) Does the topic interest the stu-dent?

Activity: Although not reflected in the sample essay, both academicand workplace proposals often require the writer to provide specific detailsabout their work plan. Have students review one or two completed pro-posals on a government site such as NEH or NSF and identify commonfeatures and sections. Some of the items they might identify are (1) intro-duction, (2) problem statement, (3) objectives, (4) anticipated results, (5)methodology, (6) resources and facilities, (7) schedule, (8) budget, and (9)qualifications.

Activity: In workplace settings, writers must typically respond to a“Request for Proposals” (RFP) issued by the agency or company that willfund the proposal. Have students search for RFPs in their area of studyand report back to the class about the type of information required by theRFP.


Chapter 16—Proposal or Solution Essays


ADDITIONAL RESOURCESA professional writing course built around proposal writing and

related documents is outlined by Ralph Walstrom, “Teaching the Proposalin the Professional Writing Course,” Technical Communication 49.1(2002): 81–88.

Laurel Grove, “Finding Funding: Writing Winning Proposals forResearch Funds,” Technical Communication 51.1 (2004): 25–35, providesa useful overview of the proposal review process for grants and contracts.

Nathan Peretic provides a short, informal introduction to proposals in“A Modest Proposal” at www.alistapart.com/articles/a-modest-proposal/.

Shevonne Polastre’s blog on proposal writing provides tips for allstages of the proposal process: http://chicwriter.com/proposal-writing-series/.



CHAPTER 17

Evaluation Essays

In the arts, the critic is the only independent source of information. The restis advertising.

—Pauline Kael

OVERVIEW This chapter introduces students to strategies for writing evaluation

essays. It provides a frame to help students organize and develop an eval-uation essay, as well as stylistic pointers.

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: Evaluation essays present a challenge because they must

balance some informative elements with evaluative ones. For example,while students should deemphasize plot summary, some mention of plotpoints is usually necessary in the service of evaluation. In fairness to theperson being evaluated, performance evaluations must refer to specificevents and other data that supports the evaluation—especially facts thatmust be documented in the event of future disciplinary action or dismissal.The essence of evaluation writing is moving beyond facts to address the“so what?” element, making clear to the reader what judgments can beinferred from the facts about the entity being evaluation. Also vital areimplicitly or explicitly stated criteria––standards or benchmarks for eval-uation.

Teaching Tip: While traditional first-year students may have askedothers to provide recommendation letters and may have had a perform-ance review, a traditional first-year student will not have produced eitherof these genres. Therefore, spend some time looking at effective and inef-fective examples of each one. Some examples of completed performancereviews can be found at www.lbl.gov/lsd/Internal_Resources/Performance_Review.html.

Activity: Have students examine some of the completed performancereviews at www.lbl.gov/lsd/Internal_Resources/Performance_Review.htmland identify evaluative terms or statements. How are those terms and state-ments matched up with specific evidence to support them? Are there anycases where the employee being evaluated could legitimately disagree?

Activity: Reviews can generally avoid phrases such as “I thoughtthat….” and “It seemed to me that….” since a first-person viewpoint isimplicit in a review. However, judicious uses of the first person can be


Chapter 17—Evaluation Essays


effective. For example, in his review of the film version of Anna Karen-ina, New York Times critic A.O. Scott inserts the line (referring to Anna’saffair with Count Vronsky), “I assume you know that it ends badly” (“Infi-delity, Grandly Staged,” online edition, 15 Nov. 2012). Have students ana-lyze professional reviews for similar uses of the first person and drawsome conclusions about why and how often such usages occur.

Activity: Sample letters of recommendation for “excellent,” “good,”and “average” students are available at www.press.umich.edu/pdf/9780472031887-appendixg.pdf. Have students analyze the letters andcompare their content (as well as what they don’t contain).

Teaching Tip: Reviewing an art form demands familiarity with the tech-nical terminology associated with that form. A handy glossary of commonfilm terms can be found at www.imdb.com/glossary. Terms related to filmediting in particular are available at www.springhurst.org/cinemagic/glossary_terms.htm.

Teaching Tip: Effective reviews of movies and other art forms oftenopen with an introduction that “hooks” the reader in some way, perhapswith an image from an especially effective scene or a connection to a pre-vious related movies with which most readers will be familiar. Remindstudents that, while readers encounter an introduction first, it may be oneof the last things that the writer composes. Students should feel free toradically revise an introduction that they have drafted earlier in the writ-ing process.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe “Film Terms Glossary” at www.filmsite.org/filmterms1.html pro-

vides definitions of film terms along with examples or illustrations of mostof the terms.



CHAPTER 18

Quoting, Paraphrasing, andSummarizing

Adam was the only man who, when he said a good thing, knew that nobodyhad said it before him.

—Mark Twain

OVERVIEW Chapter 18 provides extensive information and guidance for students

on integrating their sources into their work. It is a necessary preliminarychapter to Chapter 19, Avoiding Plagiarism.

Quick Boxes18.1 Guidelines for using quotations, p. 205

18.2 Strategies for smoothly fitting quotations into your sentences, p.207

18.3 Guidelines for writing paraphrases, p. 210

18.4 Guidelines for summarizing, p. 213

18.5 Useful verbs for integrating quotations paraphrases, and sum-maries, p. 216

TEACHING TIPS, EXTRA EXERCISESTeaching Tip: To give your students practice in notetaking before they

are assigned research paper topics, you might distribute copies of a news-paper or magazine article on a popular subject and ask your students totake notes in support of a particular thesis. Once they (and you) are sureof their skills, the students can move on to more complex issues with con-fidence, but at first they should keep to popular subjects that interest them.Encourage students to paraphrase, summarize, and quote as they feel nec-essary and to take as many (or as few) notes as they feel would be usefulin supporting a thesis. Then, collect their notes and distribute copies ofall or some sets of notes. As a class (or in groups), discuss the notes oneset at a time, using the following questions:

1. Do all the notes support the thesis?

2. Are paraphrases accurate?

3. Are summaries accurate?

4. Are quotations appropriate and accurate?


Chapter 18—Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing


5. Are quoted words within paraphrases and summaries placed in quo-tation marks?

6. Would any material be better presented in a different kind of note?

Extra Exercise A (Quotations)Practice working quotations smoothly into your own writing by devis-

ing introductions to the following statements. (Answers will vary.)

1. All states, all powers, that have held and hold rule over men havebeen and are either republics or principalities.

—Nicolo Machiavelli, The Prince

2. I think it is agreed by all parties, that this prodigious number of chil-dren in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers,and frequenty of their fathers, is in the present deplorable state of thekingdom, a very great additional greivance; and therefore whoevercould find out a fair, cheap and easy method of making these childrensound and useful members of the common-wealth, would deserve sowell of the publick, as to have his statue set up for a preserver of thenation.

—Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal”

3. Since woman is the epitome of all perfections, she is the last of theworks of God, as far as material creation is concerned, but otherwiseshe dates from the beginning, and is the first-generated of all crea-tures, generated by the breath of God himself, as the Holy Spirit,inferred, through the mouth of Solomon in the Ecclesiastes where heintroduces the Most Holy Virgin to sing of herself. . .

—Arcangela Tarabotti, “Innocence Undone”

4. Recommendation: As the President determines the guidelines forinformation sharing among government agencies and by those agen-cies with the private sector, he should safeguard the privacy of indi-viduals about whom information is shared.

—The 9/11 Commission Report

5. Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through eachother’s eyes for an instant?

—Henry David Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods

Extra Exercise B (Paraphrasing)Working in small groups or in pairs, students can learn good tech-

niques of paraphrasing by trying to find acceptable synonyms for keywords in a passage. The italicized words and phrases in the followingexcerpt can be used for the exercise.

It is clear that between what a man calls (a) “me” and whathe simply calls (b) “mine,” the line is difficult to draw. We (c)feel and act about certain things that are ours very much as we




(d) feel and act about ourselves. . . . In its widest possible sense,a man’s Self is the sum total of all that he can call his, not onlyhis (e) body and his (f ) psychic powers, but his (g) clothes andhis (h) house, his (i) wife and his children, his (j) ancestors andhis (k) friends, his (l) reputation and his (m) works, his (n) landand horses and yacht and bank account. If they (o) wax andprosper, he feels triumphant, if they (p) dwindle and die away, hefeels (q) cast down—not necessarily in the same degree for eachthing, but in much the same way for all.

—William James, Principles of Psychology

Answers to Extra Exercise CAnswers will vary, but here are possible responses.

(a) myself, (b) my people and my things, (c) respond to, (d) behave,(e) physical substance, (f ) spiritual capacities, (g) dress, (h) home, (i)family, (j) lineage, (k) favored companions, (l) general character esti-mation by others, (m) accomplishments, (n) possessions, (o) increaseand thrive, (p) decrease and disappear, (q) undone.

Extra Exercise D (Paraphrase and summarizing)To practice methods of preventing unconscious plagiarism, paraphrase

or summarize the following paragraphs. (Answers will vary.)

1. Jane Austen, an English novelist, was born in 1775, the daughter ofthe Reverend George Austen, rector of Steventon and Deane, and Cas-sandra Leigh Austen. Jane was the youngest of seven children. Herchildhood at Steventon was quiet, domestic, and moderately studious.Much of her spare time was spent in writing, mostly for her ownamusement. In 1801, the family moved to Bath. After the death ofher father in 1805, she settled in Chawton, where she remained untilshortly before her death.

2. Jane Austen began writing stories at an early age and by the time shewas twenty-two had completed one of her best-known novels, Prideand Prejudice. Other works for which she is remembered includeSense and Sensibility and Northanger Abbey, which was published byher family after her death. The novels were not especially popular inAusten’s lifetime, but today they are regarded as among the bestnovels in the English language. Although her people are not elaborate,her skill at telling stories and drawing characters continues to pleaseher readers.

3. When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for onepeople to dissolve the political bands which have connected them withanother, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separateand equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God




entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires thatthey should declare the causes which impel them to the separation..

—Declaration of Independence

4. Our Earth is warming. Earth’s average temperature has risen by 1.4°Fover the past century, and is projected to rise another 2 to 11.5°F overthe next hundred years. Small changes in the average temperature ofthe planet can translate to large and potentially dangerous shifts inclimate and weather.

The evidence is clear. Rising global temperatures have beenaccompanied by changes in weather and climate. Many places haveseen changes in rainfall, resulting in more floods, droughts, or intenserain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves. The planet'soceans and glaciers have also experienced some big changes - oceansare warming and becoming more acidic, ice caps are melting, and sealevels are rising. As these and other changes become more pro-nounced in the coming decades, they will likely present challengesto our society and our environment..

—United States Environmental Protection Agency,www.epa.gov/climatechange/basics, accessed November 25, 2012

Teaching Tip (Summaries): Sometimes students fall into the habit ofusing summaries to take notes, forgetting that they can also be used indeveloping the thesis of a paper. You may find it helpful to remind stu-dents that when they want to introduce ideas from sources but have noneed to use direct quotation, summaries are a useful strategy to employ. Inthem, the writer can provide unusual facts, background information, andeven other points of view on the subject. When summaries are used inthis way, however, it is important to make sure that they fit smoothly andeasily into the text. A series of unconnected summaries will not make aneffective piece of writing.

Extra Exercise E SummariesFollowing the guidelines for writing a summary, summarize one of

the following paragraphs.

1. The Elizabethan Age takes its name from the queen who reigned overEngland and Ireland from 1558 to 1603. Elizabeth I was an intelligentand gifted ruler, managing for decades to escape political disasters athome and abroad. Always an insightful judge of character, sheachieved her success in large part because of her tendency to makeuse of the shrewdest people around her. However, her clear aware-ness of what she wanted and why she wanted it sometimes led her togo her own way. She used a variety of means to reach the ends shedesired. And, on occasion, she was devious, even false, but she man-aged to outwit her opposition time after time. As a result, it was aglorious time in the history of Britain, for under her rule, the nation




rose from a relatively weak position among the nations of Europe tothe highest rank. England’s power and success grew rapidly in thesixteenth century, leaving it, at Elizabeth’s death, a leader in naviga-tion and exploration, in literary productivity—particularly in drama—and in colonization of the New World.

2. When she died in 1986, Georgia O’Keeffe the person generatedalmost as much interest among the public as Georgia O’Keeffe theartist. Sometimes, she was thought of as the wife and often-pho-tographed model of Alfred Stieglitz, but more often, she was picturedas a romantic recluse who, when she grew older, moved increasinglyaway from the world of art critics and historians and closer to therugged but exotic New Mexico countryside and culture. In the longrun, however, it is for her art that she will be best remembered. Someviewers admire her abstractions; others, her figurative works. Eventhose who disagree about the relative quality of her paintings agreethat her art is memorable, clear, and strong. She painted with a dis-tinctive, powerful, personal vision, one that continues to speakstrongly to viewers today. Her red poppies, purple hills, and bleachedskulls fix themselves in the mind’s eye, not to be easily erased.

Answers to Extra Exercise EHere are possible summaries.

1. An “insightful judge of character,” a clever and sometimes deceitfulpolitician, and an independent and purposeful ruler, Elizabeth I, queenof England from 1558 to 1603, continually triumphed over her ene-mies and weathered political crises to help make England into one ofthe most powerful countries of Europe.

2. Although people occasionally identify Georgia O’Keeffe as the pho-tographer Alfred Stieglitz’s model and wife or as a hermit artist fromNew Mexico, people will recall her finally for her paintings. What-ever their opinions of her art, all find it original, personal, forceful,and unforgettable.

Teaching Tip (Paraphrasing and Summarizing): Many activities in othercourses require students to write about readings and employ paraphrasingand summarizing. Students are asked to synthesize, analyze, respond to,and critique readings in exams and for papers and other assignments. Theymay compose book reviews, interpret literature, analyze arguments, andrelate textbook material to experiments in lab reports. Paraphrasing andsummarizing are also effective study techniques that can be applied to anyreading assignment. They are particularly helpful to students trying toidentify the main points of a piece of writing and relate them to each other.Students often disagree in identifying the main points of a text. For thatreason, students generally find it informative to compare their paraphrasesand summaries, discussing why they made certain choices.




ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe Purdue OWL offers more exercises and information on quoting,

paraphrasing, and summarizing at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/1/.

Harvard’s Guide to Using Sources at http://usingsources.fas.har-vard.edu/icb/icb.do.

ANSWERS TO EXERCISESExercise 18–1

Explanations of incorrect use of quotation:

1. Disconnected quotation.

2. Words not quoted exactly.

3. Grammar problem.

4. Disconnected quotation.

Rewritten sentences will vary.

Exercise 18–2Answers may vary. Following are some possibilities.

1. Thomas Larson points out, “‘Gloomy Sunday,’ written in 1933 and recorded by

Billie Holiday in 1941, is quite sad” (218).

“‘Gloomy Sunday,’ written in 1933 and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1941, is

quite sad,” according to journalist Thomas Larson (218).

2. As evidence of the music’s popularity, Larson notes that “the Internet Movie

Database lists thirty films and TV shows in which the Adagio has appeared”

(204).

“The Internet Movie Database lists thirty films and TV shows in which the

Adagio has appeared,” according to Thomas Larson (204).

3. Thomas Larson, journalist and expert on the composer Samuel Barber, claims,

“Higher art has a higher calling”(227).

I agree with the observation that “Higher art has a higher calling” (Larson 227).

4. Larson points out that new media affect perceptions, noting that “Like the book

before and the TV and computer after it, the radio . . . changed the way our

grandparents experienced the world” (22).

In a lecture about Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Thomas Larson pointed out that

“Like the book before and the TV and computer after it, the radio . . . changed

the way our grandparents experienced the world” (22).

5. Not everyone would likely agree that “the Adagio is a sound shrine to music’s

power to evoke emotion” (Larson 7).




Thomas Larson reveals his enthusiasm when he asserts, “The Adagio is a sound

shrine to music’s power to evoke emotion” (7).

Exercise 18–3Answers may vary.

Exercise 18–4Correct answers will vary.

Exercise 18–5Answers. (Revisions will vary.)

1. Source is missing.

2. Although the source is given, quotation marks are missing to show what exactly

was quoted.

3. Although the quoted material is indicated, the source of the quotation is missing.



CHAPTER 19

Avoiding Plagiarism

I quote others only the better to express myself.

—Montaigne

OVERVIEW Students don’t always realize that they may be misusing others’ infor-

mation as their own; this chapter will help students learn to identify pla-giarism and offers them strategies to avoid it.

Quick Boxes19.1 Types of plagiarism, p. 227

19.2 Strategies for avoiding plagiarism, p. 228

19.3 Guidelines for avoiding plagiarism when using the internetsources, p. 229

—Montaigne

TEACHING TIPS, EXTRA EXERCISESTeaching Tip: Technology now makes possible the digitizing of whole

libraries. (In 2005, a Google project to digitize holdings of major collec-tions, including those at the University of Michigan, Harvard, Stanford,and Oxford, was a major initiative.) Daniel B. Wood’s discussion of thisproject in “Copyright Lawsuit Challenges Google’s Vision of Digital‘Library”’ (Christian Science Monitor, 26 September 2005) calls attentionto issues of copyright that such projects must consider. A key spokesper-son for the American Library Association has expressed fear that the capa-bilities of electronic technology will lead to considerable violations at theexpense of authors. This issue presents not only a good topic for researchand argumentation but also an intellectual and ethical question to stimulateclass discussion and awareness.

Teaching Tip: Some colleges and universities have begun to use pla-giarism detection services. If you are interested in using such a service,inquire at the reference desk of your library to find out if your institutionhas already enrolled in one. If your school does not offer this service, youcan learn more about them from a bibliography created by the IntellectualProperty Caucus of the Conference on College Composition and Commu-nication at http://ccccip.org/pds. While such services can be useful, alsoremember that the classroom is the first place to stop plagiarism from hap-pening. In “Beyond ‘Gotcha!’: Situating Plagiarism in Policy and Peda-gogy” (CCC, September 2002: 85–115), Margaret Price examines current




scholarship about this academic issue and calls for a contextual approachto plagiarism. This article provides a useful counterbalance to the“Gotcha!” approach of plagiarism detection services. Price includes prac-tices she uses to help her students understand instances of plagiarism as“context-specific phenomena.”

Teaching Tip: Believing that most students who plagiarize from theirsources do so because they don’t know how to avoid the problem, Kath-leen Mouton has devised a technique that can be demonstrated in class tohelp students avoid taking notes that are too close to the words of thesource. She suggests that instructors ask students to read a short, inform-ative passage of material and then put it away and make notes frommemory. Students can check afterward to make sure that facts (such asdates and names) are correct. With larger amounts of material, studentscan stop frequently to make their notes, still being careful not to look atthe source while recording each note.

Teaching Tip: ESOL students may have more problems than nativespeakers in understanding the concept of plagiarism. In many cultures,copying and memorizing are respected forms of learning. Originality andcreativity are not always valued as they are in the United States andCanada, where uniqueness in many forms (fashion, language, behavior)is often prized. ESOL students may say that they understand the conceptof plagiarism rather than question anything the instructor says. Therefore,difficult, culture-bound concepts like plagiarism may have to be explainedand demonstrated repeatedly for ESOL students.

Copyright and the “ownership” of ideas and texts are not conceptsrecognized worldwide. Additionally, in many cultures, using the exactwords or ideas of past scholars is a form of expected respect. The bound-aries of intellectual property in the United States and other Western nationsneed to be clarified more than once for ESOL students.

Teaching Tip (Stopping Plagiarism Before It Happens): Techniques forplagiarism-proofing assignments are plentiful: requiring submission, in thestudent’s own handwriting, of working bibliographies, note cards, outlines,and rough drafts; assigning unusual topics and changing them everysemester; replacing the semester-long research project with several shorterones to prevent students from having time to contact research-paper mills;limiting research to the use of a particular casebook. All of these effortswork to some degree, but at the price of turning us into thought police,ever on the alert for the student who might find a way around our system.We take on extra stress and extra paperwork—and students continue tothink of us as fussy creatures who demand they follow rituals peculiar toEnglish classes. If we are to stop wasting energy tracking down plagia-rized passages in the library stacks and on the Internet, we need to take


Chapter 19—Avoiding Plagiarism


steps to counter the mixed signals about plagiarism that our students havereceived over the years—and continue to receive.

In a survey of fourteen first-year composition classes at BrighamYoung University, Doris R. Dant found that 17 percent of the studentsreported being advised by their high school teachers to copy “the infor-mation word for word from other sources.” Dant also found that there wasa correlation between the number of teachers who taught when to docu-ment sources and the students’ avoidance of plagiarism. Students whoreported that all their teachers explained how to credit sources were farmore likely to understand the concept of plagiarism and to avoid copyingreports than those students who received such instruction from just a fewof their teachers. Only 47 percent of the students questioned understood,when they were seniors in high school, how to write an unplagiarizedreport. Among the untrained students, some felt that putting ideas intotheir own words and providing a bibliography (no parenthetical referencesor footnotes) was sufficient. Others felt that copying was fine withoutusing quotation marks, provided that they supplied footnotes, parentheti-cal references, or a bibliography. Almost 6 percent had no idea what theword plagiarism meant. Not surprisingly, over 60 percent of the studentsin these groups reported having copied high school reports.

Some students, however, consciously plagiarize to receive highergrades, and you may want to devote class time to a discussion of the ethicsof plagiarism. To start the discussion, you might report that in a survey of150 first-year Indiana University students, Barry M. Kroll found that mostrespondents regarded plagiarism as a violation of one’s responsibility to doone’s own work, as a failure to give authors just credit for their work, oras theft of someone’s ideas. Few students identified deliberate plagiarismas lying, fraud, or a betrayal of trust, which are issues, Kroll believes, thatstudents need to consider in a class discussion.

Extra Exercise Which of the following statements should be documented, and which

need not be documented?

1. The Declaration of Independence was issued in 1776.

2. The sediments on the ocean floor are the accumulation of silt carriedby rivers to the sea, volcanic dust, coastal sands, and discarded shellsof living creatures.

3. Levi Strauss, the inventor of blue jeans, came to the United Statesfrom Germany in 1848.

4. Coca-Cola is a popular soft drink all around the world.




5. According to Germaine Greer, the reason few women artists haveachieved greatness is that they have historically internalized theiroppression, thereby draining the energy required for creative work.

6. The United States is a substantially less secure society today than itwas forty years ago.

7. The Olympic Games are held every four years.

8. The initials GDP stand for the term gross domestic product.

9. As a society, we should read poetry because it makes us live morefully and live more deeply.

10. Henry David Thoreau lived at Walden Pond for two years.

Answers to Extra Exercise 1. No. Common knowledge.

2. Yes. Not common knowledge.

3. Not necessary. Can be found in a general encyclopedia.

4. No. Common knowledge.

5. Yes. Opinion of someone besides the writer.

6. No, if opinion of the writer. Yes, if opinion of someone besides thewriter.



9. No, if opinion of the writer. Yes, if opinion of someone besides thewriter.

10. Not necessary. Can be found in a general encyclopedia.

Teaching Tip: The University of Pennsylvania offers some very clearguidelines to faculty who need to meet with a student who has cheated orplagiarized, see www.upenn.edu/osc/faculty.html#V. (Campus-specificguidelines have been altered):

A. Consult

• with appropriate colleagues, senior faculty, department chairs,etc.

• with your Office of Student Conduct, for preliminary advice

• with your college’s policies and procedures manual

B. Address

• inform the student promptly and in private

• always keep the original of suspected work of academic dishon-esty (you can return a copy to student)

• meet with the student and let him/her know your specific con-cerns; ask an openended question of student, e.g., what do youhave to say about it?


Chapter 19—Avoiding Plagiarism


• if appropriate, try to determine how justified your concerns areby

4 checking student’s familiarity with vocabulary or con-cepts used

4 asking about sources

4 requesting to see sources/research notes, etc.

C. Decide what to do next

• do nothing if you have become convinced that there has been noacademic dishonesty

• consider whether this is poor academic work or academic dis-honesty

• consider academic support resources for a student who is strug-gling to do it right but needs help

• know and follow university procedures

• even if you are convinced a student has cheated or lied, treathim/her respectfully, professionally, and candidly

• tell him/her what you intend to do

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESNational Council of Writing Program Administrators (WPA) position

paper on plagiarism: http://wpacouncil.org/positions/plagiarism.html

Hall, Jonathan, “Plagiarism Across the Curriculum: How AcademicCommunities Can Meet the Challenge of the Undocumented Writer”Across the Disciplines: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Language,Learning, and Academic Writing, February 2005, at http://wac.colostate.edu/atd/ articles/hall2005.cfm)

The November 2005 Council Chronicle from NCTE, “Teaching AboutPlagiarism in a Digital Age.” www.ncte.org/magazine/archives/122871.

In “Copyrights and Conversations: Intellectual Property in the Class-room” (Computers & Composition 15.2: 243–251), Janice R. Walkerclaims that writing instructors can help students arrive at an enhancedunderstanding of the nature of scholarship in the digital age by focusing oncopyright issues when approaching rules of citation and prohibitionsagainst plagiarism. Laura Hennessey DeSena’s Preventing Plagiarism:Tips and Techniques (Urbana, IL: NCTE Press, 2007) offers concrete tipsfor preventing plagiarism in your class.

The University of Alberta Library has a direct set of practices aimedat preventing plagiarism. Read the full list at www.library.ualberta.ca/




guides/plagiarism/preventing/index.cfm. One of the tips includes down-loading one of the free essays available from a paper mill and critiquing itin class.


1. It is plagiarism because there is no citation; revision:

If a waiter brings a check too soon, some guests are upset. However, other guests

don’t feel they should have to ask for the check (Nassauer).

2. It is plagiarism because exact words and phrases used without quotation marks;

revision:

According to Nassauer, “When researchers asked customers which restaurant

service mistake is worst in terms of overall satisfaction, they said not promptly

settling the check when the guest is ready to leave.” OR students may paraphrase

the quotation, which in this case may be preferable.

3. It is plagiarism because there is no citation; revision:

Restaurant customers reported being most bothered by waiters “not promptly set-

tling the check” at the end of the meal (Nassuer).



CHAPTER 20

Writing About Readings

Be sure you go to the author to get at his meaning, not to find yours.

—John Ruskin

OVERVIEW This chapter focuses on techniques for summarizing, responding to,

and applying readings.

Quick Boxes20.1 Effective response essays, p. 235

20.2 Effective analyses or interpretations, p. 239

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: The skills discussed in Chapter 20 intertwine with topics

discussed in several other chapters, especially Chapter 3 (critical reading)and Chapter 14 (analyzing a text). Begin by reviewing key points fromthose chapters so that students reflect on how to integrate topics that havebeen covered earlier in the term. Remind students about “high-yield” partsof the texts that they are attempting to summarize or respond to: for exam-ple, beginnings of paragraphs, introductions, and conclusions.

Teaching Tip: Summarizing is an important skill in professional writ-ing, especially that directed toward executive audiences. In fact, the onlypart of a report that many executive readers will read is the executive sum-mary. Helping students understand the importance of summary-writing inthe workplace may enhance their interest in the skill.

Teaching Tip: Abstracts are a common type of summary in researcharticles and related types of academic writing. Students may encounter,or be asked to produce, two different types of abstracts. A descriptiveabstract simply outlines the topics covered by the piece of writing beingsummarized. In contrast, an informative abstract provides additional detailsabout the author’s methods and findings or recommendations. Neitherabstract is designed to be evaluative. Examples of both types of abstractsare available at http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/page.cfm?pageid=1252and can be used to illustrate the differences to students.

Activity (Responding to Readings): Your students may benefit fromkeeping a reading journal, either one they complete out of class or one towhich you have them devote five or ten minutes of writing during classtime. Suggestions about prompts for a reading journal can be found at




“Keeping a Reading Journal” at http://new.oberlin.edu/arts-and-sci-ences/departments/rhetoric/info-students/journal.dot.

Activity (Interpreting Quantitative Data): USA Today is known for itsdaily “Snapshots,” lay-oriented graphics that represent statistical informa-tion about issues and trends. Have students example a selection of Snap-shots (available at http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/snapshot.htm) andwrite a brief paragraph on each to practice interpreting data.

Activity (Evaluating Quantitative Data): As a follow-up to the precedingactivity, have students discuss what information or data is missing fromparticular Snapshots that might help them draw more conclusive infer-ences from the data. This exercise is designed to help students reflect onthe dangers of drawing inferences from limited data.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe University of Adelaide Writing Centre offers a useful guide on

“Writing an Abstract” at www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/learning_guides/learningGuide_writingAnAbstract.pdf. It includes examples ofdescriptive and informative abstracts and differentiates the functions of anabstract from those of an introduction.

The National Literacy Project offers a useful handout on “Respondingto Reading” at www.nationalliteracyproject.org/pdfs/mickler/Responding_to_Reading.pdf. Although most of the prompts are oriented toward fictionpieces, many are adaptable to other types of writing as well.


Answers will vary. Ask students to read their work aloud. As a class,critique each sample against the criteria offered in this section.


CHAPTER 21

Starting and Planning Research Projects

One of the skills of research is knowing when you have enough informaton;in considering too many side issues or too many perspectives, you may lose themain thread of your subject.

—Charles Bazerman

OVERVIEW Chapter 21 sees the student through the beginning steps of the

research paper: understanding the purpose, planning, choosing topics, anddeveloping search strategies. It also offers instruction on field researchand creating bibliographies, as well as content notes.

Quick Boxes21.1 Reasons for doing research, p. 253

21.2 Steps in most research projects, p. 255

21.3 Sample schedule for a research project, p. 256

21.4 Guidelines for developing a survey, p. 262

21.5 Conducting research interviews, p. 263

21.6 Research using direct observations, p. 265

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIES, AND EXTRA EXERCISESActivity: For an assigned research paper, form a group to study and

implement the principles given in Quick Box 21.3, “Sample schedule fora research project.” Work together to clarify the various steps listed onthe schedule by referring to later sections of this chapter and to your ownexperience. Then, make a simplified schedule that the whole group canuse, leaving space for each student to add specific steps when needed.Base the schedule on the actual deadlines given by your instructor. Includeat least these four steps: (1) topic firmly chosen, (2) research substantiallycompleted and writing begun, (3) full draft completed, and (4) final paperdue. Keep in mind that the writing process is always recursive. For exam-ple, you may find that even a topic you have committed to firmly mightneed to change if you discover insufficient information is available.

Advice to instructor: Most students find it useful when instructorsspecify more than a final deadline. Having a deadline for at least the firstfull draft will help eliminate last-minute work—as well as plagiarism—by





panicked students. It also allows you to check whether students under-stand the proper format before they hand in the final draft. Better still,establishing a series of deadlines or “checkpoints” (topic selection, work-ing bibliography, content notes, early drafts) will give you a sense of howwell the research-writing process is going—and whether you need toexplain or review the parts of the process that students seem to be unableto put into practice.

Activity: Students might feel overwhelmed if they had to do a researchpaper on, say, the role of the media in shaping public attitudes toward pol-itics or the implications of cloning mammals. The problem has more to dowith students’ fears than the actual complexity of such assignments. Youcan build students’ confidence with research skills if you assign “accessi-ble” topics—especially for preliminary exercises in research skills andnotetaking. Here are a few possibilities.

1. Write a biography of someone you would like to know more about:a sports figure, a cartoonist, a movie director, a state legislator, a dictator.

2. Write an essay recommending a particular type or model of someexpensive consumer item that you are interested in buying, such as a car,a computer, or a home gym.

3. Write an essay recommending and explaining an eating regimenthat can help someone lose weight, train for a sport, or control a healthproblem (such as diabetes or high blood pressure).

4. Imagine you’re a U.S. travel agent hired to plan a tour of Asia orAfrica. Money is no object. You have been instructed to arrange stops inall countries with which the United States has friendly relations. For eachcountry they’ll visit, advise your clients of (1) entry requirements, such asa visa and the limitations on what they may bring into each country; (2)health precautions needed, including inoculations; and (3) local laws orcustoms that they must not violate, such as those dealing with alcohol anddrugs.

5. If you haven’t chosen a career or major, write an essay exploringthe pros and cons of a particular career or major you’re considering. Ifyou have chosen your field, write an essay exploring a particular job inthat field or arguing a position about an ethical or political problem in thefield.

Activity: You may find it helpful to ask students to bring to classresearch assignments made in other classes. Working in groups, they cananalyze the assignments in terms of audience, purpose, and scope of topic.Also, they might discuss a search strategy for carrying out the assignment,something that the student charged with doing the work would find quitehelpful.


Chapter 21—Starting and Planning Research Projects


Teaching Tip: For composition courses that have a service-learningcomponent or that seek to offer students “real world” applications of theirlearning, many instructors speak glowingly of research projects from anorganization, agency, or business in which their students participate. Localjournalists, government officials, business leaders, and even faculty inother disciplines can also offer (and sometimes help direct) research proj-ects for composition students. Positive benefits from such projects includethe mentoring relationships that develop and the opportunity students haveto be credited in print (scholarly articles, business and organizationbrochures, government reports, etc.) for the contributions they have made.

Teaching Tip: One of the ways students can determine whether aresearch question will be a fruitful one to pursue is to ask them to considerwhat type of audience (21H) would be interested to know the answer tothe question(s) they are considering. In this case, we are using an imaginedaudience of “readers who would like to know the answer to the researchquestion,” rather than the more realistic audience of the class’s instructorand students. For instance (using the example from 21F), what sort ofaudience would be interested to learn—if it indeed turned out to be true—that many families in the United States are homeless? By contrast, whataudience might want to know what the actual experience of being home-less is like? Considering the audience is one of the most effective ways ofmaking a research question more manageable and focused.

Activity: Assigning a group a single topic for research using three orfour specified sources can result in some interesting differences in theinformation that is selected for notes and the information that is rejected.You may want to ask students to bring their notes to class for comparisonwith those taken by their fellow students. The comparison will be evenmore interesting if the student-researchers keep a complete record of theirresearch in their logs, recording the title and precise location (call number,URL, etc.) of any source not used, with a note as to why it was rejected.

Extra ExerciseFor each of the following subjects, devise a narrowed topic, then a

research question, followed by a thesis statement, noting its purpose.

1. Fishing

2. Large families

3. Retirement communities

4. Competitive swimming

5. Study habits

6. Current clothing styles

7. Contemporary American novels

8. Olympics


9. Professional football

10. Diets

Answers to Extra ExerciseAnswers will vary. Furthermore, given what Chapter 21 says about

research questions and thesis statements, students might feel that devisinga thesis statement without having first done some research goes against theprescribed methodology. In that case, you might ask students to imaginewhat a thesis statement would look like if, hypothetically, the researchleaned one way or the other. For instance, if a student had chosen number1, “Fishing,” narrowed down to the topic of “overfishing and the world’sfood supply,” and then followed with the research question, “Are we over-fishing and threatening the world’s food supply?” you might ask the stu-dent to write three different thesis statements: one that argues that we areoverfishing the world’s oceans, one that argues we are not, and one forwhich the evidence is inconclusive.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESRobert Davis and Mark Shadle, “‘Building a Mystery’: Alternative

Research Writing and the Academic Act of Seeking,” College Compositionand Communication 51.3 (2000): 417–446).


Answers will vary, but some of the most important research questions that this para-

graph generates include the following:

1. When were girls denied educational opportunities? What were the educational

limitations placed on girls in the past? When did things start changing?

2. What percentage of girls, versus what percentage of boys, are graduating from

high school, according to recent statistics?

3. Are girls performing better than boys on all standardized tests? If not, which ones

favor boys and which favor girls?

4. According to the most recent information available, what percentage of the enter-

ing first-year students in colleges and universities are composed of women? Are there impor-

tant differences in these numbers based on region (e.g., the Midwest, the South, etc.)?

5. What are some examples of colleges and universities that have programs to help

attract and admit male students?

6. What percentage of new medical- and law-school students are women?

7. Are unequal “academic quality and success” the main causes for the decline in

boys’ academic achievement? What other causes might play a role? How much of this “prob-




lem” comes not from the underperformance of boys, but from the greater opportunities girls

now have in our society?

Exercise 21–2Though answers will vary, one important point that this exercise tries to make is that all

of these questions can be addressed by all of the research techniques this chapter lists. It is

up to the students to determine which will provide the best, most relevant information for

their papers. Sometimes, that means favoring one type of research over another, but most of

the time students (or any researcher for that matter) will not know the possible value of the

information they gather via a given research technique until they do that research. Therefore,

one way to frame this assignment might be to ask students how they might apply all the

research methods Chapter 21 lists to the topics in Exercise 21-2. That is, whom could they

interview about which television programs appeal to college students? How could they

arrange to observe the working conditions of a job that interests them? To whom could they

pass out a questionnaire about clothing displays in both upscale and discount stores?

Chapter 21—Starting and Planning Research Projects




CHAPTER 22

Finding Published Sources

A research paper is not a list of findings; it is the coherent communication ofa meaningful pattern of information.

—Richard M. Coe

OVERVIEW This chapter will assist students in identifying the multitude of pub-

lished sources they will need to write a research paper and how to locatethem using not only libraries, but databases and online sites.

Quick Boxes22.1 Scholarly sources versus popular sources, p. 272

22.2 Edited versus unedited sources, p. 273

22.3 Top ten questions to ask a librarian, p. 273

22.4 Tips on using Web search engines, p. 274

22.5 Refining keyword searches with Boolean expressions, p. 278

22.6 Types of periodicals, p. 284

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip (Online Research): To provide students with the clearest,

most up-to-date information on how to do library research, we haveincluded throughout this chapter many examples of real screens accessedthrough real URLs. All are correct at the time of writing this book. How-ever, because the Internet changes quickly, and access to databases andsearch engines depends on the Internet service provider you or your insti-tution uses, we advise that you alert students that they might not be ableto access the URLs shown in many of the sample screens in this chapter.Instead, they need to check with a librarian at your institution’s libraryfor information on how to access particular resources. (You might ask stu-dents to bring access information to class to share with everyone.)

Teaching Tip: This chapter builds on the introductory information inChapter 21. When you are ready to begin teaching the research paper inyour course, schedule a library orientation with your library’s referencelibrarian. The librarian should be able to give your students an in-depthtour of all of the resources in the library. In general, creating structuredactivities—such as a library scavenger hunt and hands-on searches—willhelp your students to become quickly familiar with the wide range of


Chapter 22—Finding Published Sources


sources available. To make a library session go smoothly, distribute papermaps of the college library before you go. Also, if your students have toactivate their student ID in order to use the library and access its services,ask your students to do that prior to the library session. You may alsowant to distribute the library’s hours and a list of the databases that stu-dents can access off campus. Many libraries have this information easilyavailable on the library homepage. If you are using a course managementsystem like Blackboard, you can put a link to the relevant information onyour course site.

Teaching Tip: Quoting, Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Synthesizingare covered in Chapter 18.

Teaching Tip: Many teachers have asked students to keep their researchlogs online, in a blog or course management system. These online logsinclude not only the timeline for research and strategies for approachingthe research paper, but also an ever-increasing annotated bibliography ofsources consulted. By emphasizing citation and annotation from the begin-ning of the process, students are encouraged to think, and write, consis-tently about their sources.

Teaching Tip (Using Collaboration): Group members may divide collab-orative research projects by subject matter areas or source materials. Forexample, in an essay on automobile exhaust pollution, dividing by subjectmatter might send one student to look up “regulation,” another to investi-gate “industry response,” and another to search for “testing results.” Divid-ing by source might send one student to a business database, another toperiodical indexes, and another to a library’s catalog. By dividing the workand pooling information, students can gain a broader perspective on theirtopics and compose more balanced papers.

Teaching Tip: You may want to assign a controlled research paperrather than asking each student in the course to come up with a topic ofpersonal interest. Sometimes, allowing students to choose their own topicsleads to recycled topics like the death penalty or abortion or flag burningand does not allow students to engage in original and exciting research. Ifstudents in the course are working on similar or related topics, they canmore easily share information and you can more easily read and evaluatethe research they find.

Teaching Tip (Using Collaboration): Working together, students canundertake more extensive primary research than they can working alone.A group of students can draw up a list of interview questions to ask inindividually conducted interviews. The identical question set ensures thatstudents can compare the information from each interview. Conversely,some projects may benefit from having members of the group ask differ-




ent questions so that each gathers information on a different aspect of thetopic. Indeed, you could decide to tell students that the person they inter-view might sometimes mention new and intriguing subjects. In such cases,even though questions about these new areas don’t appear on the preparedlist, students can choose to explore the new subjects during the interview.Interviewer flexibility usually pays off in such situations.

Teaching Tip: What is available on campus and in your area? Do youhave a local historical society? On-campus archives? If so, helping stu-dents to work with primary historical documents can be an exciting way toframe a research assignment.

Teaching Tip: Many students are good at basic, online searches. Theyare familiar and comfortable with retrieving information digitally. Fewerstudents know how to look up and retrieve books in the library. You mightwant to create an assignment for students to become familiar with the callnumber system and how to use it to find books.

Teaching Tip: If you teach in a computer lab, or have access to a smartclassroom, it is a good idea to model guided and Boolean searches forstudents. Often, students are not savvy about the variety of search termsand keywords that will limit or expand their searches. Encourage studentsto track their keyword searches in their research logs.

Teaching Tip: When you visit the Library of Congress Online Catalogwith students, you might want to also explore the other collections avail-able online. For example, the American Memory Collection athttp://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html provides free and open access tomaps, photographs, audio files, and other materials that students can use intheir papers.

Teaching Tip: If you teach in a computer lab, or have access to a smartclassroom, it is a good idea to model guided and Boolean searches forstudents. Often, students are not savvy about the variety of search termsand keywords that will limit or expand their searches. Encourage studentsto track their keyword searches in their research logs.

Teaching Tip: To help students understand generalized knowledge, suchas that found in reference books, choose a common entry from an ency-clopedia. Have each student in the class read the entry and then create alist of additional questions that they would like answered on the topic todemonstrate the need to move beyond general knowledge.

Teaching Tip: Encourage students to use some periodicals that are inthe stacks or on microfilm. Many times students rely on only the full-textarticles easily available. Encouraging students to understand the full rangeof materials available in your library will greatly strengthen their researchskills.


Chapter 22—Finding Published Sources


Teaching Tip: If your students are researching similar or related topics,encourage them to create a shared file of basic background information(with proper citations!) that everyone in the class can draw upon.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESJames Strickland’s “Just the FAQs: An Alternative to Teaching the

Research Paper” (The English Journal 94.1 [2004]: 23–28) suggests a newapproach to the research paper that follows inquiry-based activities, ratherthan the thesis-driven research paper.


Answers will vary. Depending on the variety of sources available through your library,

you may want to help students categorize databases into “general knowledge” and “special-

ized” databases. You can also expand this exercise by asking students to explore what addi-

tional databases are available through the local public library.

Exercise 22–2Answers will vary. This exercise is intended to demonstrate that different databases

have different information so that students become accustomed to looking in more than one

place for research material. If you have more time, you might expand this exercise to include

an Internet search using Google or another search engine and a book search. This will allow

students to see results from four different types of sources.



CHAPTER 23

Evaluating Sources

Research is the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comesunder your observation in life.

—Marcus Aurelius

OVERVIEW Following the chapter on locating sources, this chapter gives instruc-

tion to the student on how to evaluate those sources, and to ensure thatthey are useful sources.

Quick Boxes23.1 Five questions for evaluating sources, p. 290

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: By exposing students to the library and encouraging

them to find out more about the expert sources available, you will helpstudents to understand the world of research beyond Internet searches.Because of the proliferation of poor sources and plagiarism, writinginstructors are loathe to allow students to use the Internet in their researchpapers. As more and more sources move to a digital environment, how-ever, students will be expected in their future work and academic lives tobe able to integrate Internet research with library-based, peer-reviewedsources. Helping students to understand this combination will give them anedge in their writing, research, and critical thinking ability.

Teaching Tip (Using Collaboration): Student collaboration on a researchproject has both benefits and pitfalls. Chief among the benefits is a “real-world” application of teamwork skills along with the usually positiveresult of students’ developing supportive, academic relationships. Whenstudents collaborate in searching for sources, they feel less awkward aboutasking for assistance and less intimidated by exploring a library, inter-viewing an expert, or using an unfamiliar technology (such as microfilm).To help address pitfalls that may arise from unequal student contributions,you may want to include peer evaluation to differentiate students’ indi-vidual contributions to their projects and/or to have students take individ-ual responsibility for various sections of the final presentation.

Teaching Tip: Using the information in Quick Box 23.1, ask students toadd this information to their research log. As they consider each source fortheir paper, they should also be constantly evaluating sources. You mighteven set aside a day to ask the class to vet one another’s sources. Have


Chapter 23—Evaluating Sources


students present several of their sources to the rest of the class. In a pres-entation, students need to be able to answer the five questions in QuickBox 23.1. If they cannot authenticate a source, then they need to gatheradditional information on the source and its potential usefulness in thepaper.

Teaching Tip: The Web site in the following Additional Resources,“Evaluating Web Resources” from Widener University’s Wolfgram Memo-rial Library, gives several separate checklists to identify and evaluate fiveof the most common types of Web pages: advocacy, business/marketing,news, informational, and personal. This site is written by librarians expe-rienced in using and teaching about the Web.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESMany library Web sites contain suggestions for evaluating sources.

You can find them by entering a search phrase like “evaluating sources”(or “resources”) in a search engine. Examples of such suggestions areavailable at the following Web sites, active at the time this handbook wentto press:

• Evaluating Web Resources at www.widener.edu/about/campus_resources/wolfgram_library/evaluate/



CHAPTER 24

Draft and Revising a Research Paper

By asking students to stick to researching the known, we teach them to fearthe unknown.

—Robert Davis and Mark Shadle

OVERVIEW After tapping their sources and settling on a topic, students will begin

to write and then to revise their paper. This chapter offers guidelines tohelp them through this process.

Quick Boxes24.1 Revision checklist for a research paper, p. 307

24.2 Editing and formatting checklist for a research paper, p. 308

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: Too often students view research writing as a knowl-

edge-telling exercise rather than an inquiry-based assignment. As a result,their papers can become a string of disconnected paragraphs and citationsas they try to include relevant sources but fail to integrate sources and tosynthesize information; falter in providing appropriate documentation; andneglect to speak in their own voices. One approach to research that helpsreduce the pain of writing (and reading!) stream-of-information papers isto help your students select a topic that originates in wonder. An “I wonderabout/if _____” brainstorming activity helps awaken curiosity. From thesubjects that surface from this activity, students can choose a topic thatlends itself to research (of both primary and secondary sources). If youguide them through the types of resources that are available (referenceworks, scholarly journals, popular magazines, newspapers, personal inter-views, Web sites in addition to online postings of print materials, etc.),your students can move from an inquiry-based topic to an inquiry-basedinvestigation of sources. For instance, if the topic question is “Are genderdistinctions ‘hard-wired’ or socialized?” further questions for explorationmay include the following: (1) Are there cases of identical twins beingraised as boy and girl? (2) What do transgendered men and women say onthis subject? (3) What biological tests, if any, can shed light on this topic?(4) What do reputable social scientists and psychologists say? (5) Do pres-


Chapter 24—Drafting and Revising a Research Paper


ent conjectures about gender apply across cultures? As students experi-ence the pleasure of inquiry, they can see that a research paper seeks tosolve a problem or answer a question for a particular audience. While thisprocess does not guarantee smooth integration of sources, it certainly helpsstudents see how source material needs to be used to help build a case ordebate a point. As a result, this approach encourages students to speak intheir own voices as they integrate source material to support an argumentrather than merely to show off how many citations, however unrelated toone another, they may have gleaned in their research process.

Teaching Tip: As students today rely on computers not only for finalstage writing but also for notetaking and drafting as well, the need forsafeguarding files becomes increasingly important. To prevent the “I lostmy file” scenario, you may want to caution students to create backup filesfor which they must be responsible: on hard drive, CD or other portabledisk/flashkey, and even through e-mail or other online storage services.Remind them to save their work often, using several of the methods listedin the previous sentence, in order to give them the best chance of main-taining the integrity of the files. Creating separate files for each section ofa project can assist students in organizing as well as in safeguarding theirwork.

If you are teaching using a content management system that featuresa forum for class discussion, you might encourage students to post theirnotes and process-based writing as part of their public class work. Thisopens up greater possibilities for peer review of all stages of the researchprocess, ensures that students have a ready back up for all of their files,and also ensures that students are meeting the course research schedulein a timely fashion.

Teaching Tip: If you have students who are new to research writing,you may find them especially reluctant to engage in the necessary workrequired to write a thorough and coherent paper. Things like content notesmay seem to the inexperienced writer a superfluous exercise. Therefore,building in evaluation of at least some of the stages of the research paperis important. But evaluation can take many forms. You might design someways to use the stages of the research paper for interesting class activities.For instance, if all the students are writing on the same research topic,have them bring in their content notes to class, and use them as triviaquestions to quiz each other on the research topic. In this way, they willreceive a review of the topic, see how their note cards stack up to theirclassmates’, and learn how important it is to take good notes—all whilehaving fun.

Teaching Tip: You may want to point out to students that the revisionchecklist in this section contains questions about content, organization,




paragraph style, and documentation. Questions about grammar and punc-tuation are absent, not because these elements are unimportant in the finalpresentation of a paper, but because they do not need attention untilabsolutely all concerns about content, organization, audience, and voicehave been addressed. If you help students focus on these fundamentalissues in the notetaking and drafting stages of their work (by giving feed-back and raising questions), they will soon realize that sentence-polishingand paper-formatting concerns are best left until last.

Indeed, correcting errors at the sentence level becomes moot if sen-tences (even whole paragraphs) must be deleted or changed altogether tosatisfy a content or organizational matter of clear, focused communica-tion.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESMost school’s writing centers provide extra guidance and sample

research papers for students.


CHAPTER 25

MLA Documentation with Case Study

There is no way to write unless you read, and read a lot.

—Walter J. Ong

OVERVIEW Chapter 25 instructs students in the appropriate use of the MLA style

of documentation: in-text citations, Works Cited pages, and formatting.

Quick Box25.1 Guidelines for an MLA-style Works Cited list, p. 317

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIES, AND EXTRA EXERCISESTeaching Tips (Reading-Writing Connection): Place the responsibility for

learning on the student by reiterating the reading-writing connection. Thetechnical aspects of the research format and the density of the instruc-tional material (e.g., the reading) strain the abilities of many students.Well-guided reflection can teach reading strategies such as previewing,skimming, and questioning. If you are using a portfolio method, studentscan date these reflections and include them as part of a process portfolio.

Provide five to ten minutes of class time for the students to skim thisentire chapter and to record impressionistic responses to the followingquestions/prompts:

1. What seems clear to you?

2. What confuses you?

3. Which sections seem most important and why?

4. Write out five questions and rank them from “dumb” to “important.”How much time do you need to study this chapter to understand thematerial and why? When will you do this studying?.

Teaching Tip: Consider how important MLA style and documentationis in the course you are teaching. You will want to teach this chapter, andthe other chapters on citation styles, in accordance with the student learn-ing objectives for your course. Strict adherence to MLA style might beless appropriate for a first-year composition class and more appropriatein a research- or writingintensive class, or in a course in the major. Beguided by your program’s and your classroom’s goals.





Teaching Tip (Collaboration): Documentation can be tedious even forseasoned scholars. Students inexperienced with documentation style maysimply not “see” the fine points of punctuation and arrangement of bibli-ographical data so apparent to an English instructor. Asking students tofunction as reviewers and editors by working in pairs or small groups toproofread documentation in one another’s work is a particularly effectivestrategy. As students take responsibility for proofreading carefully, know-ing that the favor is being reciprocated, they often observe details for-merly unnoticed. As they explain to one another what is needed whereand why, they become teachers themselves and, in the process, commit tomemory what they learn.

Extra Exercise ADevise parenthetical references for the following quotation and para-

phrase. The source is provided at the end of each selection.

1. “If indeed we note in [Thomas Carlyle’s] writings those passages inwhich the words and rhythms are most resonant, and the accent falls withthe strongest emphasis, we shall find they are the expression of the cosmicwonder and terror which formed the darkly flaming background of all histhoughts.” (Logan Pearsall Smith, “Thomas Carlyle: The Rembrandt ofEnglish Prose,” Reperusals and Re-Collections, Harcourt, 1936, 115.)

2. “Ethologists study the traits that distinguish a group—a group ofpeople or a group of animals. They try to discover how the group usuallyacts by observing its members in their natural surroundings, and to under-stand their behavior by testing it, when possible, in the laboratory.” (SallyCarrighar, “Ethology,” from Wild Heritage, Houghton, 1965, 174–175.)

Answers to Extra Exercise A1. (Smith 115).

2. (Carrighar 174–75).

Teaching Tip: Write a quick paragraph making an argument about atext you are using in class. Use direct quotations from the material, but donot cite it. Give this paragraph to students and ask them to create paren-thetical citations in the paragraph and a Works Cited page at the end.

Teaching Tip: If you teach in a “smart” (i.e., technology-enhanced)classroom, or if you put documents online for your students, considercolor coding an MLA Works Cited page, making items that are the samein the same color to demonstrate a visual pattern of citation style to thestudents (e.g., all author names appear in blue, all titles in red, etc.).

Teaching Tip: Many libraries and writing centers offer citation clinics,online chats, and other resources to assist students in the process of proper


Chapter 25—MLA Documentation with Case Study

citations. Make a list of available resources on your campus and sharethose resources with your students.

Teaching Tip: Many students can find MLA and other style guides verydaunting. They do not understand the rationale or importance of what theyconsider to be small issues: matters of punctuation and organization ofinformation. Whenever possible, point to real life examples of documen-tation style in the material you bring to class. You might also show stu-dents samples of your own scholarly work and talk about your approach totackling MLA documentation in your articles and books.

Teaching Tip: While many students understand that they need to citetheir references, they do not always understand why it is important to havethe relevant publication information. Take your students to the library andbreak them into groups. Give each group two to three items from a longerWorks Cited list. Have them find the texts. Later, discuss how having allof the information, such as publication dates and issue numbers and pagenumbers, was useful in retrieving the text. You can use this exercise toemphasize the communal knowledge-building component of citations—to help others who want to do additional research on a related topic. If itproves relevant, you might even suggest that in writing a research paperfor your class that students follow up on one of their source’s citations.

Teaching Tip: Depending on how much time you have allotted forteaching MLA citation, you might consider any of the following additionalexercises as ways to reinforce citation information.

• Bring a variety of textual materials to class—DVDs, cassette tapes,books, articles, journals, newspaper clippings, photographs, etc.—andask the class to work in groups to use the MLA guidelines to create aclass-generated Works Cited list. Have students put the Works Citedlists on the board, and as a group edit each list. If you teach in a smartclassroom, you might consider annotating this list, using the commentfunction in Microsoft Word, to explain where students made mistakesand how to correct them.

• Host a citation clinic day in class where students can participate in aworkshop for MLA citations for their papers, both in-text and WorksCited.

• Divide the class into groups of two or three students. Assign eachgroup a date by which the students will be responsible for preparingthree MLA citations. Ask students to come to class five minutes earlyon their assigned day and put the citations on the board. Spend thefirst ten minutes of class critiquing the citations until each group hashad an opportunity to put material on the board.

• Removing all personal information (student name, section number),photocopy two to three old Works Cited pages from a previous classand ask students to critique it.



• Try a puzzle exercise. Prior to class, prepare envelopes for a prede-termined number of groups. For each group, choose a single citationfrom a book. Cut the citation up into parts. Put the parts in an enve-lope. In class, distribute the envelopes and ask students to reassemblethe citations.

Teaching Tip: One useful way to merge communications skills withresearch paper writing is to ask students to prepare research presentations.In addition to sharing their thesis and relevant findings with the class, stu-dents can prepare a visual presentation, such as a PowerPoint, to showtheir research. When MLA style is used in these presentations, it rein-forces citation skills.

Extra Exercise BUsing the following information, compile a Works Cited list in MLA style.

1. Abraham Lincoln: The Man behind the Myths, by Stephen B. Oates.Harper & Row, Publishers, New York, Cambridge, Philadelphia, SanFrancisco, London, Mexico City, São Paulo, and Sydney, 1984.

2. Barbara W. Tuchman. Practicing History. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.Copyright 1936, 1959, 1966, 1974, 1981. New York.

3. Time’s Arrow, Time’s Cycle: Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery ofGeological Time. Stephen Jay Gould. Harvard University Press, Cam-bridge, Massachusetts. 1987.

4. T. C. Smout. A Century of the Scottish People, 1830–1950. NewHaven and London, 1986, Yale University Press.

5. Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr. In Search of Excellence.Harper & Row, Publishers, New York, 1982.

6. The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici. 1974. Penguin Books. NewYork. By Christopher Hibbert.

7. Capote: A Biography. 1988. Simon & Schuster. New York. GeraldClarke.

Answers to Extra Exercise BWorks Cited

Clarke, Gerald. Capote: A Biography. New York: Simon, 1988. Print.

Gould, Stephen Jay. Time’s Arrow, Time’s Cycle: Myth and Metaphor inthe Discovery of Geological Time. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1987.Print.

Hibbert, Christopher. The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici. NewYork: Penguin, 1974. Print.

Oates, Stephen B. Abraham Lincoln: The Man behind the Myths. NewYork: Harper, 1984. Print.

Peters, Thomas J., and Robert H. Waterman, Jr. In Search of Excellence.New York: Harper, 1982. Print.




Smout, T. C. A Century of the Scottish People, 1830–1950. New Haven:Yale UP, 1986. Print.

Tuchman, Barbara W. Practicing History. New York: Knopf, 1981. Print.

Teaching Tip: In professional writing, students will have to learn tofollow exact formats. For example, when entrepreneurs write businessplans, they have to follow an exact format. Working with MLA format isa good way to anticipate other writing that must follow strict guidelines.

Teaching Tip: Encourage students to use a variety of sources when writ-ing research papers. Often students rely on Internet, full-text articles andbooks. Challenge them to use audio, visual, and primary source docu-ments, where appropriate.

Teaching Tip: Make citation real for your students. by discussing highlypublicized plagiarism cases. For example, historian Stephen E. Ambrosewas accused of plagiarizing Thomas Childers’ The Wings of Morning inhis book The Wild Blue. Dan Brown faced a lawsuit over historical infor-mation he used in The DaVinci Code. Take passages from The DaVinciCode and ask students how they could cite the material. This promises toraise interesting and lively class discussion since The DaVinci Code is fic-tion. You might also take passages from The Wings of Morning and TheWild Blue and ask students to undertake a similar exercise in suggestingproper citation information. Alternatively, you might ask students toresearch recent high profile plagiarism cases in music and film.

Research: Portfolio Approaches and Activities: The research project offersa sound opportunity for a task-oriented, self-contained portfolio or a richselection for a program or class portfolio. Obviously, the research processrequires the student to synthesize multiple correlated skills and concepts.By carefully dating, labeling, and reflecting on this sophisticated readingand writing task, students can see, refine, and deepen learning before,during, and after various strategic stages of the process. The pivotal com-ponent of portfolio assessment that separates it from traditional assess-ments is student reflection about the process. Students must assume theresponsibility of creating and defending the meaning and quality of thelearning taking place.

Using the Reporter’s Questions in Reflecting and Researching: Keep theinstructional responsibility on the student by using the material summa-rized in the Quick References throughout this handbook as the basis ofreflective informal journals. For example, certain items in Quick Box 21.3,“Sample schedule for a research project,” in section 21D, combined withthe exemplified research log in section 21H, provide excellent roots forreflective questions and answers. Item 1 in Quick Box 21.3, “Choose atopic suitable for research,” could be presented as a two- to three-minute




class opener to establish prior knowledge and preview the lesson in thefollowing manner: What would be a suitable topic for research and why?What topics would you like to learn and read about? Does this topic havetwo sides? Which side do you presently support and why? Item 9 in QuickReference 33.1, “Locate and evaluate sources,” could yield a subsequentset of questions: Where would information on this topic probably befound? Who would be best qualified to offer an opinion and why? Howmany different types of sources might be available? Where and how couldyou locate these sources?

This procedural model yields as many questions for lively class dis-cussion and quiet written reflection as you have time for in your curricu-lum. Choose your own focus and create questions that help studentsconnect the function, form, and processes of learning activities to knowl-edge.

Research Portfolio: Task-Oriented Self-Contained Profile of a StudentResearcher: Portfolios are discussed in detail in Chapter 8. Portfolios are anexcellent way to help students organize all of the stages of research writ-ing. If you decide to teach the research paper using a portfolio method,you will want to determine how much of the process you want students toshowcase. This can include anything from a research log to notes to out-lines to drafts to final reflections. The following is a brief overview of theresearch portfolio. For more information, please see the student andinstructor information in Chapter 8.

The following information can be quickly and easily translated into anoverview handout for a research portfolio. Such a handout provides thestudent with a reference document throughout the learning and assessmentprocess. However, many of the question, reflection, and writing activitiesmay be assigned in an ongoing fashion through daily, informal journalsthat can, by design, preview, reinforce, or review specific steps in theresearch process. To reinforce the relationships among reading, listening,speaking, and writing, try scheduling some time for small-group andwhole-class discussion as talk-aloud reflections. Sponsor a “hallway bullsession” in class; just remind students to record their questions andinsights.

Before research begins, establish prior knowledge and stimulate learn-ing readiness by asking students to record reflections in any or all of thefollowing ways: Briefly describe your research history—how many timeshave you researched? How will information already learned in this classhelp in the research process? What are the purposes of research? Whatwas the required documentation style? Describe your success with theprocess. Describe your struggles with the process. Describe your preferredmethod of research.




As research proceeds, encourage students to track and documentevery minute spent on research by dating and recording reflections on anyor all of the following topics (you may want to reword these prompts inlanguage appropriate for your student audience):

• Concepts: What is the value of your topic—who cares or needs toknow about it? What is its value to the audience? What are the inher-ent biases for or against the topic? What propaganda techniques areused by opposing sides of this topic, if any, and how are theyemployed? Record and describe new insights or changed views asyou research. What action, if any, do you want from your reader?

• Procedures: Date and record questions that occur to you as you listento instruction and lectures, hunt for proper formats in the textbook,create bibliography and note cards, and then apply the style rules toyour paper. Date, record, and label answers to your questions as youlearn them. Using the model in Quick Box 21.2 in section 21D, pres-ent your own step-by-step research process. Discuss why you mightimplement your own adaptations of textbook- or lecture-given proce-dures. This method can be quickly refined into an additional five min-utes of quickly written reflections that create a daily record of theattention you are giving to your studies.

• Technology: Date, record, and label the ways in which technologyenhances or complicates your work. Do you have access to a com-puter or word processor? How often and in what ways do you usethe library’s or learning center’s computerized databases? How oftenand in what ways do you use the Internet? Discuss the ease or frus-tration of your experiences. What are the greatest benefits of com-puters in the research-writing process? Once research concludes, askstudents to determine the value of their work by assigning themselvesa grade and then defending that grade through a formal reflectivesummary and synthesis of learning activities, growth, and mastery.Remember, the following questions serve only as models; experimentand create your own questions that mirror your instructional empha-sis.

• Concepts: Re-address relevant questions asked before research beganwith the intent to demonstrate dynamic understanding. Also, includea discussion about things you still need to learn, as evidenced in theportfolio. In what ways would you improve your use of the researchprocess? This paper? What still confuses you? Based on feedback andgrades, what do you still need to learn? How would you do so, ifgiven the chance? Record and reflect on the connections betweenresearch and writing strategies learned earlier in the term. For exam-ple, discuss the way in which the use of verbs helped you integratesource material into your prose (see 18E).

• Procedures: Discuss the effectiveness of bibliography and note cards(see 21M). In what way does your portfolio reflect the use and valueof your various sources? Describe your search strategy and its success




(22). Discuss why you implemented your own adaptations of text-book-or lecture-given procedures. How have research skills devel-oped study skills? How are these skills relevant to other courses, life,or career?

• Technology: What new technological knowledge or skills did yougain from the research process? What are the pitfalls or limitationsof technology?

Creating a Research Process Profile: This approach allows students toshowcase their growing understanding and mastery of the researchprocess. Encourage students to chronicle the research process through ashow-and-tell technical report that demonstrates skills and applicationsand discusses procedural decisions and the impact of those decisions. Con-sider, for example, the following series of steps and journal reflections:

1. Create a registry that logs and tracks sources (21G).

2. Create and catalog bibliography cards or note card files on the com-puter (21M).

3. Provide sample photocopies or printouts of sources.

4. Use these to identify and highlight possible ideas for note cards.

5. Create and label note cards (21M).

6. Reclassify cards into outline order (24C).

7. Write a draft from the note cards rearranged into outline order (24C).

8. Complete the writing process.

9. Write an informal research summary reflection. It should describeyour individual adaptations or variations from the expected proce-dures; describe the relationship between steps in the procedure; dis-cuss challenges, insights, and rewards met through this process; anddiscuss any specific, new knowledge and factversus-opinion, author-itative sources, notetaking, and synthesis skills you learned or used. Inwhat way does this profile prove your mastery and the grade youseek? (A sample sentence may read, “This researcher worked withher notes in front of her.”)

10. Write a formal draft of the research reflection.

Creating a Research Skill Profile: This variation of the show-and-telltechnical approach allows students to showcase and illustrate the relation-ship between building individual skills and creating the final product.

Encourage students to target independent and individual needs anddemonstrate goal setting, time on task, growing understanding, and, ulti-mately, mastery. Once the need is targeted, chronicle growth by creating aseries of reflections based on the following steps:

1. Create a self-monitoring log or registry for daily work.




2. Survey instruction and feedback (scores and comments), and write alist of things you need to know to earn the desired grade (needs willrun the gamut from time management to grammar to computer skills).

3. Locate print resources that address each item on the need-to-knowlist (take note of textbooks, libraries, learning centers), and set up astudy system.

4. Locate nonprint resources that address each need-to-know item (takenote of computer software, tutors, peers, instructor conferences, etc.).

5. Set up a study schedule timeline.

6. Create and organize print copies of each study session.

7. Label each study session with date, time spent on task, and purpose oftask.

8. After each study session (or periodically), write an application reflec-tion discussing how the information studied will improve researchwriting. Remember, voluminous practice produces skill, so reflect andwrite often.

9. As mastery of an individual skill is achieved, make a significant reg-istry entry as proof or evidence of growth and reward.

10. Upon completion of the research project, write a final informal self-assessment defending the value of your studies and the worth of yournew information. Assign yourself a grade, and give evidence to sup-port the worth of that judgment.

11. Write a final, formal draft to submit with the registry.

Teaching Tip: Are your students especially nervous about their researchwork? To reduce the stress that sometimes accompanies research projects(especially if end-of-term deadlines loom), try incorporating music intoclassroom workshop activities. You may want to refer to Howard Gard-ner’s eight multiple intelligences to see how music can be used also toenhance learning.

Teaching Tip: Explain that formats are of major importance in manydisciplines other than English composition. The formats constitute“genres” that readers expect. The formats ease communication becausereaders know where to look for specific information: background, data,conclusions.

Teaching Tip: Point out to students that symbols, such as # and ¢,should not be used in the body of a paper, although they can appear ingraphs and tables. The dollar sign ($) can be used anywhere when accom-panied by figures.

Teaching Tip: People are increasingly interested in experimenting withautomated MLA citation services and software. Web sites like BibMe: Fast& Easy Bibliography Maker, designed originally as a student project, canautomate Works Cited pages. If you are interested in exploring sites like




these with your students, start with the free service BibMe at www.bibme.org. Other services and software include EasyBib, NoodleBib, End-Note, Zotero, and RefWorks. When using services like these with yourstudents, be sure to encourage students to double-check the automatedanswers, which sometimes have mistakes.

Teaching Tip: In an age of multimodal composition, you may want toencourage your students to include photographs in their essays. Be sure tohelp them understand copyright issues and proper citation for all images,particularly those they find online. The University of Maryland UniversityCollege at www.umuc.edu/library/copy.shtml provides a good generaloverviews and examples of Fair Use policies. Explain the differences inFair Use policies as then apply to a research paper for class and as theyrelate to posting images in an online social networking site like Facebookor a blog.

Teaching Tip: A number of instructors have reported good results whenthey invite two classes to exchange papers. The class members then read,comment upon, and suggest grades for one another’s work. Students ineach class identify their work by a code name or number, not by name.Through this process, students in both classes learn the importance of writ-ing for a reader other than their instructor, and they tend to give and totake peer comments quite seriously. If this strategy is applied to the penul-timate draft of a paper, you and your students may discover that final revi-sions are even more polished than they might be apart from the feedback.

Teaching Tip: If your students are posting their papers online, in addi-tion to supplying the MLA citations, encourage them to hyperlink theirWorks Cited page to the original source.

Teaching Tip: Students sometimes think they are the only readers whoskip over long quotations. You may want to assure them that they are notalone. The implication for students as writers, of course, is that when theyfeel they must include a lengthy quotation (for example, to present a com-plicated idea in detail), they should prepare the reader by explaining itsimportance. To make the quotation as brief as possible, all irrelevant mate-rial should be deleted so that every word counts.

Teaching Tip: Ask students to compare Andrei’s research paper and logto their own work. In particular, ask students to reflect on how the processallowed Andrei to grow as a writer. This concrete example of student writ-ing should dispel some of the myths and fears associated with researchpaper writing. As Andrei shows, taking the research paper one step at atime yields excellent results.




CHAPTER 26

APA Documentation with Case Study

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

—Chinese proverb

OVERVIEW Chapter 26 instructs students in the appropriate use of the APA style

of documentation: in-text documentation, References list, and formatting.

Quick Boxes26.1 Guidelines for an APA-style References list, p. 369

26.2 Basic entries for periodical articles with the without DOIs–APA,p. 372

26.3 Basic entries for books—APA, p. 377

TEACHING TIPS, EXTRA EXERCISESTeaching Tip: Many of the approaches to teaching MLA, APA, CM,

and CSE citation styles are similar. If you are only teaching APA style, besure to look at the teaching tips and background information found in thechapters dealing with MLA style (Chapter 25) and CM and CSE styles(Chapter 27) for additional ideas.

Reading-Writing Connection: Place the responsibility for learning on thestudent by reiterating the reading-writing connection. The technical aspectsof the research format and the density of the instructional material (e.g.,the reading) strain the abilities of many students. Well-guided reflectioncan teach reading strategies such as previewing, skimming, and question-ing. If you are using a portfolio method, students can date these reflectionsand include them as part of a process portfolio. Provide five to ten minutesof class time for the students to skim this entire chapter and to recordimpressionistic responses to the following questions/prompts: 1. Whatseems clear to you? 2. What confuses you? 3. Which sections seem mostimportant and why? 4. Write out five questions and rank them from“dumb” to “important.” How much time do you need to study this chap-ter to understand the material and why? When will you do this studying?

Teaching Tip: Students often wonder why they need to be scrupulous intheir documentation of information, sometimes thinking of the process as





just another pointless but difficult exercise devised by the instructor. Itmay help them understand the demands of documentation if you point outthe reasons behind it. You’ll probably think of additional reasons, but hereare some that you might find useful to mention. 1. Using someone else’sideas or words is like using anything that belongs to another person: Theborrower has an ethical obligation to the owner not to claim the article ashis or her own. Thus, the writer must acknowledge that the ideas or wordsof someone else belong to another person. In the case of long quotations—the reprinting of an entire work or a substantial portion of it—the writermust request and receive permission from the original author or publisherto use it. 2. A reference to a particular work or author may intrigue otherresearchers of the same subject, prompting them to look for the original sothat they can read the entire piece. Citation of complete publication infor-mation will greatly simplify finding the original work and even the origi-nal passage. 3. Careful documentation protects the researcher from anycharge of plagiarism. When all sources are acknowledged, there can beno doubt about what the researcher has gleaned from others and what isoriginal. 4. References to sources inform the reader that the researcher hasbeen thorough. A study that doesn’t indicate that standard work in the fieldhas been considered will be taken less seriously than one that shows thatthe researcher is aware of what has already been written about the topic.5. Particularly in science, the test of research findings is the replication ofexperiments by other researchers. Researchers can repeat such work onlyif the steps of the process have been clearly documented, with careful ref-erence to the work of others in the field.

Teaching Tip: Asking students to make up a title and citation for theirimaginary autobiography, perhaps published this year by Simon & Schus-ter, may inject a little fun into learning to cite a book. Similarly, theymight enjoy making up article titles and citations for the imaginary Jour-nal of Fanciful Ideas.

Teaching Tip: Older documentation styles often called for the use ofabbreviations, many of them in Latin. Although current style manuals havedropped most of the abbreviated terms, your students may need to knowwhat the terms mean when they appear in articles encountered in thecourse of doing research. Students should be cautioned not to use them intheir own papers unless you, another instructor, or their style manual asksthem to do so. Some of the more common scholarly abbreviations appearin Quick Box 48.3 in section 48L.

Extra Exercise A Using the same sources that appeared in Extra Exercise B in Chapter

25 in this manual, compile a References list, following APA style.


Chapter 26—APA Documentation with Case Study

Answers to Extra Exercise A References

Clarke, G. (1988). Capote: A biography. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Gould, S. J. (1987). Time’s arrow, time’s cycle: Myth and metaphor in thediscovery of geological time. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UniversityPress.

Hibbert, C. (1974). The rise and fall of the House of Medici. New York:Penguin Books.

Oates, S. B. (1984). Abraham Lincoln: The man behind the myths. NewYork: Harper & Row.

Peters, T. J., & Waterman, R. H., Jr. (1982). In search of excellence. NewYork: Harper & Row.

Smout, T. C. (1986). A century of the Scottish people, 1830–1950. NewHaven, CT: Yale University Press.

Tuchman, B. W. (1981). Practicing history. New York: Knopf.

Teaching Tip: Computers have taken much of the tedium out of for-matting research papers. You may want to explain to students such now-quaint practices as having to measure pages to leave room for footnotes,creating templates to put behind papers in a typewriter, or hiring typists toproduce the final draft. However, as ubiquitous as computers and wordprocessing are, a surprising number of students still don’t know how to usesuch labor-saving features as the ruler line to set margins, paragraph inden-tations, block quotations, and hanging indents, or the header feature to setrunning titles and page numbers. Spending a few minutes demonstratingthese features in a classroom, lab, or your office can make students veryappreciative.

Teaching Tip: You might want to explain that formats are of majorimportance in many disciplines other than English composition. The for-mats constitute “genres” that readers expect. The formats ease communi-cation because readers know where to look for specific information:background, data, conclusions. You might invite colleagues from a fewother disciplines to serve as guest experts for part of a class period toexplain how they conduct and write research. Alternatively, you may havestudents interview some professors to learn about their writing practicesand then have them write up accounts for the class.

Teaching Tip: Ask students to compare Leslie’s research paper to theirown research paper in progress. In particular, ask students to reflect onhow polished Leslie’s final draft appears. Encourage students to use theannotated notes to help them with their own final draft preparation. Thisconcrete example of student writing should dispel some of the myths andfears associated with research paper writing. You might also ask studentsto do a peer-review exercise on Leslie’s paper.



ADDITIONAL RESOURCESIn “The Use and Overuse of Electronic Research in Freshman Com-

position Research Papers: Problems in Traditional and Online Universi-ties” (Abstract, ERIC ED 459461, 2002), Suzanne Abram finds thatinstructors teaching purely online writing courses have to take specialsteps to ensure that their students use a range of sources.

The APA offers two self-guided workbooks, one for students and onefor instructors called Mastering APA Style.

Beverly Lyon Clark offers ideas for teaching documentation in “Pla-giarism and Documentation: A Self-Instructional Lesson,” in Teaching theResearch Paper, edited by James E. Ford (Metuchen, NJ: ScarecrowPress, 1995, 286–297).

The APA online style guide has specific suggestions for electronicmedia spelling such as e-journal and DOI; see www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/preferred-spelling.aspx.

In “Writing in a Psychology Classroom: Learning and Adopting theAPA Epistemology” (Diss., University of North Dakota, 2000), SuEllenShaw studies how students learn to use APA style, which includes learn-ing the values and habits of thinking associated with that style.




CHAPTER 27

Chicago Manual (CM) andCouncil of Science Editors (CSE)

Documentation

An author arrives at a good style when his language performs what is requiredof it without shyness.

—Cyril Connolly

OVERVIEW Chapter 27 introduces students to both the Chicago Manual style and

the Council of Science Editors style.

Quick Boxes27.1 Guidelines for compiling CM-style bibliographic notes, p. 409

27.3 Guidelines for compiling a CSE-style Cited References list, p. 432

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: Many college libraries and writing centers maintain Web

pages that compare different documentation styles, generally includingMLA, APA, CM, CSE, and others. A search for “style guide” or “citationstyle” or “documentation style” will turn up plenty of links. Alternatively,use the search engine’s directory to find links. One possible assignment forstudents, working individually or in groups, is to browse the Internet toselect “the top ten sites for providing help with documentation.” Studentsmight then write an annotation for each site, identifying what’s there andtelling why the site is useful for student writers. The whole collectioncould be published as a resource, either in paper or online. An addition tothis assignment could ask students to identify some sources that are lesshelpful (perhaps because they are outdated or incomplete, have poorexamples, or are incorrect) and to explain why these Web sites are inferiorto the others.

Teaching Tip: Sometimes students think writing papers is a purely aca-demic exercise, between the instructor and the student. Find ways to makeresearch “real” for your students. You might consider hosting a researchpaper symposium or other public event where students present their





research. The Journal of Undergraduate Research at www.clas.ufl.edu/jur/index.html is an excellent online resource to expose students to a widerange of well-written papers by University of Florida undergraduates.


CHAPTER 28

Parts of Speech and SentenceStructures

Grammar is a piano I play by ear.

—Joan Didion

OVERVIEW This chapter instructs the student on how to identify parts of speech

and sentences.

Quick Boxes28.1 Nouns, p. 441

28.2 Pronouns, p. 441

28.3 Verbals and their functions, p. 443

28.4 Determiners (or limiting adjectives), p. 445

28.5 Conjunctive adverbs and relationships they express, p. 446

28.6 Coordinating conjunctions and relationships they express, p. 447

28.7 Subordinating conjunctions and relationships they express, p. 448

28.8 Sentences and their purposes, p. 450

28.9 Sentence pattern I: Subjects and predicates, p. 450

28.10 Sentence pattern II: Direct and indirect objects, p. 452

28.11 Sentence pattern III: Complements, p. 454

28.12 Sentence patter IV: Independent clauses, p. 458

28.13 Sentence pattern V: Dependent clauses, p. 459

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: Ask students to explain the differences in meanings (and

to compose a sentence for each meaning) of these verbs that deal with thesame subjects. 1. stride, march, glide, strut 2. gobble, nibble, devour, eat3. giggle, guffaw, chuckle, snicker

Teaching Tip: A fun group activity to help students review the parts ofspeech is to use Mad Libs. You can find free, printable Mad Libs atwww.madlibs.com.

Teaching Tip: To give students a sense of the range of uses for -ingwords, you might hand out a list of -ing words and ask your students to

Copyright © 2013, 2009, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. 445




use each word in three different sentences: in one as a noun, in another asan adjective, and in a third as a part of a verb phrase. As another step,you can collect the sentences and select twenty-five to thirty to reproduceand distribute. Then, for an exercise or quiz, ask the students to identifyeach -ing word as a noun, an adjective, or a part of a verb phrase.

Teaching Tip: ESOL An inductive way to help students discover andthus remember the differences among -ing forms is to have them circle theforms in a piece of writing and discuss which type is used: participles(adjectives), gerunds (nouns), or parts of verb phrases. For example, theycould exchange papers with other students and then analyze and discuss allthe -ing forms. See Chapter 56.

Teaching Tip: The following passage provides important sensory detailsthrough the use of well-chosen adjectives. To heighten student awarenessof strong adjectives, you may want to read the excerpt aloud, asking stu-dents afterward how many of those details they can recall.

Perhaps it was the middle of January in the present year thatI first looked up and saw the mark on the wall. In order to fix adate it is necessary to remember what one saw. So now I think ofthe fire; the steady film of yellow light upon the page of mybook; the three chrysanthemums in the round glass bowl on themantelpiece. Yes, it must have been the wintertime, and we hadjust finished our tea, for I remember that I was smoking a ciga-rette when I looked up and saw the mark on the wall for the firsttime. I looked up through the smoke of my cigarette and my eyelodged for a moment upon the burning coals, and that old fancyof the crimson flag flapping from the castle tower came into mymind, and I thought of the cavalcade of red knights riding up theside of the black rock. Rather to my relief the sight of the markinterrupted the fancy, for it is an old fancy, an automatic fancy,made as a child perhaps. The mark was a small round mark,black upon the white wall, about six or seven inches above themantelpiece.

—Virginia Woolf, “The Mark on the Wall”

Teaching Tip: To help students become aware of adverbs and how theyfunction, you may want to provide a series of sentences that have blanksto be filled in with appropriate adverbs. Here is an example: The cat sat_____ under the kitchen table, _____ watching the mouse scampering_____ly, _____ly, almost _____ly.

Teaching Tip: To find out how grammar is best taught and most easilylearned (whether as an isolated study, as a final step in the proofreading orsentence revision phase of writing, through sentence exercises or holistic


paragraphs, etc.), you may want to check out the latest NCTE positionand research in progress on the teaching of grammar at www.ncte.org.Most studies today support the viewpoint that grammar exercises apartfrom writing context seldom bring lasting results or transfer to actual writ-ing.

Teaching Tip: Grammar Girl hosts a series of podcasts on grammar-related topics. You can play the podcasts in class or assign students tolisten to them at home. Grammar Girl’s podcasts also have a transcriptfor each episode, found at http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com.

Activity: To help students become aware of what conjunctions do, youmight want to distribute the following passage by Langston Hughes. Omitall conjunctions and ask students to supply them. When the passage iscomplete, ask students to discuss the function and the effect of each wordthey supplied. Then distribute the original, complete passage.

I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But notreally saved. It happened like this. There was a big revival at myAuntie Reed’s church. Every night for weeks there had beenmuch preaching, singing, praying and shouting, and some veryhardened sinners had been brought to Christ, and the member-ship of the church had grown by leaps and bounds. Then justbefore the revival ended, they held a special meeting for chil-dren, “to bring the young lambs to the fold.” My aunt spoke of itfor days ahead. That night I was escorted to the front and placedon the mourners’ bench with the other young sinners, who hadnot yet been brought to Jesus. . . . Then I was left all alone on themourners’ bench. My aunt came and knelt at my knees and cried,while prayers and songs swirled all around me in the littlechurch. The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mightywail of moans and voices. And I kept waiting serenely for Jesus,waiting, waiting—but he didn’t come. I wanted to see him, butnothing happened to me. Nothing! I wanted something to happento me, but nothing happened.

—Langston Hughes, “Salvation”

Teaching Tip: Combining sentences by using modifiers and appositivescan not only reduce repetition but also create more graceful statements.Students are sometimes surprised by what they produce when they areasked to combine several choppy sentences into a single effective one.

Teaching Tip: Because students sometimes feel that phrases are pecu-liar constructions of grammar books, you might find it useful to repro-duce and distribute copies of a newspaper article on a popular subject.Ask students to identify any noun phrases, verb phrases, and prepositional

Chapter 28—Parts of Speech and Sentence Structures



phrases. Students will be amazed at how often phrases appear in “real”writing. Class discussion might next cover the functions of the nounphrases and prepositional phrases (subject, object, complement, adjective,adverb).

Teaching Tip: To determine whether a clause is independent or depend-ent, students can make up a yes-or-no question about the clause’s state-ment. An independent clause leads to a sensible question; a dependentclause does not. The knave stole the tarts. Did the knave steal the tarts? [asensible question] Because he was very hungry. Because was he veryhungry? [not a sensible question]

Teaching Tip: To improve students’ recognition of adjective and adverbclauses, as well as to increase their powers of concentration, you maywant to read aloud the following passage by Katherine Anne Porter. Askstudents to note every use of an adverb or adjective clause by listening forkey words such as relative pronouns and subordinating conjunctions. Afteryou read the passage, you may want to distribute and discuss it.

In my grandmother’s day, in Texas, everybody seemed toremember that man who had a way of showing up with a dozengrains of real coffee in his hand, which he exchanged for amonth’s supply of corn meal. My grandmother parched a mix-ture of sweet potato and dried corn until it was black, ground itup and boiled it, because her family couldn’t get over its yearn-ing for a dark hot drink in the mornings, but she would neverallow them to call it coffee. It was known as That Brew. . . . Thewoman who made That Brew and the soldier who ate the baconrind had been bride and groom in a Kentucky wedding some-where around 1850. Only a few years ago a cousin of mineshowed me a letter from a lady then rising ninety-five whoremembered that wedding as if it had been only yesterday.

—Katherine Anne Porter, “Memories of the Old South”

Teaching Tip: Imitation can be an effective means of expanding stu-dents’ sentence-writing strategies. You can provide some samples, askingstudents to write a sentence on another topic, following the pattern ofclauses and phrases in the model. Here are some varied possibilities forimitation, though you may want to choose your own.

A. The sea, which looks so near and so tempting, is often difficult toreach.

—Henry Miller, “The Big Sur”

B. Hearing the rising tide, I think how it is pressing also against othershores I know—rising on a southern beach where there is no fog, but a




moon edging all the waves with silver and touching the wet sands withlambent sheen, and on a still more distant shore sending its streaming cur-rents against the moonlit pinnacles and the dark caves of the coral rock.

—Rachel Carson, “The Enduring Sea”

Teaching Tip: Elliptical clauses: To enhance students’ appreciation oftheir options, you might ask them whether they prefer the elliptical or fullforms of the text’s sentences—and why. Here are alternate examples touse.

• Living in Spain was one of the best experiences [that] Carol hadduring college. When [she was] living with a family in Spain, Carolstarted to feel like a native.

• James Naismith, [who was] a Presbyterian minister, believed thatthrough athletics he could teach lessons in Christian ideals. After[he had graduated from] divinity school, Naismith enrolled in theSchool for Christian Workers, [which] later [became] known as theInternational YMCA Training School. Naismith, [who was] a youngman full of ideas, was given the job of devising a game that had lessrunning and tackling than other ball games [had]. Limited indoorspace and the hard surface of a wooden floor were two of thebiggest problems [that] he faced. The game [that] he devised isknown today as basketball.

Teaching Tip: The class discussion of compound sentences may be agood time to review compounding of all sorts. A series of examples toshow compound subjects, objects, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, phrases, andclauses may help your students see the compound sentence as the finalstep in a logical progression.

John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon were the candidatesin the 1960 presidential election. [compound subject] Kennedywon the election because of his popularity in the South and theEast. [compound object of preposition] Many people admired hisenergy and his wholesomeness. [compound object] He maderespected cabinet appointments and sponsored farsighted legisla-tion. [compound verb] The first months of his administrationwere smooth-running and successful. [compound adjective] How-ever, the period quickly and unexpectedly came to an end. [com-pound adverb] There were many successes: establishment of theAlliance for Progress to aid Latin America, increased foreign aidto underdeveloped nations, the development of the Peace Corps,and reduced tariffs to encourage foreign trade. [compound nounphrase] Yet within a few months, an attempt by Cuban exiles toinvade Cuba failed, Communist forces expanded their operations




in Laos and Vietnam, and the East Germans built the Berlin Wall.[compound independent clauses, which form a compound sen-tence]

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESAt http://owl.english.purdue.edu/, the Online Writing Lab (OWL) of

Purdue University provides a wealth of information on grammar. Here isa sampling of facts on gerunds: A. A gerund is a verbal used as a noun.Therefore, it may be used in any place that a noun would fit: subject,object, indirect object, subject complement, or object of the preposition. B.The gerund always ends in -ing. C. The gerund may be written as a phrasewith its own modifiers, complements, and prepositional phrases. D. Thegerund usually does not require any punctuation.

At the Web site www.protrainco.com/essays/grammarterms.htm, students can find published articles on grammar usage, includingexamples of noun clauses.

If your students want more interactive practice with parts of speech,assign this Web site, which features interactive exercises: www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/rvpartsp.html.


1. More and more people (N) live into their (P) eighties (N) and nineties (N) because

they (P) get better health (N) benefits (N) and they (P) take better care (N) of themselves. (P)

2. Many elderly people (N) now live busy lives, (N) continuing in businesses (N) or

volunteering at various agencies. (N)

3. My (P) mother, (N) Elizabeth, (N) for example, (N) spends four hours (N) each

morning (N) as a volunteer (N) for the Red Cross, (N) where she (P) takes histories (N)

from blood donors. (N)

4. My (P) neighbors, (N) George (N) and Sandra, (N) who are eighty-six years old,

still own and run a card (N) and candy shop. (N)

5. Age (N) has become no obstacle (N) for active seniors (N) as evidenced by the

activities (N) they (P) pursue today. (N)

Exercise 28–21. Most bats developed many years ago from a shrewlike mammal.

2. One thousand different types of bats exist.

3. Bats comprise almost one quarter of all mammal species.

4. The smallest bat in the world measures only one inch long, while the biggest is six-

teen inches long.

5. Bats survive in widely varied surroundings, from deserts to cities.




Exercise 28–3Students will provide complete sentences with the following words underlined and

labeled:

1. Rats are clean (ADJ) animals that easily (ADV) bond to their human (ADJ) com-

panions.

2. Two (ADJ) rats are better than one (ADJ) because they are gregarious (ADJ) ani-

mals who desperately (ADV) need social (ADJ) interaction.

3. As intelligent (ADJ) animals, rats can be quickly (ADV) trained to perform many

(ADJ) tricks.

4. Humans consistently (ADV) have been keeping rats as household (ADJ) pets for

over (ADV) 100 (ADJ) years.

5. Finally (ADV), they pose no (ADV) more (ADJ) health risks than other (ADJ) pets.

Exercise 28–4Instructors can require students to identify the part of speech of any word in this para-

graph, in addition to those with number labels.

1. primarily: adverb (28G)

2. boundary: noun (28B)

3. eighteenth: adjective (28F)

4. previously: adverb (28G)

5. scientific: adjective (28F)

6. hired: verb (28D)

7. boundary: adjective (28F)

8. of: preposition (28H)

9. marked: verb (28D)

10. five: adjective (28F)

11. stones: noun (28B)

12. throughout: preposition (28H)

13. Even though: subordinating conjunction (28I)

14. and: coordinating conjunction (28I)

15. they: pronoun (28C)

16. he: pronoun (28C)

17. became: verb (28D)

18. symbolic: adjective (28F)

19. between: preposition (28H)

20. until: preposition (28H)

21. Because: subordinating conjunction (28I)

22. it: pronoun (28C)

23. both…and: correlative conjunction (28I)




24. song: noun (28B)

Exercise 28–51. The well-known sign / was first built in 1923.

2. Originally, it / spelled out the word “Hollywoodland.”

3. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce / removed the word “land” from the sign

in 1949.

4. The sign’s caretaker, Albert Kothe, / destroyed the letter “H” by crashing his car

into it.

5. Excited visitors / still flock to Mount Lee to see this cultural icon.

Exercise 28–61. praise (direct object); Toni Morrison (indirect object); novel (indirect object); inter-

est (direct object)

2. Morrison (indirect object); National Book Critics Circle Award (direct object); her

(indirect object); Pulitzer Prize (direct object)

3. Toni Morrison (indirect object); Nobel Prize in Literature (direct object)

4. readers (indirect object); lives (direct object)

5. it (direct object); list (indirect object) [Note: “bestseller” acts as a subject comple-

ment here.]

Exercise 28–71. Graphology is the study of handwriting. (SUB)

2. Some scientists and psychologists call graphology a pseudoscience. (OB)

3. According to supporters of graphology, it is useful in law, business, and medicine.

(SUB)

4. Trained, professional graphologists are often consultants in legal cases. (SUB)

5. For example, graphologists consider small letters evidence of shyness. (OB)

Exercise 28–81. Grips being those who provide support to the camera department, the key grip is the

head of the grip department. [converted first sentence to absolute phrase]

2. Grips work with such camera equipment as tripods, dollies, and cranes and set up

this equipment in a variety of settings during the making of a feature film. [converted second

sentence to verb phrase]

3. Grips are also responsible for safety on the movie set, watching over potentially

dangerous equipment like ladders, stands, and scaffolds. [converted second sentence into a

verbal phrase]




4. The “best boy grip” being the assistant to the key grip, the “best boy electric” is the

assistant to the gaffer, who is the head electrician. [converted first sentence into an absolute

phrase]

5. Electricians handling all of the lights on a movie set rely on grips, who are in charge

of all of the non-electrical equipment related to light. [converted first sentence into present

participial phrase]

6. Sometimes grips are needed to reduce sunlight by installing black fabric over win-

dows and other openings. [converted second sentence into a prepositional phrase]

7. Dating back to circuses and vaudeville, early grips held on to hand-cranked cameras

to reduce movement. [converted first sentence to a present participial phrase]

Exercise 28–91. because it inspired Stephen King’s novel The Shining (adv)

2. Although based on King’s book (adv)

3. when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis (adv)

4. that now bears his name (adj)

5. who believe the hotel is haunted (adj)

Exercise 28–10Answers may vary, but one set of possibilities follow:

1. It seems that certain aspects of jazz have influenced bluegrass because it involves

players of an instrumental ensemble improvising around a standard melody.

2. Yet, the instruments used in jazz are very different than those played in bluegrass,

which usually uses a banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and a dobro.

3. If people listen closely to the vocal arrangements, they can hear that singing in

bluegrass involves tight harmonies and a tenor lead singer.

4. So that he could produce a fuller sound, Bill Monroe, the founder of bluegrass,

added banjo player Earl Scruggs to his band, the Blue Grass Boys.

5. After going into the studio in 1945 to record some songs for Columbia Records, the

Blue Grass Boys hit the charts with “Kentucky Waltz” and “Footprints in the Snow.”

6. As they began touring America with their own large circus tent, they became one of

the most popular acts in country music.

7. When Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs left Bill Monroe’s band, they formed their own

group, called the Foggy Mountain Boys.

8. A famous Flatt & Scruggs song that is called “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” is

considered one of the most popular and difficult to play on the banjo.

9. Although most banjo players cannot play “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” at the

same speed that Earl Scruggs plays it, very skilled players can.

10.Unless bluegrass continues to attract new and young fans, it will fade into obscurity.




Exercise 28–111. compound 2. complex

3. compound-complex 4. compound

5. complex 6. simple

7. complex 8. complex

9. compound 10. simple




CHAPTER 29

Verbs

Suit the action to the word, the word to the action.

—William Shakespeare

OVERVIEW This chapter explores the functions and forms of verbs and their

tenses.

Quick Boxes29.1 Information that verbs convey, p. 464

29.2 Types of verbs, p. 464

29.3 Linking verbs, p. 465

29.4 Common irregular verbs, p. 468

29.5 Auxiliary verbs, p. 472

29.6 Forms of the verb be, p. 473

29.7 Forms of the verbs do and have, p. 473

29.8 Using lie and lay, p. 475

29.9 Simple, perfect, and progressive tenses, p. 476

29.10 Tense sequences, p. 479

TEACHING TIPS, EXTRA EXERCISESTeaching Tip: Some students may feel overwhelmed by verb tenses—

which they may perceive to be infinite in number—with the result thatthey refuse to face the fearsome verb and thus pick a form at random (orso it seems to us). It may be helpful to show them the basic distinctionbetween tense and aspect.

Time can be divided into past, present, and future. Tense refers to thereflection of one of these times in a verb. Therefore, there are three basictenses: past, present, future. Aspect says something about the way theaction is experienced. The progressive aspect (to be + -ing) shows anaction still in progress, and the perfect aspect (has, have, or had + pastparticiple) shows a completed action or one being continued into the pres-ent from a specific point in the past. Mood, which describes conditionssuch as certainty, necessity, and possibility, is a separate issue, and so isvoice. A verb can show all four qualities, but you might want to focus onthe interplay of tense and aspect first.





Teaching Tip: Students who speak two or more dialects can adapt tochanges in vocabulary with comparative ease. Their verbs, however, mayneed closer attention in their academic writing. You might considerreviewing the following chart to help students create and visualize the dif-ferences.

Dialect Standard(Nonstandard for

formal writing)

Present Tense

I I

you loves you love

we we

they they

he, she, it loves he, she, it loves

Past Tense

I I

you love you loved

we we

they they

he, she, it love he, she, it loved

Your students may find it helpful for you to point out that while nounsnormally form their plurals by adding -s (or -es), verbs associated withplural nouns and pronouns do just the opposite! Musicians play (not plays)their instruments. Conversely, singular nouns rarely end in -s: Hardy (he);Yolanda (she); a Web site (it). Yet a singular verb associated with one ofthese nouns (or its third-person pronoun substitute) does exactly the oppo-site: Yolanda reads (not read). A Web site stimulates (not stimulate). Thusan -s attached to a verb “says singular.”

Teaching Tip: The discussion of the linking verbs that deal with thesenses (look, smell, taste, sound, feel ) provides an opportunity to discussthe issues of bad versus badly and good versus well. These adjective andadverb forms are covered in 32D, but you may wish to introduce their usewithin the context of verbs.

Teaching Tip: Leaving the -s off verbs is a common error, even amongstudents who can quote the rule for its use. Many of these students speakor have studied second languages that have more complex systems of verbendings than English does. A discussion of the English -s in the context ofother languages the students know may reduce the number of carelesslyomitted -s endings. Here is a comparison of the verb speak (present tense)in four languages, with endings shown in boldface. When no pronounsappear, the pronoun is communicated by the verb’s ending.

} }

} }


Singular Plural

English

I speak we speak

you speak you speak

he, she, it speaks they speak

Spanish

hablo hablamos

hablas habláis

habla hablan

Italian

parlo parliamo

parli parlate

parla parlano

French

je parle nous parlons

tu parles vous parlez

il, elle, on parle ils, elles parlent

Extra Exercise A: A Identify all modal auxiliaries in the following pas-sage. (Answers appear in italics.)

Most professionals in the field of medicine agree that thepublic ought to be better informed about recent developments inmedical science. One of the tools that patients frequently experi-ence but may know little about is the X-ray. Its discoverer, Pro-fessor Wilhelm Roentgen, thought he might have a powerful newmeans of examining the body when, in 1895, he saw the glimmerof a fluorescent screen. His discovery meant that medical pro-fessionals could peer into the innermost recesses of the bodywithout surgery. For example, Dr. William B. Cannon realizedthat fluoroscopy could be used to examine the alimentary canal ordigestive system. Today X-ray means that doctors can carry diag-nostic methods to previously inaccessible areas of the humanbody by painless techniques. A list of all of the diagnostic uses ofX-ray films would be too lengthy to include here, but it is safe tosay that they can be used on all parts of the body. Of course,because improper use of X-rays may be harmful, technologistsshould have adequate training. They must complete a rigorouscourse of study before being allowed to operate X-ray machines.

—Emily Gordon

Chapter 29—Verbs



Extra Exercise BCircle all transitive verbs and underline all intransitive verbs in the

following sentences.

1. Yellowstone National Park is the oldest and largest park in thenational system.

2. It lies in the northwestern corner of Wyoming, slightly overlappingthe boundaries of Montana on the north and Idaho on the west andsouth.

3. The planners originally designed the park to run 62 miles from east towest and 54 miles from north to south.

4. Yellowstone has several lofty plateaus, and the Continental Dividecrosses it.

5. The Yellowstone River flows north into Yellowstone Lake and thenthrough its canyon across Montana to join the Missouri.

6. The most famous sights in Yellowstone Park are the geysers.

7. The park has more than three thousand springs, pools, and geysers.

8. Old Faithful is the most famous of the geysers, but in the same basinwith it are a number of other impressive water jets.

9. Wildlife in the park, which includes bear, deer, elk, antelope, andmountain sheep, is protected.

Answers to Extra Exercise B 1. is (intransitive) 2. lies (intransitive) 3. designed (transitive) 4. has

(transitive); crosses (transitive) 5. flows (intransitive) 6. are (intransitive)7. has (transitive) 8. is (intransitive); are (intransitive) 9. includes (transi-tive); is (intransitive)

Extra Exercise CTo give students practice in identifying verbs and forming past-tense

verbs, ask them to rewrite the following paragraph, changing the present-tense verbs to past tense. (Answers appear in italics within parentheses.)

Recuperation is (was) like spring: dormancy and vitality col-lide (collided). In any year I’m (I was) like a bear, a partial hiber-nator. During January thaws I stick (stuck) my nose out andperuse (perused) the frozen desolation as if reading a book whoselanguage I don’t (didn’t) know. In March I’m (I was) ramshackle,weak in the knees, giddy, dazzled by broken-backed clouds, thepassing of Halley’s comet, the on-and-off strobe of sun. Like asheepherder I X (Xed) out each calendar day as if time were (no




change, subjunctive voice) a forest through which I could clear-cut (no change, subjunctive voice) a way to the future. My physi-cist friend straightens (straightened ) me out on this point too.The notion of “time passing,” like a train through a landscape, is(was) an illusion, he says (said). I hold (held ) the Big Ben clocktaken from a dead sheepherder’s wagon and look (looked) at it.The clock measures (measured) intervals of time, not the speed oftime, and the calendar is (was) a scaffolding we hang (hung) as iftime were (no change, subjunctive voice) rushing water we couldharness (no change, subjunctive voice). Time-bound, I hinge(hinged) myself to a linear bias—cause and effect all laid out ina neat row—and in this we learn (learned) two things: blame andshame.

—Gretel Ehrlich, “Spring”

Extra Exercise DSupply the progressive form of an appropriate verb in the blanks in

the following sentences. (Answers will vary.)

1. Don’t bother me now; I am _____.

2. My brother is _____ to apply for a job in France.

3. The committee is _____ at 5 p.m.

4. The professor was _____ on the topic of the European Union.

5. The doctor was _____ in the hospital.

6. My dog was _____ in the yard.

7. I can’t go swimming because I am _____.

8. The garden is _____ more beautiful every day.

9. Whose car is _____ in the driveway?

10. The telephone has been _____ all day.

Teaching Tip (ESOL): The term present can be confusing for ESOL stu-dents because in English, the simple present tense does not describe thepresent moment. Rather, our simple present is “timeless” (The sun rises inthe east and sets in the west) or general (Democracy means “rule by thepeople”). In English, the present moment is expressed in the present pro-gressive. ESOL students might need many examples and much practiceto grasp the confusing labels. For example: I work in an office. [simplepresent tense]; I am working on a report. [present progressive]

Extra Exercise ECircle the verbs in the following sentences; then, name their tenses

and explain what meaning is expressed.

Chapter 29—Verbs



1. Dolphins, porpoises, and whales belong to the order Cetacea, whichmeans that they are not fish but mammals.

2. They give birth to their young, nourish them with milk, and arewarm-blooded.

3. Once whales probably lived on the land and walked on four legs, butnow they are completely aquatic.

4. After they had left the land and had moved to the water, their bodystructure changed radically.

5. Because they are land mammals that have become adapted to anaquatic existence, if water enters their lungs, they will die.

6. Consequently, when a whale is diving beneath the surface, it literallyholds its breath by closing its nostrils.

7. Whales dive for different periods of time to various depths.

8. The humpback whale has been known to remain submerged fortwenty minutes and the blue whale for fifty, though both could prob-ably remain longer if necessary.

9. For years, scientists have been researching the depths to which thevarious types of whale can dive.

10. The sperm whale has been known to dive to a depth of over 3,000feet, which subjects it to a pressure of around 1,400 pounds per squareinch.

Answers to Extra Exercise E 1. belong; means; are [all present tense; express general truths] 2.

give; nourish; are [all present tense; express general truths] 3. lived;walked [both past tense; express past events]; are [present tense; expressescurrent fact] 4. had left; had moved [both past perfect tense; express an actcompleted in the past before another one took place]; changed [past tense;expresses an act completed in the past] 5. are [present tense; expressescurrent truth]; have become adapted [present perfect tense; act begun andcompleted in the past but continuing into the present]; enters [presenttense; expresses general truth]; will die [future tense; expresses futureaction] 6. is diving [present progressive tense; expresses an action takingplace at the moment]; holds [present tense; expresses regularly occurringaction] 7. dive [present tense; expresses habitual action] 8. has been known[present perfect tense; expresses action in the past that continues into thepresent]; could remain [present tense with modal auxiliary; expresses pos-sible action] 9. have been researching [present perfect progressive;expresses action ongoing in the past and likely to continue into the future];can dive [present tense with modal auxiliary; expresses possible action]10. has been known [present perfect tense; expresses action in the pastthat continues into the present]




Extra Exercise FIdentify the tenses of the verbs in the following sentences.

1. My neighbor walks to work every morning.

2. Jill is studying for her math test.

3. I will take my lunch with me to the park.

4. The secretary has been typing the manuscript for days.

5. Her mother will be speaking with the supervisor in the morning.

6. Ms. Conrad had been planning to change jobs when she sold her com-pany.

7. I closed my bank account yesterday.

8. We will have discussed the topic by the time you get to the meeting.

9. The program has generated little interest among the attendees.

10. The babies in the nursery were crying when I went in.

Answers to Extra Exercise F 1. present 2. present progressive 3. future 4. present perfect progres-

sive 5. future progressive 6. past perfect progressive; past 7. past 8. futureperfect; present 9. present perfect 10. past progressive; past

Other Examples of Subjunctive Mood: People find it interesting to spec-ulate about how the future could be affected if a single aspect of our worldwere different today. For example, if the average yearly temperature wereonly a few degrees higher, the oceans would rise because of the melting ofthe polar icecaps. If serious worldwide droughts were to occur in severalsuccessive summers, the food supply would dwindle. Unless science wereable to divert the swelling oceans or grow crops without the use of water,civilization as we know it would be radically changed. It is, consequently,important that everyone recognize the importance of environmental deci-sions. The world should not act as though the future were inevitably bad.If, in the early part of the twentieth century, the industrialized world hadconsidered the effects of water and air pollution, our world would be ahealthier one today.

Teaching Tip (ESOL): For ESOL students, conditions and wishes areoften difficult to master because to indicate hypothetical or unreal statesrequires changes in verb forms that usually indicate time shifts. For exam-ple, the form for a wish or an unreal condition in the present (I wish I hada car or If I were you . . .) uses the past form of the verb. Similarly, unre-ality in the past calls for the past perfect form (I wish he had told me hisproblem). Students can better understand these tricky structures when theycan be seen and analyzed, preferably in essays the class is reading.

Another Example: Necessary Passive Voice: In the days of Aristotle, airwas believed to be one of four fundamental substances that could not befurther subdivided into constituent components.

—Frederick K. Lutgens and Edward J. Tarbuck, The Atmosphere

Chapter 29—Verbs



Extra Exercise GIdentify each verb in the following sentences; then decide if it is in

the active or the passive voice.

1. Windsor Castle is an official residence of the monarchs of GreatBritain.

2. In the year 1070, William the Conqueror built a fortress on the site itnow occupies.

3. It was improved by succeeding rulers until the reign of Edward III(1327–1377).

4. Edward III demolished the old castle and built a new one.

5. Additions were made by later kings of England.

6. Sir Christopher Wren was asked by Charles II to design severalimportant additions.

7. The state apartments are open to the public when the royal family isnot in residence.

8. The state apartments include the grand staircase, state bedrooms, andreception rooms.

9. Many rulers were buried at Windsor Castle, including Henry VIII.

Answers to Extra Exercise G 1. is (active) 2. built (active); occupies (active) 3. was improved (pas-

sive) 4. demolished (active); built (active) 5. were made (passive) 6. wasasked (passive) 7. are (active); is (active) 8. include (active) 9. were buried(passive)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESRod Ellis’s “Teaching and Research: Options in Grammar Teaching”

(TESOL Quarterly 32.1 [1998]: 39–60) reviews four theoreticalapproaches to teaching grammar and evaluates them to determine the bestway to teach grammar.

The Grammar Hotline Archives at www.ncsu.edu/ncsu/grammar/Verbs3.html stores student questions by category. Following is a question-answer sample from the Web site’s archives on verbs: Which verb is cor-rect? “The majority of the fairgoers was/were Americans.” Was seems towork since was relates to one majority—or should it be were since itrelates to many Americans? Answer: It should be were because majority isa collective noun, which can be either singular or plural. Also, becausethis sentence contains overt grammatical markers (fairgoers, Americans),in this context majority is plural.

The site www.chompchomp.com features interactive exercises on avariety of writing topics.

The site http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/irregu-lar_verbsIIb.htm features an interactive quiz on irregular verbs. The quiz




takes only a few minutes, and students can receive immediate feedback ontheir answers. The larger site, “Guide to Grammar and Writing” athttp://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar has many useful exercises forstudents targeting problems with sentence and paragraph writing.

In “Grammar and Power” (The English Journal 17.10 [1928]:800–810), H. Y. Moffett recounts the difficulties of teaching grammar tostudents in the eighth grade. Many of the anecdotes and examples willseem familiar. However, the speech is an address to the National Councilof Teachers of English in 1928.

Many second language learners often have trouble with modal auxil-iaries. Eli Hinkel’s “The Use of Modal Verbs as a Reflection of CulturalValues” (TESOL Quarterly 29.2 [1995]: 325–343) provides some goodbackground on the cultural assumptions native speakers make when usingmodals.

Using passive verbs does not usually create sharp prose. Nominaliza-tion, the grammatical process of transforming verbs and adjectives intonouns, is another dulling grammatical choice. In Style: Toward Clarityand Grace, Joseph Williams warns writers to avoid nominalizing verbs.Here are a few examples. Dull: We conducted an investigation of the acci-dent. Sharper: We investigated the accident. Dull: The class held a dis-cussion about crime prevention. Sharper: The class discussed crimeprevention. Dull: The college students have no expectation of getting greatcoffee from the school cafeteria. Sharper: The college students don’texpect to get great coffee from the school cafeteria.


1. Before declaring Oregon giant earthworms a protected species, a U.S. government

agency requires concrete proof that they are not extinct.

2. Scientists who find one alive will demonstrate that the Oregon giant earthworm

does still exist, in spite of no one’s having seen any for over twenty years.

3. Last seen in the Willamette Valley near Portland, Oregon, the earthworm is white,

and it smells like lilies.

4. The Oregon giant earthworm grows up to three feet long.

5. Clumps of soil with a strange shape indicate that the giant creature continues to

live, but to demonstrate that it is not extinct, only a real specimen will do.

Exercise 29–21. involved; lasted

2. played; created

3. served; trained; resolved

Chapter 29—Verbs



4. named; used

5. resembled; arrived; helped

Exercise 29–31. was 2. drew; stood

3. had; forbade/forbad 4. came; sang

5. lent 6. cast; stuck

7. gave 8. saw

9. strove; shot 10. led

11. became; made 12. tried; lost

Exercise 29–41. has

2. are, might/can

3. might/can

4. might, will

5. have

Exercise 29–51. setting, laid [past tense of lay]

2. raised, lay [past tense of lie]

3. rising, laid [past tense of lay]

4. lying [present participle of lie], set

Exercise 29–61. are ruining [29J, present progressive for ongoing event]

2. typify [29H, simple present for general truth]

3. describe [29H, simple present for general truth]

4. live [29H, simple present for general truth]

5. are planting [29J, present progressive for ongoing event]

6. founded [29G, past tense for completed action]; was [29G, past tense for completed

action]

7. chose [29G, past tense for completed action]; wanted [29G, past tense for com-

pleted action]

8. contends [29H, simple present for general truth]; fills [29H, simple present for gen-

eral truth]

9. indicates [29H, simple present for general truth]

10. has provided [29I, present perfect for condition still prevailing]

11. is [29H, simple present for general truth]; has encountered [29I, present perfect

for condition still prevailing]




12. reveals [29H, simple present for general truth]; has [29H, simple present for gen-

eral truth]; holds [29H, simple present for general truth]

13. remains [29H, simple present for general truth] or has remained [29I, present per-

fect for condition still prevailing]

14. says [29H, simple present for general truth]; wonders [29H, simple present for

general truth]; motivates [29H, simple present for general truth]

15. exclaims [29H, simple present for general truth]; make [29H, simple present for

general truth

Exercise 29–71. was born [dependent clause in past tense for completed action]; lives [independent

clause in present tense for current action]; tours [present tense for regularly occurring action]

2. will treasure [independent clause in future tense for situation continuing beyond

action of dependent clause]

3. began [dependent clause in past tense]

4. became [dependent clause in simple past for a completed action]; plays [independent

clause in simple present for regularly occurring action]

5. continues [independent clause in simple present]; take [dependent clause in simple

present for same-time action]

6. know [dependent clause in simple present for general truth]; has made [independent

clause in present perfect for action completed but condition still in effect]

7. was traveling [dependent clause in past progressive for ongoing action completed in

the past]; filmed [independent clause in simple past for action completed in the past]

8. became; studied [independent and dependent clauses in simple past for actions com-

pleted in the past]

9. fell asleep; was [dependent clauses in simple past for completed past action]

10.failed [dependent clause in simple past for completed past action]

Exercise 29–81. were

2. were

3. suspend; be

4. be

5. continue; were

Exercise 29–9Rewrites may vary somewhat from the possibilities shown here. Coverage is three pas-

sive to active sentences; two active to passive sentences.

1. Nobel earned an enormous fortune when he invented dynamite in the 1960s.

2. Over 300 patents were held by Nobel, an avid inventor.

Chapter 29—Verbs



3. Nobel wrote Nemesis, a four-act play, shortly before his death.

4. Beginning in 1901, people who work in physics, literature, chemistry, and world

peace have been honored by the Nobel Prizes.

5. Mathematics is not included by the list of categories for the Nobel Prize.




CHAPTER 30

Pronouns: Case and Reference

A sentence is more than its subject, verb, and object. It is more than the sumof its words and parts. It is a system of systems whose parts we can fit togethr invery delicate ways to achieve very delicate ends—if we know how.

—Joseph M. Williams, Style: Toward Clarity and Grace

OVERVIEW Now that students have learned to identify pronouns, this chapter

instructs them on using the proper cse and reference.

Quick Boxes30.1 Case forms of personal pronouns, p. 487

30.2 Troyka test for case, p. 489

30.3 Guidelines for clear pronoun reference, p. 496

30.4 Choosing between that and which, p. 501

TEACHING TIPS, EXTRA EXERCISESTeaching Tip: If your classes include students who know other lan-

guages, they may enjoy explaining the noun and pronoun case systems ofthose other tongues to the native English speakers in the class. Theirexamples will demonstrate that case is not nearly as important an aspect ofEnglish as it often is in other languages.

Teaching Tip: English once distinguished between the personal andimpersonal relationships in the second-person pronoun you. Some modernlanguages continue to do so. French, for example, makes a distinctionbetween tu and vous; Spanish does so between tu (singular), vosotros(plural), informally, and usted (singular), ustedes (plural), formally. Youmight wish to have your bilingual students explain the difference in suchforms.

Teaching Tip: The “Troyka test for case” can be more effective if stu-dents are given both oral and written activities in which they are asked notonly to select correct pronouns from prepared sentences but also to gen-erate their own sentences using pronouns as parts of compounds.

Teaching Tip: A fun way to teach pronouns is to use contemporarymusic. Ask students to bring in a song (with the lyrics) that they enjoy.Play the song for the class and have students pick out the pronouns and theantecedents.





Teaching Tip: If your students have trouble choosing the appropriaterelative pronoun in dependent clauses, they can do the “Troyka test forcase” using these additional sentences.

Subjective Case 1. I enjoy playing volleyball with anyone (who,whom) has time to play. [who] 2. (Whoever, whomever) wins is obligatedto buy lunch for the rest. [Whoever] 3. I wonder (who, whom) will showup for today’s game. [who]

Objective Case 1. The volleyball players (who, whom) I met yesterdaywere too skillful for me. [whom] 2. I reserve the right to play with (who-ever, whomever) I choose. [whomever] 3. The opponent (who, whom) Iwant is honest as well as skillful. [whom]

EXTRA EXERCISE A If your students have trouble choosing the appropriate pronoun in

questions, you might offer them practice with these questions: 1. (Who,Whom) was initially responsible for the making of silk? [Who] 2. (Who,Whom) developed the first method of weaving silk? [Who] 3. In the nine-teenth century, (who, whom) claimed to produce the best silk? [who] 4.Theories about early fabrics come from (who, whom)? [whom] 5. Silk-worm eggs were carried out of China by (who, whom)? [whom] 6. TheFrench silk industry was developed for (who, whom)? [whom]

Teaching Tip: If your students have trouble choosing the appropriatepronoun after than or as, you might try expanding elliptical comparisonswith them to verify the best choice. Here are a few practice sentences.

1. You are taller than (I, me). [I]

2. Your parents are taller than (me, mine). [mine]

3. My brother is as thin as (I, me). [I]

4. Your sisters are as smart as (me, mine). [mine]

EXTRA EXERCISE B Underline the correct pronoun of each pair in parentheses.

1. Carl’s resolution to study more is a result of (him, his) getting poorgrades last semester. [his]

2. The dean almost required (he, him) to take a semester off. [him]

3. His parents complained about (him, his) partying too much. [his]

4. Carl thought that nobody cared more about his grades than (him,he). [he]

5. So he was surprised when his parents told (he, him) they were dis-appointed with his schoolwork. [him]

6. (Them, Their) expressing their concern showed how much theycared about (he, him). [Their, him]


7. After that, whenever his parents looked for (he, him), they found(his, him) studying. [him, him]

EXTRA EXERCISE C From each group of pronouns in parentheses, select the correct word

and underline it.

EXAMPLE: My softball teammates and (myself, me, I) are confidentwe will make the finals this year. [I]

1. I am so certain of our success that I have already bought (me,myself ) a new glove to celebrate. [myself]

2. Every practice session, the coach tells the others and (me, myself )that we are getting better and better. [me]

3. The sponsor (himself, hisself ), Big Al of Big Al’s Used Cars, evencomes to games now. [himself]

4. The other women and (I, myself) are glad that our hard work haspaid off. [I]

5. We had an exhibition game against our husbands, who tired (their-selves, themselves) out and lost by four runs. [themselves]

EXTRA EXERCISE D From the pronouns in parentheses, select the correct one and under-

line it.

1. My girlfriend and (I, me) agreed long ago that we would somedaytake a romantic ocean cruise together. [I]

2. (We, Us) and a few friends would sail the legendary seas and dockat exotic ports. [We]

3. Together, (we, us) and (they, them) would shop in the mysteriousbazaars of ancient cultures and eat the spicy foods of distant lands. [we,they]

4. Unfortunately, an unexpected misfortune was visited on (she, her)and (I, me). [her, me]

5. The day we were to leave, (she, her) and (I, me) both discoveredthat we had chicken pox! [she, I]

6. Instead of visiting romantic places, the romantic places visited (she,her) and (I, me). [her, me]

7. Our friend Tom gave (we, us) travel books with pictures of themany places we longed to see. [us]

8. They were the same books someone had given (he, him) when hemissed a trip to Mexico. [him]

9. I guess (we, us) will have to give them to (whoever, whomever)can’t make the next scheduled vacation trip. [we, whoever]

Chapter 30—Pronouns: Case and Reference



Teaching Tip: To help students become more aware of the connectionsbetween pronouns and their antecedents, you might want to use thisexcerpt by Jim Bouton. Ask students to draw connecting lines betweenthe pronoun and the antecedent in each pair. (The pronouns are italicizedhere.) Do the students find any misleading or vague references?

Another thing to watch during one of the little delays thatmake up such a big part of the [baseball] game is what thepitcher is up to. I don’t mean when he’s looking in to get thesign, winding up, throwing the ball. I mean during the time hesteps off the mound and seems to be looking out at his outfield-ers or into the stands at girls. What he’s really doing is rubbing upthe ball and under the latest rules he has to walk off the mound todo so. This gives him some marvelous opportunities. He can, forone thing, stick a finger between his belt and trousers and comeup with a gob of previously concealed vaseline. This while hehas his back to the plate umpire. And what good is vaseline?Well, it’s slippery like spit. This means you can throw the ballexactly as hard as you would a fastball and have it come off yourhand behaving like a curve. This is very confusing for the hitter.

—Jim Bouton, “A Few World Series Sinkers”

Teaching Tip: You may want to point out that errors in pronoun refer-ence sometimes occur when a student writes as she or he might speakconversationally. In casual conversation, for example, we might say, “Youjust sat spellbound through that movie,” when we really mean, “I sat spell-bound.” When we have heard or read a “fact” that captures our interest,we may pass along the information by reporting, “They say that drivers ofred cars are twice as likely as drivers of brown cars to get stopped forspeeding,” allowing the imprecise “they” to carry the weight of an author-ity we cannot recall. Remind students that academic writing requires pre-cision in language not required in our everyday conversation. As an extrabut valuable step in the proofreading process, students who have repeatederrors with pronoun reference may find it helpful to highlight and exam-ine all their pronouns.

Teaching Tip: The issue of its and it’s often comes up during the studyof section 30Q. If this happens, you might grab the teaching moment andrefer students to 45D in the apostrophe chapter; the Usage Glossary(Chapter UG-1); and the list of homonyms in 49F.

Another Example: You might want to ask your students to work ingroups to identify the missing antecedents of the pronouns underlined inthe following sentences and then to discuss how changes could give theparagraph greater clarity and more formal style.




In India, they have cultivated cotton for centuries. You couldwear cotton garments there as far back as 1500 BC. It was logi-cal that it should become an important crop because you havefew winter frosts there. They are also free of excessive humidity.In eighteenth-century England the invention of machines thatcould make cotton cloth brought them a worldwide market. Itwas a time of great prosperity. Today you can buy cotton prod-ucts from many countries. —Emily Gordon

Teaching Tip: Some instructors dislike the use of you in formal writing,preferring the third person one instead. More popular usage, however,encourages students to use you when they speak to their readers directly intheir writing. You may want to read a couple of examples so that yourstudents can hear the differences in tone:

Have you ever waked during the night to find yourselftrapped in a nightmarish dream whose effects seem all too real?When this event happens, do you then drift once more into sleeponly to repeat the nightmare from which extrication seems impos-sible? And, if so, are you wrestling with demons of guilt or fearthat, in waking moments, you refuse to confront? Psychologistswho study the dream life of humans offer a number of interestingtheories about the causes and effects of nightmares. When onebecomes trapped in a terrible dream that recurs multiple timesduring the night, is the nightmare a projection of some guilt orfear? Or is there another, less sinister explanation? And is thereany way that one can prevent such nightmares from occurring inthe first place?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe site www.grammarlady.com posts questions and answers on

grammar. Following is a question-answer sample:

Question: Dear Grammar Lady: Why is “I ” a capital (ex:Jack and I went to the store.) when “me” is not a capital (ex: Thedog belongs to Jack and me.)? Answer: In the early days of print-ing, the printers were German. Remember Gutenberg whoinvented the printing press? The small i looked like a j and it wasfeared the pronoun would be lost, so it was capitalized to make itmore visible.

The Guide to Grammar and Writing site at http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cases.htm, by Capital Community College,makes the following distinction between nouns and pronouns:

Except for the possessive forms (usually formed by the addi-tion of an apostrophe and the letter s), nouns do not change form




in English. (This is one of the few ways in which English iseasier than other languages.) Pronouns, however, do change formwhen they change case.

The site http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000021.htm offers com-prehensive explanations, examples, and links on pronoun case.

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) of Purdue University refers to com-parisons as “shorthand sentences” because certain words are usually omit-ted. For example, we say: “He is shorter than I (am short)”; the words inparentheses are dropped. We don’t say: “He is shorter than I am short.”

—http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/ grammar/g_proncase.html


1. me [30D, objective case after preposition at]

2. they [30C, subjective case]

3. me [30D, objective case, compound direct object]

4. me [30D, objective case after preposition between]; we [30B, subjective case]

5. He and I [30C and 30D, subjective case, compound subject]

6. I [30C, subjective case]

7. We [30C, subjective case]

8. they [30C, subjective case]

9. I [30C, subjective case]

10. him and me [30D, objective case after preposition at, compound object]; us [30D,

objective case after preposition of ]

Exercise 30–21. we, we, us

2. We, I, we

3. we, them, they

4. us, they

5. me, we

6. him and me, I

7. us

8. I, they, them

9. us, we

10.I, me

Exercise 30–31. who [subjective case]

2. who [subjective case]




3. whom [objective case]

4. who [subjective case]; who [subjective case]

5. whom [objective case]

6. who [subjective case]

7. who [subjective case]; whom [objective case]

Exercise 30–41. he [30H, subjective case in elliptical better . . . than he is]

2. them [30I, objective case before infinitive]

3. his [30J, possessive case before gerund]

4. him [30I, objective case before infinitive]


6. he [30H, subjective case in elliptical as well as he could]


8. he [30H, subjective case in elliptical as he has]

Exercise 30–5Answers may vary somewhat. Some students may think that some of the pronouns

replaced here are acceptable, but clarity is the issue—avoiding intervening information that

distracts the reader, ambiguous references, and so on. Here is one possible answer.

Most companies used to frown on employees who became involved in

office romances. Companies often considered these employees to be using com-

pany time for their own enjoyment. Now, however, managers realize that happy

employees are productive employees. With more women than ever before in the

workforce and with people working longer hours, managers have begun to see

that male and female employees want and need to socialize. Managers are also

dropping their opposition to having married couples on the payroll, because man-

agers no longer automatically believe that such couples will bring family matters

into the workplace or stick up for each other at the company’s expense.

One departmental manager had doubts when a systems analyst for research

named Laura announced that she had become engaged to Peter, who worked as a

technician in the same department. The departmental manager told Laura, “Either

Peter or you might have to transfer out of the research department.” After listen-

ing to Laura’s plea that the couple be allowed to work together on a trial basis, the

manager reconsidered. She decided to give Laura and Peter a chance to prove

that their relationship would not affect their work. The decision paid off. Laura

and Peter demonstrated that they could work as an effective research team, right

through their engagement and subsequent marriage. Two years later, when Laura

was promoted to assistant manager for product development and after Peter asked

to move also, the research manager enthusiastically recommended that Peter

follow Laura to her new department.




Exercise 30–6Answers will vary somewhat. Here is one set of possibilities.

1. Climbing Mount Everest is more expensive than people/the public might realize.

[30R, revision changes person from you not used for direct address to third person]

2. In addition to training, climbers need to raise as much as $60,000 for the expedition.

[30P, revision eliminates imprecise use of they]

3. By contacting the Nepalese embassy in Washington, DC, climbers can secure the

help of Sherpa guides. [Revision changes person from you not used for direct address to

third person, the noun climbers]

4. Correct sentence.

5. Climbers will need to pack oxygen bottles, a first aid kit, medications, a satellite

phone, walkie-talkies, and a laptop computer. These necessities will ensure a climber’s safety.

[30O, revision eliminates imprecise use of this]

6. Climbers often use yaks because they are stronger than humans and can carry more

equipment. [30R, revision changes person from you not used for direct address to third

person]

7. Airlines do not offer direct flights, so climbers from America usually need a couple

of days to get to Katmandu, Nepal. [30P, revision eliminates imprecise use of they]

8. Once atop the mountain, climbers should prepare for the descent, which is just as

dangerous as the ascent. [30R, revision changes person from you not used for direct address

to the third person]

Exercise 30–71. who [restrictive reference to Those], which [nonrestrictive reference to gambling]

2. that [restrictive reference to sport]

3. who [restrictive reference to Celebrities]

4. which [nonrestrictive reference to airport]

5. that [restrictive reference to ships], which [nonrestrictive reference to St. John’s]




CHAPTER 31

Agreement

I have rewritten—often several times—every word I have ever published. Mypencils outlast their erasers.

—Vladimir Nabokov

OVERVIEW In this chapter, students will receive guidance in matching both sub-

jests and verbs and in matching pronons to their nouns.

Quick Boxes31.1 Grammatical agreement: first, second and third person, p. 503

31.2 Basic subject-verb agreement, p. 504

31.3 When words separate subject and verb, p. 505

31.4 When subjects are joined by and, p. 506

31.5 When subjects are joined by or, p. 507

31.6 Common indefinite pronouns, p. 509

31.7 Pronoun-antecedent agreement, p. 514

31.8 When antecedents are joined by or, p. 516

31.9 Avoiding the masculine pronoun when referring to males andfemales together, p. 517

TEACHING TIPS, EXTRA EXERCISESAn Example: Notice how many subject-verb pairs are in the following

passage.

It is common to refer to the sky as blue. Actually, the sky isblack and our atmosphere is blue. That is because the tiny parti-cles of dust and little moisture droplets in the air are smallenough to interfere with and scatter the shorter wavelengths ofthe sun’s light, the blue and violet colors, to produce an illusionof a blue sky. Astronauts, circling our planet at heights of hun-dreds of miles, report that the sky is black and that the sun,moon, stars, and planets can be seen in the daytime hours.

—Phillip D. Stern, Our Space Environment

Teaching Tip: Controlled composition exercises are easy to constructand are often useful for helping students with subject-verb agreement andother grammatical and stylistic concerns. A controlled composition exer-





cise asks the student to copy a passage several sentences long—but tomake one change in the passage that addresses an area in which the stu-dent needs to improve. For example, to work on subject-verb agreement,a student might rewrite a passage changing the verbs from past tense topresent tense. For help with past-tense verb forms, a student might rewritea different passage, converting the verbs from present tense to past tense.Although the exercise focuses the efforts of the student on one particulararea—copying passages—it, like other imitation exercises, helps studentsdevelop syntactic fluency in other ways at the same time.

Extra Exercise A Fill in the blank with the correct present-tense form of the verb in

parentheses.

EXAMPLE: Psychologists often (to use) _____ projective tests toinvestigate clients’ unconscious memories and drives. [use]

1. Psychologists sometimes (to present) _____ their clients with ques-tions to which there are no correct answers.

2. The client then (to tell) _____ what he or she (to see) _____, thusshowing the psychologist some of his or her inner self.

3. The popular Rorschach Psycho-diagnostic Inkblot Test (to require)_____ that the client examine ten cards containing symmetrical inkblotsand say what he or she (to think) _____ each means.

4. Next, the client (to point) _____ out where in the blot he or she (tofind) _____ each image or idea.

5. Several scoring systems (to exist) _____ to guide psychologists ininterpreting clients’ responses.

Answers to Extra Exercise A 1. present 2. tells; sees 3. requires; thinks 4. points; finds 5. exist

Extra Exercise B Fill in the blank with the correct present-tense form of the verb in

parentheses.

EXAMPLE: In the eyes of many people, the Rorschach inkblots (tobe) _____ the psychologists’ standard tool for getting at clients’ hiddenthoughts and feelings. [are]

1. Either the Holtzman Inkblot Technique or the Thematic Appercep-tion Test (TAT) (to be) _____ given by psychologists who feel theRorschach is unreliable.

2. Not only does the Holtzman series have more inkblots than theRorschach, but the Holtzman also (to have) _____ a more standardizedsystem of administration.


3. The TAT (to use) _____ a series of pictures showing peopleengaged in a wide range of activities.

4. Although the pictures show people in realistic situations, there (to be) _____ many possible acceptable answers. 5. It (to be) _____ the taskof the person interpreting the picture to make up a story, deciding what hasoccurred and what the characters are thinking and feeling.

Answers to Extra Exercise B 1. is 2. has 3. uses 4. are 5. is

Extra Exercise C Rewrite the following passage, making the following changes: For

children, substitute a child. For adults, substitute an adult. For unicorns,substitute a unicorn. For books, substitute a book. For they, substitute he,she, or it, considering the antecedent. For a dragon, substitute dragons.Make sure that the verbs agree with the new subjects.

So I believe that we should trust our children. Normal chil-dren do not confuse reality and fantasy—they confuse them muchless often than we adults do (as a great fantasist pointed out in astory called “The Emperor’s New Clothes”). Children know per-fectly well that unicorns aren’t real, but they also know thatbooks about unicorns, if they are good books, are true books. Alltoo often, that’s more than Mummy and Daddy know; for, indenying . . . childhood, the adults have denied half their knowl-edge, and are left with the sad, sterile little fact: “Unicorns aren’treal.” And that fact is one that never got anybody anywhere(except in the story “The Unicorn in the Garden,” by anothergreat fantasist, in which it is shown that a devotion to the unre-ality of unicorns may get you straight into the loony bin). It is bysuch statements as, “Once upon a time there was a dragon,” or“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit”— it is by suchbeautiful non-facts that we fantastic human beings may arrive, inour peculiar fashion, at the truth. —Ursula K. Le Guin, “WhyAre Americans Afraid of Dragons?”

Answers to Extra Exercise C So I believe that we should trust a child. A normal child does

not confuse reality and fantasy— he or she confuses them muchless often than an adult does (as a great fantasist pointed out in astory called “The Emperor’s New Clothes”). A child knows per-fectly well that a unicorn isn’t real, but he or she also knows thata book about a unicorn, if it is a good book, is a true book. Alltoo often, that’s more than Mummy and Daddy know; for, indenying . . . childhood, an adult has denied half his or her knowl-

Chapter 31—Agreement



edge, and is left with the sad, sterile little fact: “A unicorn isn’treal.” And that fact is one that never got anybody anywhere(except in the story “The Unicorn in the Garden,” by anothergreat fantasist, in which it is shown that a devotion to the unre-ality of a unicorn may get you straight into the loony bin). It is bysuch statements as, “Once upon a time there were dragons,” or“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit”—it is by such beau-tiful non-facts that we fantastic human beings may arrive, in ourpeculiar fashion, at the truth.

Extra Exercise D In writing groups, students can work together to edit the following

sentences for subject-verb agreement.

1. The couple who move into a new apartment face many decisions.

2. One of the biggest choices have to do with how to decorate it.

3. Probably the most important decision of all are the color choices.

4. Green is one of the colors that looks good in any room.

Answers to Extra Exercise D 1. The couple who moves into a new apartment faces many decisions.

2. One of the biggest choices has to do with how to decorate it.

3. Probably the most important decision of all is the color choices.

4. Green is one of the colors that look good in any room.

Extra Exercise E Complete the following sentences by supplying an appropriate verb.

1. Physics _____ a demanding subject.

2. Do you think physics or economics _____ harder?

3. Sports _____ my favorite pastime.

4. Three-quarters of an hour of exercise several times a week _____enough to keep a person in reasonably good shape.

5. Statistics _____ that exercise of the body as well as the mind _____important for good health.

Answers to Extra Exercise E 1. is, 2. is, 3. is, 4. is, 5. show (indicate); is

Extra Exercise F In writing groups, students can work together to edit the inaccurate

agreement of pronouns and antecedents in the following paragraph.

Plaids have been a favorite fabric design for many centuries.It consists of bars of color crossing each other at right angles.Scotland is the home of the plaid, where they are called a tartan,or, in song, story, and legend, plaidies. The tartan, which distin-




guish the clan of their wearers, is ancient, but their origin isunknown. In its earliest forms they were pieces of cloth abouttwo yards broad and four yards long, which was drawn round thewaist in folds that was tightly buckled with a belt. The lower partcame down to the knees, and the upper part fell over the leftshoulder so that they left the right arm free. Early in the eigh-teenth century, the “belted plaid” disappeared. They werereplaced by the kilt. The particular pattern of tartans which dis-tinguish each clan must have been fixed before 1645, probablybefore 1600. Later, in 1746, trying to end the clan system, theBritish Parliament prohibited the Scots from wearing tartans. Theaction against it was taken following the Battle of Culloden,where Prince Charles Edward Stuart, grandson of James II, wasdefeated by the Duke of Cumberland. To be caught wearing themcarried a penalty of six months’ imprisonment. The kilt is worntoday so that when the wearer is standing erect, their edgesshould reach the center of the kneecap. They should be made ofa tartan associated with the name of the wearer. In the absence ofa family claim to wear them, the Scots allow the wearing of theRoyal Stuart tartan.

—Emily Gordon

Answers to Extra Exercise F Plaids have been favorite fabric designs for many centuries.

They consist of bars of color crossing each other at right angles.Scotland is the home of the plaid, where it is called a tartan, or,in song, story, and legend, a plaidie. The tartan, which distin-guishes the clan of its wearer, is ancient, but its origin isunknown. In its earliest form it was a piece of cloth about twoyards broad and four yards long, which was drawn round thewaist in folds that were tightly buckled with a belt. The lowerpart came down to the knees, and the upper part fell over the leftshoulder so that it left the right arm free. Early in the eighteenthcentury, the “belted plaid” disappeared. It was replaced by thekilt. The particular pattern of tartan which distinguishes each clanmust have been fixed before 1645, probably before 1600. Later,in 1746, trying to end the clan system, the British Parliament pro-hibited the Scots from wearing the tartan. The action against itwas taken following the Battle of Culloden, where Prince CharlesEdward Stuart, grandson of James II, was defeated by the Dukeof Cumberland. To be caught wearing it carried a penalty of sixmonths’ imprisonment. The kilt is worn today so that when thewearer is standing erect, its edges should reach the center of the




kneecap. It should be made of a tartan associated with the nameof the wearer. In the absence of a family claim to wear one, theScots allow the wearing of the Royal Stuart tartan.

Extra Exercise G Rewrite this paragraph so that pronounantecedent agreement in person

and number is maintained. It may also be necessary to change verbs orother words.

Buying stock involves many steps. Once a stockbrokerreceives an order, they call their firm’s telephone clerk, who islocated near the edge of the trading area. The telephone clerksummons his firm’s floor broker by flashing their code numberon a large electronic board posted in the trading area. Seeing theirnumber, the floor broker goes to the telephone clerk and picksup the buy order. You then go to the small area set aside for trad-ing in that company’s stock. An employee of the Stock Exchangekeeps track of all bids to buy and sell that particular stock. Thefloor broker makes an offer. If they are accepted by the sellingbroker, the stock is his. If you have bid too low, he must makeanother bid before someone else gets the stock. Then a reporterenters the deal into the Exchange computer, and they become partof the official record in seconds. After all this, the floor brokerreturns to the telephone clerk, who reports the deal to the originalstockbroker, who bills the client.

—Emily Gordon

Answers to Extra Exercise G Buying stock involves many steps. Once a stockbroker

receives an order, he calls his firm’s telephone clerk, who islocated near the edge of the trading area. The telephone clerksummons his firm’s floor broker by flashing his code number ona large electronic board posted in the trading area. Seeing hisnumber, the floor broker goes to the telephone clerk and picksup the buy order. The floor broker then goes to the small area setaside for trading in that company’s stock. An employee of theStock Exchange keeps track of all bids to buy and sell that par-ticular stock. The floor broker makes an offer. If it is accepted bythe selling broker, the stock is his. If he has bid too low, he mustmake another bid before someone else gets the stock. Then areporter enters the deal into the Exchange computer, and itbecomes part of the official record in seconds. After all this, thefloor broker returns to the telephone clerk, who reports the dealto the original stockbroker, who bills the client. (Note: This exer-cise provides a good opportunity to discuss ways of using non-sexist pronouns in the passage.)




ADDITIONAL RESOURCESAt the site http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/GramPunct.html, the

Online Writing Center of the University of Wisconsin at Madison featuresan extensive, well-organized collection of material on grammar. The fol-lowing is a sample from one of its Web pages: “Other words such as none,any, all, more, most, and some may take either singular or plural verbs,depending on the context. Some of the dollar was spent. Some of the dol-lars were spent. Note: Here, the prepositional phrase does affect the sub-ject. It tells you whether you are talking about a part of one thing(singular) or of a number of things (plural).”

In “On Language; Breaking the Rules,” Patricia T. O’Conneraddresses the following myth: None is always singular. “Not so,” she says.“Many people seem to have been taught (mistakenly) that none alwaysmeans not one.” However, “none is closer in meaning to not any. Thoughit can be singular, none is more likely to be plural, as Fowler and othershave pointed out. For example: None of the windows are broken” (NewYork Times, 28 July 1996, late ed., sec. 6:12).

At the site http://webster.commnet.edu/sensen/part2/thirteen/pronouns_fun.html, exercises on pronoun agreement are available.


Answers will vary. Each set of sentences must use the subject once as a singular and

once as a plural, and the verbs must agree accordingly.

Exercise 31–21. wish [31E, compound subject]

2. knows [31G, agreement with nearest subject]; show [31E, compound subject]

3. reveals [31D, ignoring words between subject and verb]

4. are [31H, inverted subject movements]

5. is [31D, ignoring words between subject and verb]

Exercise 31–3

1. enjoys

2. performs

3. attracts

4. is

5. run, seems

Exercise 31–41. consists [31J, singular verb with collective noun audience]

2. is [31K, verb agrees with the singular subject attraction, not the plural complement

challenges]




3. knows [31I, every is always singular]; are [31I, all is plural in this case because it

refers to clues]

4. is [31N, singular verb with term or words as themselves]

5. include [31L, which refers to the plural fans]

Exercise 31–51. believe

2. generates

3. reduce, have

4. are

5. have

6. are

7. suggests

8. views, says, results

9. show, are

10. prefer

Exercise 31–61. their [31O]; his or her [31R and 31S]; his [31O]

2. its [31O]

3. himself or herself [31S]; its [31O]

4. They [31P]

5. his or her [31S]

6. He or she [31S]; they [31O]

7. they [31O]

8. its [31O]

9. its [31O]; their [31O]

10. its [31O]




CHAPTER 32

Adjectives and Adverbs

The adjective is the enemy of the noun.

—Voltaire

OVERVIEW This chapter teaches students to differentiate adverbs from adjectives

and how to use both correctly.

Quick Boxes32.1 Regular forms of comparison for adjectives and adverbs, p. 524

32.2 Irregular forms of comparison for adjectives and adverbs, p. 525

EXTRA EXERCISESExtra Exercise

Underline the adjectives and adverbs. If any adjective or adverb is inan incorrect form, write the correct form above it.

EXAMPLE: The music played loud [more loudly] in the disco than inthe restaurant.

1. The Joneses have the bigger tree on the block.

2. Colorado has some of the most prettiest scenery in the country.

3. Which of the twins has the highest fever?

4. Juan is friendlier than his cousin.

5. The more faster runner of the two received a ribbon.

6. The red blouse is the most attractive in the store.

7. Leontyne Price sings good.

8. That is the worse diner in town.

9. Spain is near to Africa than I realized.

10. Marc Chagall is the more famous modern artist from Russia.

Answers to Extra Exercise 1. biggest, 2. prettiest [drop most], 3. higher, 4. Correct, 5. faster [drop

more], 6. Correct, 7. well, 8. worst, 9. nearer, 10. most famous

Teaching Tip: Some students have the idea that verbosity is a sign of“better writing,” perhaps because they have fooled hasty readers withunnecessary padding. To help students discover for themselves how vagueadjectives and adverbs, like many, very, and a lot, actually weaken a sen-tence, have them read aloud a sentence from their own writing, first with





and then without, these modifiers. As a starter, you might ask them to tellyou which of the following two sentences is more forceful:

1. Many of my English instructors become very excited when I enlivennarration with a lot of descriptive language.

2. My English instructors become excited when I enliven narration withdescriptive language. It may help students to know that such noted writers as Ernest Hem-

ingway and Flannery O’Connor have practiced the art of paring, paring,paring to strong, essential elements.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe Web site “Fast Hangman” features interactive exercises on adjec-

tives and adverbs using the game Hangman, see www.manythings.org/hmjs/voa-adjadv.html.

Students can find examples and interactive exercises on correct adjec-tive and adverb use at the Web site www.grammarbook.com/.

The Web site http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quiz_list.htmprovides multiple-choice quizzes on adjectives and adverbs, with answerkeys.

A Web site that cites basic rules to help students distinguish adjectivesfrom adverbs is http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/537/02/. It alsosuggests how to avoid common errors. For example: Good is an adjec-tive, so you do not do good or live good, but you do well and live well.


ADJ ADV ADJ ADJ

1. Today’s singles carefully look for possible mates at discount

ADJ ADJ

home improvement stores across the country.

(Today’s modifies singles; carefully modifies look; possible modifies mates; discount

home improvement modifies stores.)

ADV ADJ ADJ ADJ

2. Understandably, many people find these stores a healthy

ADJ ADJ

altervative to dark bars and blind dates.

(Understandably modifies the whole sentence as well as the verb find. Many mod-

ifies people; these modifies stores; healthy modifies alternative; dark modifies bars; blind

modifies dates.)

ADV ADJ ADV

3. Recently, an employee in the flooring department quietly


ADJ

confided that the best nights for singles are Wednesdays

ADV

and Thursdays, while weekends generally attract families.

(Recently modifies the whole sentence as well as the verb confided. Flooring

modifies department; quietly modifies confided; best modifies nights; generally modifies

attract.)

ADJ ADJ ADV ADJ

4. A young single mom returns home excitedly because a quick trip

ADJ ADJ

to the lumber department for a new door resulted in a date for

ADJ

Saturday night.

(Young and single modify mom. Excitedly modifies returns; quick modifies trip;

lumber modifies department; new modifies door; Saturday modifies night.)

ADJ ADV

5. A lonely widower in his fifties jokingly says he wishes he had

ADV

developed earlier an interest in wallpapering and gardening.

(Lonely modifies widower; jokingly modifies says; earlier modifies developed.)

Exercise 32–21. good, badly, greatly

2. highly, famous, well

3. ever, happy, great

4. notably, rarely, nor

5. massive, common, easily

Exercise 32–3Positive Comparative Superlative

big bigger biggest

slow slower slowest

comfortable more comfortable most comfortable

attractive more attractive most attractive

lucky luckier luckiest

happy happier happiest

Sentences will vary.

Chapter 32—Adjectives and Adverbs





Exercise 32–41. specially [32A, adverb modifies adjective designed]; dense [32D, positive form—

nothing is being compared]; closely [32A, adverb modifies verb imitates]

2. many [32D, positive form—nothing is being compared]; most authentic [32D,

superlative form]; healthy [32D, positive form—nothing is being compared]

3. bad [32C, adjective with the linking verb feel]; good [32C, adjective modifies noun

locations]; stealthily, lazily, vigorously [32A, adverbs modify verbs stalk, loll, and tug]

4. well [32C, adverb modifies verb serve]; rapidly [32A, adverb modifies adjective

dwindling]

5. fewer [32D, countable items use fewer]; great [32D, positive form—nothing is

being compared]; most [32D, superlative form]


CHAPTER 33

Sentence Fragments

When it comes to language, nothing is more satisfying than to write a goodsentence . . . This does not happen. It requires skill, hard work, a good ear, andcontinued practice, as much as it takes Heifetz to play the violin.

—Barbara Tuchman

OVERVIEW This chapter helps the student identify sentence fragments, instructs

them on how to fix these fragments, and describes how using a fragmentmight be intentionals.

Quick Boxes33.1 How to recognize four types of sentence fragments, p. 528

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: Some students have trouble understanding that structures

rather than meanings (or sensemaking), determine whether or not a clause“stands alone” or is dependent. When such students encounter a structuresuch as Yet its color suggests otherwise, they may confuse the independ-ent clause with a fragment because, they reason, this clause does notexpress a complete thought and cannot stand alone. When pressed for anexplanation, they may say that a reader has no idea what it is or to whatconcept the word otherwise signals some point of contrast. Here the anal-ogy of a lone chimney standing oddly in a rural landscape may be instruc-tive. The chimney as a structure stands alone even though we know that itmakes no real sense apart from the house or building to which it oncebelonged. You may want to point out that the independent clause Itsqueaks has fewer words than the dependent clause Because it squeaks. Tohelp students separate structure from meaning, use nonsense words to letthem discern the difference between a fragment and an independent clausethat may stand alone as a structure even while making little sense. Hereare some examples: the biglio zoosed the umstead; the biglio zoosing anumstead; until the biglio zoosed the umstead; an umstead was zoosed bythe biglio; at the biglio zoosing; the umpstead zoosed by the biglio;nonetheless, it zoosed the umpstead; although it zoosed the umstead; theumstead, however, was totally zoosed by it.

Teaching Tip (Collaboration): You might find it useful to have studentswork in groups to identify and correct fragments found in paragraphstaken from their own writing or those that occur in the following para-





graph. Each group can present to the class a revision of a paragraph, point-ing out the merits of the new version. In the paragraph shown here, frag-ments are often signaled by the words just, only, for example, also, mainly,and such as.

In their early history, the people of Asia followed the sea-sons through the valleys until they found no more land. Only thesea and sky and a sheet of ice stretching across the Bering Strait.They did not think about the past. Just the present. For example,making weapons. Such as tree limbs used for bows. Also knivesmade from sharpened stones. Just like their forefathers. Movingsouth, they eventually reached the Rio Grande. Mainly knowntoday as the river that separates Mexico and the United States.

Teaching Tip: Students sometimes create fragments as they attempt towrite longer or more complicated sentences and experiment with theirstyle. Without a range of syntactic structures available to them, studentsmay try to vary the rhythm of their sentences, suggest pauses for empha-sis, and establish sentence variety with the placement of periods. Frag-ments often appear because students begin using dependent clauses,participial phrases, elliptical constructions, and absolute phrases in theirwriting before they have enough knowledge and control of these struc-tures. Students benefit when they learn new sentence patterns that alsohelp them avoid fragments. Students who use periods to suggest a longpause may benefit from instruction on the dash (Chapter 47). Studentscreating fragments from dependent clauses, absolute phrases, and par-ticipial phrases may benefit from studying coordination and subordination(Chapter 38), parallelism (Chapter 39), and techniques for achieving sen-tence variety and emphasis (Chapter 38).

Teaching Tip: Group editing, as a class, can be a useful exercise toreinforce basic editing techniques. Choose a passage that has several frag-ments or other grammar errors. If you teach in a smart classroom, projectthe passage on the screen. Edit the passage on screen, taking suggestionsfrom the class. Using “track changes,” annotate why you are changing aparticular word or phrase. After you have finished, e-mail the revised andannotated document to the students as a study guide.

Teaching Tip: Students who regularly create fragments by omitting sub-jects from their sentences are likely to “hear” the subject of a precedingsentence and unconsciously allow that subject to stand as an “understood”subject for the fragment. (Example: “Students want to use complete sen-tences in their academic writing. Avoid fragments.”) They may even createsuch fragments in order to avoid repetitious wording, as in “Students alsowant to avoid fragments.” You may want to encourage students who havethis particular problem to proofread their paragraphs by reading their sen-


tences aloud and in reverse order. This process is nearly always success-ful in calling attention to a fragment. When students experiment with sen-tence-combining techniques (both coordination and subordination), theynot only create more sophisticated sentences, but also solve the problem ofundue repetition.

Another Example: If your students have trouble recognizing dependentclauses as fragments, you may want to give them practice. Ask them toidentify the fragments in the following mixture of complete and incom-plete sentences. You might also ask them to combine the sentences so thateach one is complete, being careful to separate with a comma each open-ing dependent clause from the independent one that follows.

Many elderly people have pets as companions. Because theelderly are often lonely. Nevertheless, pets make demands ontheir energy. For example, if a cat is sick, and when a dog mustbe bathed. Unless the owner has the strength and funds to carefor the pet’s needs. Then the pet is better off with a youngerowner. Since the pet deserves a good home too. Before getting acat or dog, people should be certain that they can provide ade-quate care.

Teaching Tip: To demonstrate how phrases can be turned into completesentences, you might ask two students to read the following dialoguealoud in class and then improvise each comment as a sentence.

A: When are you coming?

B: In a minute.

A: Really?

B: Really.

A: Hurry up!

B: OK, OK. Just a second. How about Mother?

A: Who?

B: Mother.

A: Sure. Ready hours ago.

Teaching Tip: Dictating a passage like the one here for students to copyand punctuate can be a helpful exercise in identifying sentence bound-aries. Students can compare their versions and discuss any differences.

We have a nine-acre lake on our ranch and a warm springthat feeds it all winter. By mid-March the lake ice begins to meltwhere the spring feeds in, and every year the same pair of mal-lards come ahead of the others and wait. Though there is verylittle open water they seem content. They glide back and forththrough a thin estuary, brushing watercress with their elegant

Chapter 33—Sentence Fragments



folded wings, then tip end-up to eat and, after, clamber onto thelip of ice that retreats, hardens forward, and retreats again.

—Gretel Ehrlich

Teaching Tip: Fragments, long commonplace in fiction writing, areoften demanded in such professions as nursing (charts), law enforcementand social work (case reports), and business (particularly advertising).Rather than taking a harsh approach to the fragment as a strict no-no, youmay find it useful to point out the need for writers to be as flexible intheir understanding and manipulation of sentence structures (always takinginto account audience, occasion, and purpose) as they are in their choicesof language and tone.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe site www.aliscot.com/bigdog/fragments.htm includes suggestions

for identifying and correcting sentence fragments and an online quiz.

In “The Patterns of Language: Perspective on Teaching Writing”(Teaching English in the Two-Year College 24.2 [1997]: 136–144), PamelaDykstra argues that when students examine syntactic units, they come tounderstand the concept of sentence boundaries. She offers three detailedways of teaching the concept.

The Internet TESL Journal: For Teachers of English as a Second Lan-guage, a monthly Web journal, provides articles and other teachingresources at http://iteslj.org. The link at http://a4esl.org/q/j offers a largecollection of interactive quizzes on grammar, including sentence frag-ments, for ESOL students.

Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) features severalinformative Web pages on sentence fragments. Also, the page athttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/620/01/ contains links to itsfragment exercises for editing practice.

The Web site http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/fragments.htm offered by Capital Community College includes quizzes, suggestions,and links for repairing sentence fragments.

The Lynchburg College Writing Center Web site at www.lynchburg.edu/x2383.xml suggests likely causes of sentence fragments.


1. Fragment. Starts with a subordinating conjunction (because) and lacks an inde-

pendent clause to complete the thought.

2. Fragment. Lacks a verb.

3. Complete sentence.

4. Fragment. The relative pronoun that creates a dependent clause.




5. Fragment. Lacks a subject.


7. Fragment. Lacks a verb.


9. Fragment. Dependent clause.

10. Fragment. Lacks a subject.

Exercise 33–21. Even though lice are not dangerous and do not spread disease, parents tend to worry

about their children who have been infected with this parasite. [dependent clause attached to

independent clause]

2. Although good hygiene is important, it does not prevent lice infestation, which can

occur on clean, healthy scalps. [dependent clause attached to independent clause]

3. Spread only through direct contact, lice are unable to fly or jump. [past participle

phrase attached to independent clause]

4. [correct sentence]

5. While lice can spread among humans who share combs or pillows or hats, lice

cannot be spread from pets to humans. [dependent clause attached to independent clause]

6. Doctors may prescribe special shampoos and soaps to help get rid of the lice on a

child’s head. [infinitive phrase joined to independent clause]

7. [correct sentence]

8. Just one is called a louse, and a louse egg is called a nit, which is where we get the

words lousy and nit-pick. [dependent clause attached to independent clause]

9. Using a hair dryer after applying a scalp treatment can be dangerous because some

treatments contain flammable ingredients. [dependent clause attached to independent clause]

10. Lice cannot live for more than twenty-four hours without human contact. [subor-

dinating conjunction dropped from dependent clause]

Exercise 33–3Suggested Answers

1. (Deleted Because) Scientists are working on making foods “indestructible.”

2. New preservation technologies have been developed that are responsible for bread

puddings that can last four years.

3. Success with current experiments might mean people will need to buy groceries

only once a month.

4. (Deleted That) People on limited budgets won’t have to throw away as much food.

5. These solutions resolve three challenges in making food last longer: controlling

moisture, exposure to air, and bacteria and molds.

6. “Super sandwiches” packaged with chemicals that absorb oxygen can last three to

five years. (Complete as is.)




7. Sterilizing food in a pouch subjected to pressures of 87,000 pounds per square inch

controls bacteria.

Exercise 33–4Answers may vary. One set of possibilities is shown here.

1. Throughout his career as a philosopher and cynic, Diogenes cultivated a following

that included the likes of Aristotle and Alexander the Great. [that dependent clause with rel-

ative pronoun, attached to independent clause]

2. Correct complete sentence.

3. Diogenes lived like a beggar and slept in a tub, which he carried around with him

wherever he went. [which dependent clause with relative pronoun, attached to independent

clause]

4. He rejected the pursuit of wealth and once destroyed his wooden bowl because he

saw a peasant boy drinking water with his hands. [because dependent clause with subordi-

nating conjunction, attached to independent clause]

5. Although none of his writings have survived, Diogenes produced dialogues and a

play that allegedly describes a social utopia in which people live unconventional lives. [that

dependent clause with relative pronoun, attached to independent clause]

6. He often walked around Athens in broad daylight with a lamp looking for an honest

man. [since, which starts a dependent clause with subordinating conjunction, is dropped]

7. When Plato defined man as a featherless biped, Diogenes plucked a chicken and

said, “Here is Plato’s man.” [Correct complete sentence]

8. According to legend, Diogenes was once sunbathing when he was approached by

Alexander the Great, who was a fan of the eccentric cynic. [who dependent clause with rel-

ative pronoun, attached to independent clause]

9. Alexander asked if he could do anything for Diogenes, which the philosopher

answered by saying, “Don’t block my sunlight.” [which dependent clause with relative pro-

noun, attached to independent clause]

10.A strange and interesting man, Diogenes has inspired works by such writers and

artists as William Blake, Anton Chekhov, and Rabelais. [Because, which starts a dependent

clause with subordinating conjunction, is dropped.]

Exercise 33–5Answers may vary. Here is one set of possibilities.

The English games cricket and rounders are the forerunners of the American game

baseball, which became popular in America in the nineteenth century. According to the New

York Morning News, in an article from 1845, members of the New York Knickerbockers

Club played the first reported baseball game, taking place at Elysian Fields in Hoboken,

New Jersey. Creating one of baseball’s first teams and writing “20 Original Rules of Base-

ball,” Alexander Cartwright is often called The Father of Baseball by scholars and historians

of the game. His new rules, which became known as Knickerbocker Rules, changed baseball

in a number of ways, such as giving each batter three strikes and each inning three outs.






The first game that used the Knickerbocker Rules was played on June 19, 1846, in New

Jersey. Acting as umpire for this game, Cartwright charged six-cent fines for swearing. The

Knickerbockers lost this game by 22 points to a team that was known as “The New York

Nine.”



CHAPTER 34

Comma Splices and Run-OnSentences

Word-carpentry is like any other kind of carpentry: you must join your sen-tences smoothly.

—Anatole France

OVERVIEW Students must be able to identify splices and run-on sentences in order

to correct them. This chapter offers guidelines for both identifying andcorrecting.

Quick Box34.1 Detecting comma spices and run-on sentences, p. 539

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: Students who write comma splices or run-on sentences

have a better chance of finding and correcting their errors if they can finda pattern in them. To help students detect patterns, set aside one class orconference session to have students review all the paragraphs and essaysthey have written for the course. First, if they have not already done so,they should correct all comma splices and run-on sentences. Then, theyshould tally the types of sentences involved, using Quick Box 34.1 in sec-tion 34B for reference. Encourage students to create additional categories,if needed, for errors that do not fit the four basic patterns shown. Makeyourself available to answer questions, and encourage students to askadvice of their peers. At the end of the exercise, have students submit areview statement. Here is one student’s response: Of the twelve commasplices and runtogether sentences I have written this semester, seveninvolved a second independent clause starting with a pronoun, fourinvolved conjunctive adverbs, and one involved an explanation. I need tobe careful, when I use a pronoun as the subject of an independent clause,to punctuate that clause as a sentence. An explicit statement of results willforce students to do the analysis, and the “I need to be careful . . .” sen-tence will force them to verbalize a plan of attack. Both steps work toovercome students’ perceptions of punctuation errors as being random anduncontrollable. You can then keep the statements on file (1) to help youdetermine who needs to work on a particular kind of comma splice or run-on sentence, and (2) to serve as a contract between you and each student,acknowledging that he or she knows what to do and will do it.


Chapter 34—Comma Splices and Run-On Sentences


Teaching Tip: Students can use a simple test to determine whether aword is a conjunction or a conjunctive adverb. Conjunctive adverbs can beshifted from the beginning of a clause to another position in the middle ofthe clause; conjunctions cannot be shifted. Comma splices and run-on sen-tences sometimes occur when students begin a sentence with not only butomit but also at the start of the second clause. Students should rememberthat but is functioning as a conjunction in this construction and that theyneed to separate the clauses with a period or semicolon when they omitbut.

Teaching Tip: You might want to enliven a class by running a “revisioncontest.” Divide the class into an even number of teams, each composedof four students. Tell the students that in preparation for the competition,everyone is to bring to class two paragraphs containing comma splicesand run-on sentences: (1) a published paragraph that the student has inten-tionally edited to have three such errors, and (2) an original paragraphwritten for the competition, containing three intentional comma splices orrun-on sentences. Ask each student to supply two copies of each para-graph: one for the contest and one filled in as an answer key. On the dayof the competition, divide the students into teams and have them exchangeparagraphs. Collect the answer keys. Give the teams thirty minutes torevise the paragraphs they have received. When they finish, compare theirrevisions with the answer keys.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe Web site http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/02/ pro-

vides rules for punctuating compound sentences correctly, as well as sug-gestions for fixing run-on sentences.

The Web site http://webster.commnet.edu/sensen/part2/nine/index.htmlprovides suggestions for how to spot and correct run-on sentences.

The Web site http://grammar.ccc.commnet .edu/grammar/sentences.htm shows how to punctuate between two independent clauses and offerslinks to related sites.

The site www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/ wworkshop/index.htm offered bythe University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana suggests how to distin-guish between conjunctive adverbs and coordinating conjunctions.


Answers. Various answers are possible. We list one example.

1. The Utah Data Center will store vast amounts of e-mails, cell phone calls, Internet

searches, and other personal data. For example, agents will be able to track down every-

thing from parking receipts to plane ticket information.




2. However, this $2 billion complex is designed to do more than serve as a warehouse

of digital data. Breaking codes will be one of its major efforts.

3. The National Security agency is in charge of the Utah Data Center and will handle

the data analysis, code breaking, and recommendations for action. Information gathered may

prevent criminal or terrorist actions, increasing American security.

4. Some people worry that the center may exceed traditional security practices,

because it will have the capacity and even the mission to collect and analyze billions of

messages from American citizens, storing trillions of pieces of data.

5. In an age where personal computers can routinely store as much as one or two ter-

abytes of data, the capacity of the new data center is staggering, able to hold over a yottabyte.

Equal to over 500 quintillion pages of text, a yottabye is more than the total amount of

human knowledge ever created.

Exercise 34–21. Comma Splice.

Correct: James Naismith, a physical education professor at what is known today as

Springfield College, needed an indoor sport for his students to play on rainy days, so he

invented basketball.

2. Run On

Correct: At first, he didn’t use a net; he used a peach basket.

3. Comma Splice

Correct: Dribbling, the act of bouncing the ball between passes and shots, did not

become common in basketball until much later; originally, players merely carried the ball.

4. Comma Splice

Correct: Backboards were also not introduced until later; this kept fans from being able

to interfere with the action.

5. Run On

Correct: Without balls made specifically for the sport, early basketball players had to

use soccer balls, but in the 1950s, Tony Hinkle introduced the now famous orange balls that

are easier for players and spectators to see.

6. Comma Splice

Correct: The first official basketball game was played in 1892 in Albany, New York;

only one point was scored.

7. Comma Splice

Correct: Founded in 1946, the National Basketball Association (NBA) began with the

help of owners of ice hockey arenas, and many consider the game between the Toronto

Huskies and the New York Knickerbockers in 1946 as the first official NBA game.

8. Correct as is.

Although a three-point rule was first used in 1933, the NBA did not officially add the

rule until 1979, the year that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson began playing professionally.

9. Run On


Chapter 34—Comma Splices and Run-On Sentences


Correct: On March 2nd, 1962, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Wilt Chamberlain, playing

for the Philadelphia Warriors, scored a record 100 points in one game; his average for the

season was 50.4 points per game.

10.Comma Splice

Correct: Now a worldwide sport, basketball debuted in the Olympics in 1936; the

United States defeated Canada in a game played outdoors.

Exercise 34–31. When Las Vegas was first counted by the U.S. Census in 1910, it was a tiny town;

indeed, the entire county had only 3,000 people.

2. Correct.

3. Las Vegas remained a small railroad town for the first couple of decades of the

twentieth century. Then, when the nearby Hoover Dam was built in 1935, Las Vegas began

to grow.

4. Other factors contributed to the growth of Las Vegas; for example, gambling was

legalized in 1931, and many scientists moved there during World War II to work on the

Manhattan Project.

5. Las Vegas is now famous for its gambling; therefore, it is sometimes known as “Sin

City.”

Exercise 34-4Answers will vary. The following is one possible revision.

1. Energy psychology represents fairly new methods joining Eastern lines of thought

to the mind and body and Western psychology and psychotherapy; according [semicolon] to

an article by Leonard Holmes, PhD, proponents of energy psychology contend that striking

acupuncture points and at the same time recalling an anxiety-producing incident can allevi-

ate anxiety and phobias.

2. Holmes inquires whether this idea is true. In fact, [period] he goes on to question the

connection the acupuncture points have to anxiety.

3. In the early 1980s, Roger Callahan, PhD, popularized procedures utilizing energy

psychology, and he [coordinating conjunction and after comma] called the procedures “The

Callahan Technique” or “Thought Field Therapy.”

4. In the beginning, Callahan’s training programs were costly, generally hundreds of

dollars. Now, on the other hand, [period] they are moderately priced.

5. Other therapists such as clinical psychologist David Feinstein, PhD, have joined

the ranks promoting energy psychology; interestingly, [semicolon] Feinstein sells an inter-

active CD-ROM that presents guidance in energy psychology/ psychotherapy.

6. A qualified therapist can use the CD-ROM although [added a subordinating con-

junction] laypersons should not experiment with the contents of the CD-ROM.

7. Today, proponents of energy psychology contend it results in the successful handling

of problems such as trauma, abuse, depression, and addictive cravings. Other [period] uses

for energy psychology, or “Emotional Freedom Techniques” (EFT), as Gary Craig calls them




on his Web site, include treatment for medical conditions such as headaches and breathing

difficulties.

8. Craig, not a licensed health professional, contends the “missing piece to the healing

puzzle” is EFT, and [comma and coordinating conjunction and after comma] he quotes from

supposedly scientific clinical trials indicating that patients have seen dramatic results in their

conditions because of EFT.

9. Because [subordinating conjunction and comma after dependent clause] Holmes

thinks energy psychotherapy is still too early in its development to be widely applied, he cau-

tions the general public to avoid trying it on their own.

10. Holmes advises extreme caution for psychologists who need to know more from

[revised to use relative pronoun] research about continuing to use EFT.



CHAPTER 35

Misplaced and DanglingModifiers

Writing is so difficult that I often feel that writers, having had their hell onearth, will escape all punishment hereafter.

—Jessamyn West

OVERVIEW In this chapter, students will be instructed on the correct placement of

modifiers.

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: If your students feel that modifier placement is a slap-

dash business, you might ask them to look at some ludicrous sentencesand have them try to draw what is written. Here are a few.

1. When people first saw whales, they were still wearing animal skinsand had stone axes.

2. The man kissed the baby with a beard.

3. Walking down the street, the Eiffel Tower came into view.

4. The wildlife specialist said that most bears are dangerous on televi-sion.

5. Poison ivy is common in the forest, which gives many people an itchyrash.

Teaching Tip: Melanie LaFleur’s lesson ”Pardon Me, Your Modifier isDangling” leads students through an activity to illustrate dangling modi-fiers by drawing sentences with misplaced modifiers, correcting the orig-inal sentence on the back of the paper, and then hanging the illustrationfrom the ceiling. See http://home.cogeco.ca/~rayser3/Dangmismodless1.txt.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe Web site http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/modifiers.

htm offers examples, suggestions, and quizzes on misplaced modifiers.

The Web site http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/modifiers.htmloffered by St. Cloud State University includes examples of dangling andmisplaced modifiers, with possible revisions for each and explanations ofwhy the revisions are necessary.




Kate Burridge’s Blooming English: Observations on the Roots, Culti-vation and Hybrids of the English Language (New York: Cambridge,2004) and its sequel Weeds in the Garden of Words: Further Observationson the Tangled History of the English Language (New York: Cambridge,2005) offer a fascinating history of the development of English.


Answers may vary somewhat. The final result must avoid all incorrect placements.

1. Because of its location near the Deadwood Gulch and the Black Hills of South

Dakota, Deadwood was named for the dead trees found in that canyon. [40D, interruption of

subject and verb]

2. The city’s founding was in 1876, during a gold rush that attracted a quarter of a mil-

lion miners to the area. [40D, interruption of subject and verb]


4. Today, tourists who visit Deadwood gamble often and enjoy the historical reenact-

ments of the town’s famous events. [40B, squinting modifier]

5. Deadwood was the home to nearly a dozen of famous characters from the Old West.

[40A, ambiguous placement]

6. Serving as the sheriff of Hays City and Abilene, Wild Bill Hickok worked to tame

the lawless towns of the frontier with an iron fist. [40C, split infinitive]

7. Hickok moved to Deadwood after he performed in a Wild West show without much

success. [40D, interruption of subject and verb]

8. During a poker game at Nuttall & Mann’s saloon, Jack McCall shot Wild Bill for

unknown reasons. [40D, awkward interruption of verb and object]

9. The cards Hickok was holding, now known as the dead man’s hand, included a pair

of black aces, a pair of black eights, and an unknown fifth card. [40D, awkward placement]

10.The legends of Deadwood and Wild Bill continue to grow in the stories of fiction

writers and TV shows. [40D, awkward interruption of subject and verb]

Exercise 35–21. a. Chicken soup, / according to folklore, / helps / cure colds.

b. According to folklore, / chicken soup / helps / cure colds.

c. Chicken soup / helps / cure colds, / according to folklore.

2. a. Instinctively, / tadpoles / swim / toward / their genetic relatives.

b. Tadpoles / instinctively / swim / toward / their genetic relatives.

c. Tadpoles / swim / toward / their genetic relatives / instinctively.

d. Tadpoles / swim / instinctively / toward / their genetic relatives.

3. a. While driving / carelessly, / the young driver / skidded / in the snow.

b. The young driver / carelessly / skidded / in the snow / while driving.


Chapter 35—Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers


c. While driving, / the young driver / skidded / carelessly / in the snow.

d. While driving / in the snow, / the young driver / skidded / carelessly.

e. In the snow, / the young driver / skidded / carelessly / while driving.

f .Carelessly, / the young driver / skidded / while driving / in the snow.

4. a. The limber teenager / quickly / climbed / a tall palm tree / to pick a ripe coconut.

b. The limber teenager / climbed / a tall palm tree / quickly / to pick a ripe coconut.

c. To pick a ripe coconut, / the limber teenager / quickly / climbed / a tall palm

tree.

d. Quickly, / the limber teenager / climbed / a tall palm tree / to pick a ripe coconut.

5. a. To prevent big avalanches, / ski patrollers / often / set explosives / and cause

mini-avalanches.

b. Ski patrollers / often / set explosives / and cause mini-avalanches / to prevent big

avalanches.

c. Often, / ski patrollers / set explosives / and cause mini-avalanches / to prevent big

avalanches.

d. Ski patrollers / set explosives / and cause mini-avalanches / often / to prevent big

avalanches.

Exercise 35–3Answers may differ somewhat. Here is one set of possibilities.

1. The eruption of the volcano Krakatoa caused massive destruction in 1883, an event

recently examined in the book Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded. [unnecessary passive]

2. Exploding with a force 13,000 times stronger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima,

the eruption was heard by people thousands of miles away. [dangling participle]

3. The explosion generated the loudest sound historically reported, with devastating

tsunamis soon following. [unnecessary passive]


5. Although the volcano began erupting in late July, larger eruptions didn’t start until

the middle of August. [unexpressed subject]

6. Reaching over 100 feet in height and traveling at devastating speeds, tsunamis

caused destruction to the coastlines of Sumatra. [unexpressed subject]

7. Lasting much longer than expected, aftershocks were felt by people in nearby areas

until February of 1884. [dangling participle]

8. To understand the magnitude of this volcanic eruption, scientists studied the changes

in weather patterns. [dangling infinitive phrase]


10. Affecting the art of its time, Krakatoan sunsets inspired the background of Edvard

Munch’s famous painting The Scream. [dangling participle]



CHAPTER 36

Shifting and Mixed Sentences

Unless one is a genius, it is best to aim at being intelligible.

—Anthony Hope Hawkins

OVERVIEW This chapter gives students guidelines to avoid shifting sentences in

person and number, subject and voice, tense and mood, indirect and directdiscourse. It also takes the student through what makes a mixed sentenceand how to correct them.

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: When using the generalized you, writers need to guard

against inappropriate shifts to third-person nouns and pronouns (person,one, he, they). Students who use the generalized you in adages like “Youcan fool some of the people some of the time . . .” may not sense the dis-sonance of a shift from you to he or from you to they in their writing, soyou may want to point out the shift.

An Example: To improve students’ skills in recognizing person andnumber, you might ask them to read the following passage by Susan AllenToth. Then, ask students to work in groups to label the subject of eachclause by person and number. (The subjects here appear in italics.)

When Pete and I [third, first; plural] go to the movies, we [first;plural] take turns driving so no one [third; singular] owes anyoneelse anything. We [first; plural] leave the car far from the theater sowe [first; plural] don’t have to pay for a parking space. If it’s [third;singular] raining or snowing, Pete [third; singular] offers to let meoff at the door, but I [first; singular] can tell he’ll [third; singular] feelbetter if I [first; singular] go with him while he [third; singular] findsa spot, so we [first; plural] share the walk too. Inside the theaterPete [third; singular] will hold my hand when I [first; singular] getscared if I [first; singular] ask him. He [third; singular] puts my handfirmly on his knee and covers it completely with his own hand.His knee [third; singular] never twitches. After a while, when thescary part [third; singular] is past, he [third; singular] loosens his handslightly and I [first; singular] know that [third; singular] is a signal totake mine away. He [third; singular] sits companionably close, let-ting his jacket [third; singular] just touch my sweater, but he [third;singular] does not infringe. He [third; singular] thinks I [first; singular]


Chapter 36—Shifting and Mixed Sentences


ought to know he [third; singular] is there if I [first; singular] needhim.

—Susan Allen Toth, “Cinematypes”

Another Example: To improve your students’ skill in identifying subjectand voice, you might ask them to work in groups to locate the subject andname the voice in each of the clauses in the following passage by JackLondon. (The subjects and verbs appear in italics.)

The earthquake [subject] shook [active] down in San Franciscohundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of walls and chimneys.But the conflagration [subject] that [subject] followed [active]burned [active] up hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of prop-erty. There [“dummy” subject] is [active] no estimating [subject]within hundreds of millions the actual damage that [subject] waswrought [passive].

Not in history has a modern imperial city [subject] been socompletely destroyed [passive]. San Francisco [subject] is [active]gone. Nothing [subject] remains [active] of it but memories and afringe of dwelling houses on its outskirts. Its industrial section[subject] is [active] wiped out. Its social and residential section[subject] is [active] wiped out. The factories [subject] and ware-houses [subject], the great stores [subject] and newspaper buildings[subject], the hotels [subject] and palaces [subject] of the nabobs, all[subject] are [active] gone. There [“dummy” subject] remains [active]only the fringe [subject] of dwelling houses on the outskirts ofwhat [subject] was [active] once San Francisco.

—Jack London

Teaching Tip (Collaboration): To improve your students’ skill in identi-fying direct and indirect discourse, you might ask them to work in groupsto identify the types of discourse found in the following passage by Rus-sell Baker.

In the country, I am told, the trick is to let the weather roamfree through the house. [indirect] “You’re spoofing me, aren’tyou?” [direct] I asked the real-estate man. He wasn’t.

In the country, he explained, you’re supposed to wear longunderwear all winter. [indirect] “It can get itchy if you don’t havefreezing wind coming between the logs,” [direct] he said.

In the summer, you’re expected to hang flypaper in thekitchen. “If your logs are chinked tightly they’ll keep out thevarmints that give your flypaper a businesslike appearance,”[direct] he explained.

—Russell Baker, “Country Living”




Teaching Tip: Students frequently become aware of problem sentenceswhen they hear their papers read aloud. Particularly with long sentences,students sometimes compose chunk by chunk and fail to notice how thesections are connected. Reading aloud forces students to read the entiresentence, and hearing themselves stumble may signal a poorly constructedsentence. At home, students can read their papers into a recording deviceand then play back the recording to identify problem sentences. In class,student groups can listen for sentences that need revision as students readtheir papers aloud. Because some students make verbal corrections in theirproblem sentences when they read aloud without noticing a problem onthe page, it is often useful to ask students in pairs to exchange papers andlisten to their partners read the papers aloud.

More Examples: What is inconsistent in the following mixed construc-tions? You might want to ask students to work in groups to revise thesefour sentences so that the parts make sense together.

1. Because you want to visit the great art museums of the world iswhy you should go to the Louvre in Paris.

2. Paris, the capital of France, one of the great museums of the worldis located there.

3. Tourists from all over the world, the Louvre draws them.

4. The collection is composed of works of art from many cultures iswhat distinguishes the Louvre.

Teaching Tip: Besides reading aloud, another way students can becomeaware of trickier grammar points is through having them make grammat-ically correct sentences incorrect. Assign each student in class a gram-matically correct sentence and a common grammar error. Then, have thestudents rewrite the sentence, including the assigned grammar error,Finally, have the students exchange papers, and assign them the job ofidentifying the grammar error on the sheet of paper they have receivedand correcting it. Your students are likely to enjoy this exercise: The stu-dent who originally authored the sentence will verify whether his or herpartner fixed the grammar error, while the student’s partner will verifywhether the original author wrote a “correct” incorrect sentence!

Teaching Tip: Because conversation frequently includes incompletecomparisons, you might want to ask students to turn the following spokendialogue into a paragraph written in the third person.

A: I’m so glad we came here. This restaurant is so much better.

B: You’re right. A place that has fresh flowers on the tables is moreappealing.

A: I always think linen napkins are nicer.

B: This place has a fine reputation for good service, but it’s a shamethat it’s so much less spacious.




ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe quizzes at http://a4esl.org/q/h give ESOL students practice with

arranging words in correct sequence to form a sentence.

At the site www.uccs.edu/~writingcenter, you will find a practiceexercise on correcting predication problems.

The Web site http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/clauses.htm provides a definition, as well as examples, of elliptical clauses.


Answers may vary somewhat because of the various ways to eliminate shifts in person

and number.

1. First-time visitors to the Mall of America in Minnesota may be overwhelmed by its

size, but they will also see its helpful design. [reserve you for direct address and avoid shift

in person and number]

2. Shoppers will notice that the mall is divided into architecturally distinct areas so

they won’t get lost. [shift in number]

3. The four sides of the mall have different themes and matching décor, so they are

easy to navigate. [shift in number]

4. Sentence is correct.

5. They also called the fourth floor’s collection of nightclubs the Upper East Side to

reflect an urban environment. [shift in number from the last sentence]

6. Sentence is correct.

7. The amusement park in the middle of the mall remains an important draw for fam-

ilies and children, and it has roller coasters and water rides. [shift in number]

8. Couples can enjoy fine dining and high-end shopping, and they can even get mar-

ried in the mall’s wedding chapel. [reserve you for direct address and avoid shift in person

and number]

Exercise 36–2Answers will vary. Here is one set of possible answers.

1. Congress needed money to pay for U.S. participation in World War II, so members

proposed a new tax system. [36C, shift in subject and voice]

2. Tax payments were due on March 15, not April 15 as they are today. [36B, shift in

number]

3. For the first time, Congress taxed millions of lower-income citizens. Most people

had not saved enough to pay the amount of taxes due. [36D, shift in tense]

4. When a scientific poll showed lawmakers that only one in seven Americans had

saved enough money, they became worried. [22B, shift in number]

Exercise 36–3Answers may vary. Here is one set of possibilities.




1. According to sociologists, people experience role conflict when they find them-

selves trying to juggle too many different social roles. [36B, person and number]

2. When people reach overload, they may decide to cut back somewhere. [36B, person

and number; 36D, tense; 36E, indirect/direct discourse]

3. For example, a well-known politician might decide not to run for reelection because

the demands of the campaign would interfere with family life. [36C, voice]

4. In other cases, people might delay having children so they can achieve early career

success. [36B, reserve you for direct address and avoid shift in person and number]

5. People might say to themselves, “I can’t start a family right now,” and focus instead

on career goals. [36B, number; 36E, indirect/direct discourse]

6. In yet another example, a plant manager might enjoy social interaction with employ-

ees but consequently find himself (or herself, or himself or herself) unable to evaluate them

objectively. [36B, person and number—twice]

7. In short, sociologists find that although not all role conflicts cause problems, some

individuals faced with handling difficult balancing acts suffer great hardships. [36, voice]

8. People can minimize role conflicts, however, if they learn to compartmentalize their

lives. [36B, person]

9. A good example of this is people saying, “I’m going to stop thinking about my job

before I head home to my family.” [36E, indirect/direct discourse]

Exercise 36–41. Showing babies plain, black-and-white images will help them learn to recognize

shapes and focus their vision. [36F, mixed sentence]

2. Even though babies can see their parents’ faces, they will not respond with a smile

until they are a few weeks old. [36F, mixed sentence]


4. Eye coordination develops while a baby follows an object with her eyes. [36G,

faulty predication with is when]

5. A newborn’s limited ability to see color forces him to focus only on bright colors.

[36F, mixed sentence]

6. Babies occasionally cross their eyes because they are perfecting their tracking skills.

[36G, fault predication with the reason . . . is because]


8. Newborns can vary dramatically in their sensitivity to sounds and ability to sleep in

noisy environments. [36F, mixed sentence with the fact that]

9. A two-month-old baby turns her head toward her parents’ voice because she is

beginning to recognize familiar sounds. [36G, faulty predication with the reason . . . is

because]

10. Changing his facial expression indicates he may find a particular sound soothing

or comforting. [36F, mixed sentence]

Exercise 36–5




Correct answers will vary, but following are some possible ones.

1. Champagne is a kind of sparkling wine grown in the Champagne region of France.

2. To be considered champagne, a sparkling wine must meet several conditions

described by French law.

3. The location of the vineyard is one requirement, and the type of grapes used is

another.

4. Most champagne producers agree that the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes make

champagne taste better than other kinds of grapes.

5. When owners celebrate the launch of a new ship, they use bottles of champagne

more often than any other wine.



CHAPTER 37

Style, Tone, and the Effects ofWords

The style is the man himself.

—George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon

OVERVIEW This chapter helps students to define what is style and tone, as well as

how they can use words to affect that style and tone with clarity. In Sec-tion 37J, students are given guidelines on what types of language to avoid:clichés, jargon, euphemisms, and bureaucratic language.

Quick Boxes37.1 How to create a good writing style, p. 565

37.2 Elements and levels of style, p. 566

37.3 Some examples of desirable and undesirable tone, p. 570

37.4 How to use appropriate tone in writing, p. 571

37.5 Types of figurative language, p. 574

37.6 How to avoid sexist language, p. 576

37.7 Language to avoid in academic writing, p. 579

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIES, AND EXTRA EXERCISESActivity (Identifying style and tone): Here is an exercise that readily ties

in identifying style and tone. At the beginning of your discussion aboutstyle, have students generate a list of the three adjectives that they believetheir family and friends would use to describe them. Once they have donethis, explain to students that these adjectives describe part of their“lifestyle”: their personality, their beliefs, their ways of getting thingsdone, their way of being individuals. Then, ask them to write a mini-essaythat tells why these adjectives correctly describe their personalities, withone added wrinkle: They must write the paragraph in a style that matchesthe three adjectives. For instance, if a student has “crazy” listed as one ofhis adjectives, then his essay must “sound crazy.” If another student has“adventurous” as one of her adjectives, her essay must “sound adventur-ous.” Though it may prove impossible, ask your students to try to repre-sent all three adjectives in their essays’ styles. This exercise tends togenerate much humor and hyperbole. Through the exaggerated style thatstudents often use in their essays, you as instructor should have little trou-


Chapter 37—Style, Tone, and the Effects of Words


ble pulling out sentences and passages from their writing that touch uponmany of the points covered in this chapter. More important, however, stu-dents should better understand the connection between personal style andwriting style.

Teaching Tip (Formal Writing): Formal writing is the style that studentsmay have the most trouble emulating: it is likely to be the most unfamil-iar to their experience, both in reading and writing. Oftentimes, they over-compensate for this unfamiliarity by using a thesaurus to find synonyms(which they often misuse) or by writing needlessly complex sentences.One assignment you can give your students to help them practice formalwriting is to have them imagine that they have been given the honor ofintroducing the president of the United States, who will be speaking tolocal high school students on a topic of your choosing (e.g., the impor-tance of volunteerism to the nation). The introduction must be both formalin nature yet accessible to an audience of high school students. Further-more, it should not be a “boring” formal speech, but one that prepares thehigh school students for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Teaching Tip (Tone): While students may not know offhand what theterm “tone” means in the context of essay writing, they almost certainlywill know what the phrase “tone of voice” means. You might want to buildon the defining tone by discussing with students just how much theyalready know about “tone” that they have learned from their friends andfamily (e.g., “Don’t take that tone of voice with me!”).

Examples of Emphasis: You might ask your students to explain the dif-ferences in emphasis in these sentences, which contain the same informa-tion presented in various ways.

1. Revelers wear bizarre costumes and dance in the streets on MardiGras, a day of carefree indulgence.

2. The bizarre costumes and dancing of revelers attract attention onMardi Gras, a day of carefree indulgence.

3. Mardi Gras is a day of carefree indulgence marked by revelers inbizarre costumes dancing in the streets.

Alternative Example: I see life sometimes as a bird flying. I see a soulon the wing through a trackless storm, and every now and again there is alull and the bird comes to rest on land. These contacts with the earthbefore departing into the storm again I see as the moments in life when Iknew the meaning. And even though between them I have my share ofstorm with everyone else, I am comforted always by the knowledge thatthere is land below, because I have seen it. I am inspired to go on becauseI have seen the meaning myself.

—Sylvia Ashton-Warner




Extra Exercise A (Formal, Medium, Informal) After analyzing the sentences that follow, decide if they are in formal,

medium, or informal language. Which words are particularly effective inestablishing the level of usage in the sentence?

1. Weather forecasting is a pretty good field to be in.

2. My old man watches the TV weather news every morning.

3. It takes a whole lot of work to put a forecast together.

4. The Weather Bureau collects data from reporting stations that, afteranalysis, are reported to the public as forecasts, weather maps, and stormwarnings.

5. The bureau conducts research on a variety of topics, from solarradiation and the ozone layer to snowfall patterns.

6. My father just wants to know if it’s going to rain.

7. I can’t get into all that stuff either.

8. You gotta admit that the bureau has done plenty of good things.

Answers to Extra Exercise A 1. Informal: pretty good, be in

2. Informal: old man, TV

3. Informal: a whole lot of

4. Formal: collects data

5. Medium: familiar words, but no slang, throughout

6. Medium: just wants to know, it’s, going to

7. Informal: get into, all that stuff

8. Informal: gotta, plenty, good things

TEACHING TIP (Expressions): Your students may find it interesting todiscover how expressions originating in highly particular contexts havemade their way into popular English usage, sometimes with fresh results,sometimes to become clichéd. Sports, for example, have given us some ofthese expressions: “get the ball rolling” (soccer); “right off the bat” and“off base” (baseball); “let’s huddle” (football); and “a low blow” and “onthe ropes” (boxing). In looking more closely at metaphor, students maydiscover that an expression common in oral parlance may not be so clearin writing: does one write “toe the line” or “tow the line”? A useful pre-revision activity is to have students identify such metaphors in each other’swriting and decide whether the figurative language in each case enhancesor dulls a sentence.

Teaching Tip (Dictionaries): Many students have little familiarity withreading a dictionary. A short exercise in how to read the etymology, pro-nunciation, and definitions of words might prove useful. If you have time,




you might also compare two or three different dictionaries to demonstratedifferences between them.

Extra Exercise B (Definitions) Ask students to look up the definitions of the following words. Then,

ask them to discuss differences in the connotations of the following pairsof words.

1. passive, shy

2. giggle, snicker

3. buddy, cohort

4. brave, foolhardy

5. wise, intelligent

Teaching Tip (Vocabulary): Words change their meaning over time. Askstudents to consult the Oxford English Dictionary to discover what typesof change have occurred with the following words. Their findings willmake an interesting report to the class.

1. chagrin

2. picture (n.)

3. miscreant

4. place

5. cafeteria

6. wanton

7. nice

8. stench

9. fond

10. wife

Extra Exercise C (Synonyms)List two synonyms for each of the following words. On the basis of

information that you can find about them in a dictionary, explain the dif-ferences between the pairs of synonyms. (Answers will vary.)

1. indulge, 2. egotism, 3. lazy, 4, fame, 5. friendly, 6. frugal, 7. red, 8.good, 9. govern, 10. industry.

Teaching Tip (Vocabulary): If your students need additional work onvocabulary, try the Web site www.freerice.com. This interactive Web siteasks you to define words. It rates your vocabulary level, adjusting to yourskill in answering questions correctly. For each correct answer, the sitedonates 10 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program.




Teaching Tip (Connotation): To underscore the importance of subtleshades of meaning and connotation, you might ask your students how theywould react to each of the following statements. Once their egos areinvolved, students quickly see that not all synonyms are equivalent.

You are wrong.

You are incorrect.

What you say is false.

You are inaccurate.

You are imprecise.

You are evil.

You are improper.

You are unethical.

You are unrighteous.

You are bad.

You are willfully misleading.

Teaching Tip (Vocabulary): A host of new words has been added to theEnglish language in the past few decades. Modern science and technology,in particular, have been responsible for enriching our vocabularies bothby creating new terms and by making many old words new by using themin surprising ways. The names of various experiments in space, for exam-ple, were drawn from classical mythology. Students can become aware ofthe evolving history of the language by collecting terms and phrases incurrent usage that their parents would not have known when they werechildren or terms that would have carried a different meaning back then.For example, in their lifetime, verbs such as “to xerox,” “to google,” andnouns such as “AIDS” and “Internet” have been added to dictionaries,demonstrating the evolution of the English language.

Teaching Tip (Avoiding Sexist Language): Here are a few more tacticsfor avoiding sexist language.

1. When appropriate, use the first person or the second person.

NO A person should always keep an eye on his luggage in airports.

YES I should always keep my eye on my luggage in airports.

YES We should always keep an eye on our luggage in airports.

YES Keep an eye on your luggage in airports.

2. Repeat a noun or use a synonym in place of the troublesome pro-noun.

NO A preoccupied traveler is an easy target for thieves, who can pickhis pocket in a second.

YES A preoccupied traveler is an easy target for thieves, who canpick a traveler’s pocket in a second.




YES A preoccupied traveler is an easy target for thieves, who canpick a tourist’s pocket in a second.

3. Use who.

NO A traveler has little to worry about, if he stays alert.

YES A traveler who stays alert has little to worry about.

Teaching Tip (Non-sexist Language): If you have any doubts aboutwhether encouraging nonsexist language is worth the effort, consider thispassage from the introduction to the 2002 “Guidelines for Gender-FairUse of Language” in NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English)Publications at www.ncte.org/positions/statements/genderfairuseoflang:Language plays a central role in the way human beings behave and think.The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is concerned aboutthe critical role language plays in promoting fair treatment of women andgirls, men and boys. Through careful selection of gender-fair language,NCTE members have the opportunity to influence thought and behaviorboth directly and indirectly. These guidelines offer suggestions for lan-guage use that will open rather than close possibilities and that speakersand writers should consider when engaged in communication activitiesthat include:

• writing papers and publications

• preparing handouts and materials

• designing and delivering oral presentations

• speaking with students, parents, and community members

• working with students

• developing curriculum

• selecting texts and media

• exploring language use in classrooms

• serving on local, regional, and national committees

In addition to providing instruction for gender-fair use of language,the guidelines also offer detailed examples.

Teaching Tip (ESL): Because language varies from one geographical areato another, students who have lived in several different parts of the coun-try often know expressions that are used in one region but not in another.Other members of a class may find it interesting to hear some of thoseregionalisms, afterward compiling a list of words and phrases peculiar totheir own area.

Teaching Tip (Biased Writing): Discussions about slanted language makestudents more aware of biased writing. A logical follow-up assignment isto ask them to be alert to loaded diction in news articles and televisionbroadcasts. Examples are particularly abundant during an election year.




The words and phrases students collect can be the basis of another lesson,this one specific and close to home.

Teaching Tip (Slang): You may want to ask students to work in groupsto research the origins of a slang expression, a commonly used phrase, ora regional expression of their own choice. The results can take the form ofan oral report to the rest of the class.

Teaching Tip (Jargon): Because every professional discipline has its ownjargon, your students may find it interesting to investigate the languageused by people in a particular field of work. They can do so by inter-viewing individuals active in that profession, talking to those who teachcourses preparing people to enter a field, reading professional literature, orobserving someone at work.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESAs an object lesson of how to write to a specific type of audience, you

might use the “Tone in Business Writing” page at the Purdue OWL athttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/652/01/.

The Web site http://thesaurus.com is the electronic version of the ref-erence Roget’s Thesaurus. Simply enter a word on the site to see a list ofsynonyms. Then click on each of those for dozens more.

H. L. Mencken’s classic, The American Language: An Inquiry intothe Development of English in the United States, 2nd edition (1921), isavailable online through Bartelby at www.bartleby.com/185.


Answers may vary somewhat.

1. Formality–Semi-formal

Personality—Impersonal

Creativity—Translucent (the ironic aside draws attention to itself)

2. Formality—Informal

Personality—Intimate (use of second person)

Creativity—Artistic, though an argument could be made for Translucent

3. Formality—Formal

Personality—Impersonal

Creativity—Transparent

4. Semiformal; impersonal; low

5. Formality—Formal

Personality—Familiar or Polite (though some might argue for impersonal)

Creativity—Artistic




Exercise 37–2Answers will vary.

Exercise 37–3Answers will vary. Here is one way the sentences may be rewritten:

1. Many Americans waste their precious free time watching—not participating in, but

passively watching—sporting events.

2. Though I disagree with your decision to buy organic consumables, I recognize that

the decision is yours to make.

3. When building a wardrobe that's both functional and flattering, color should be one

of your primary concerns: what looks good on you, and what looks good with everything else

you own.

Exercise 37–41. Positive: mature, venerable, veteran, experienced | Negative: decrepit, over the hill,

antique | Neutral: old, elderly

2. Positive: vacation, resting, quietude | Negative: unproductive, standstill | Neutral:

inactive, downtime, recess, interval

3. Positive: brilliant, sharp, ingenious, clever | Negative: know-it-all, eggheaded,

brainy | Neutral: smart, intelligent

4. Positive: unique, singular, one-of-a-kind Negative: weird, strange, eccentric,

inscrutable, kooky Neutral: peculiar, distinctive

5. Positive: aroma, fragrance, bouquet Negative: stench, whiff Neutral: smell, odor


Exercise 37–61. Simile

2. Analogy

3. Metaphor

4. Overstatement

5. Mixed metaphor

6. Personification

7. Analogy

8. Irony

9. Metaphor/analogy

10.Overstatement

Exercise 37–7Answers will vary. Here are some possible gender-neutral versions.




1. Dogs were one of the first animals domesticated by humans. (or) Dogs were one of

the first animals to be domesticated.

2. Traditionally, certain breeds of dogs have helped people with their work.

3. On their long shifts, firefighters often kept Dalmatians as mascots and companions,

whereas police officers preferred highly intelligent and easily trained German shepherds.

4. Another breed, the Newfoundland, often went to sea on fishing expeditions, and

the Newfoundland has been credited with saving many drowning people.

5. Breeds known as hunting dogs have served as the helpers and companions of

hunters.

6. Domestic workers didn’t need dogs, so no breed of dog is associated with house-

work.

7. Another group that dogs have not helped is mail carriers.

8. People who own dogs should be sure to spend some time exercising their dogs and

making sure their dogs are in good health.

9. No inventions, such as televisions or computers, can take the place of having a dog.

10. Now even though most dogs do not work, they are still people’s best friends.

Exericse 37–8Answers may vary. Here are some possibilities.

1. The Raging Manatees softball players realized that their upcoming game would be

challenging.

2. Their next opponents, the Fierce Sunflowers, played hard and never gave up.

3. Still, the Manatees knew that they had to play hard themselves to have any chance

of winning.

4. Winning required keeping in mind that, however good the other team was, its play-

ers were still women like them.

5. Although they knew the game would be hard, the Manatees knew that if they won,

people would be impressed by the unlikely victory.

Exercise 37–9Answers will vary. Following is one set of possible answers.

1. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, for generously sponsoring the Bowling for Youth

activities of the Bay City Boys and Girls Club.

2. Only employees who have worked for more than six months should apply for a lat-

eral transfer.

3. She died shortly after her husband.

4. Making a verb into a noun makes a person appear to be a wordy showoff who’s

saying nothing meaningful.

5. After his operation, he would lean to the left when he stood up and lean to the right

when he sat down.

6. The boys and girls were driving recklessly in the stolen vehicle.




7. Check with your administrator before forwarding an e-mail.

8. Breaking up is hard to do.



CHAPTER 38

Sentence Variety and Style

I think the single most important factor in any writing is its rhythm. A badlybalanced sentence jars on me with something like physical pain.

—Helen Cresswell

OVERVIEW This chapter guides the students in creating interesting, useful, and

communicative sentences.

Quick Boxes38.1 Subordination, p. 587

38.2 Subordinating conjunctions and their meanings, p. 588

TEACHING TIPS, EXTRA EXERCISESTeaching Tip: Students sometimes cannot perceive the contrast between

short and long sentences. One helpful technique is to use a highlighterpen to make either the short or the long sentences stand out from the restof the passage. Another method is to make a transparency copy and askthe students to decide which sentences are long and which are short—andthen underline them.

Teaching Tip: In class, read the following passage by Truman Capotealoud, using a single breath for each sentence. In a second reading, youmight pause after each sentence for students to guess how many wordsare in it. After the number of words in each has been announced, studentscan try drawing a graph of the paragraph based on the length of the sen-tences. (The word count appears in brackets after each sentence.)

Morning. [1] Frozen rime lusters the grass; the sun, roundas an orange and orange as hot-weather moons, balances on thehorizon, burnishes the silvered winter woods. [25] A wild turkeycalls. [4] A renegade hog grunts in the undergrowth. [7] Soon,by the edge of knee-deep, rapid-running water, we have to aban-don the buggy. [14] Queenie wades the stream first, paddlesacross barking complaints at the swiftness of the current, thepneumonia-making coldness of it. [20] We follow, holding ourshoes and equipment (a hatchet, a burlap sack) above our heads.[15] A mile more: of chastising horns, burs and briers that catchat our clothes; of rusty pine needles brilliant with gaudy fungus


Chapter 38—Sentence Variety and Style


and molted feathers. [25] Here, there, a flash, a flutter, an ecstasyof shrilling remind us that not all the birds have flown south. [20]

—Truman Capote, “A Christmas Memory”

Teaching Tip: Here is an example that illustrates the contrast betweencoordination and subordination.

When we toss a handful of good-luck rice at newlyweds,we’re gracing them with one of the world’s most important andversatile foods.

—Jack Denton Scott, “Rice: A Food for All Reasons”

This sentence mentions (1) the idea of tossing rice at a wedding and(2) the fact that rice is an essential grain with many uses. Scott wants tostress the importance of rice as a food because he puts that information inthe independent clause. Rice as a ceremonial custom gives an ironic con-text to the main idea, but according to the way the sentence is written, itis a less important idea.

If Scott had been writing on marriage customs, he could have usedsubordination to provide a different emphasis:

Although rice is one of the world’s most important and ver-satile foods, many Americans value it most as a good-lucksymbol for newlyweds.

Here, the independent clause stresses the connection of rice with wed-dings, and the food value of rice is mentioned as a less central point.

Teaching Tip: Ask students to read two versions of the same passagefrom the opening of the twenty-second chapter of Genesis (one of fivebooks in the Old Testament of the Bible). Then, mark the instances ofcoordination and subordination with them and consider the differences instyle and meaning that result. The first, from the King James translation of1611, uses coordination heavily; the second, from the Revised StandardVersion of 1971, uses much less.

King James Version

And it came to pass after these things, that God did temptAbraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, hereI am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whomthou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer himthere for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I willtell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and sad-dled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaachis son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up,and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the




third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with theass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and comeagain to you. And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering,and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand,and a knife; and they went both of them together.

Revised Standard Version

After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him,“Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Take your son,your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land ofMoriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of themountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early inthe morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men withhim, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offer-ing, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the placeafar off. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here withthe ass; I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come againto you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, andlaid it on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and theknife. So they went both of them together.

Teaching Tip: You might choose to have students read the followingexamples to see how sentences that seem disconnected can be improvedthrough subordination.

NO We went shopping for new winter boots. We ate ice creamdespite the cold.

YES After we went shopping for new winter boots, we ate ice creamdespite the cold.

NO I must budget carefully. I hope to buy a new car next year.

YES Since I hope to buy a new car next year, I must budget care-fully.

Extra ExerciseApply techniques of variety and emphasis to revise the following

paragraph. Use different kinds of modifiers (28N). You can reduce orincrease the number of words and sentences. Try to include at least onequestion or exclamation. Also, try to vary the word order.

Huge caves known collectively as the Carlsbad Caverns arehidden beneath the sands of New Mexico. The caverns contain amysterious underground world. More than 20 miles of caves havebeen discovered. Miles more are found each year. The caves echowith watery noises and glimmer with reflected light. Some of the




caves contain mysterious underground lakes. Others are hugechambers, and their ceilings rise 200 feet. Electric lights illumi-nate the caves for visitors. The lights create an effect that is dra-matic. The lights reveal unusual rock formations. Spikes of rockhang from the ceiling. Tall, pointy rocks rise from the floor. Del-icate sheets of thin rock are hanging like drapery. The slow dripof minerals through the caves’ limestone roof formed them all.The desert is above. In the desert, the sun shines, and winds blow,and birds sing, and coyotes howl. Below in the caverns, no day-light penetrates. The air is cold and still. There are no winds oranimal sounds. Such sounds do not disturb the silence. It is amaz-ing to see the contrast between the desert and the caves. Notmany people would have guessed that these caves beneath thedesert originated as a coral reef in an ancient sea.

Answers: Extra Exercise This is a summary exercise, so it should reflect many of the tech-

niques of variety and emphasis discussed in this chapter. Here is oneanswer; many others are possible.

Hidden beneath the sands of New Mexico, [modifiers] thehuge caves known as the Carlsbad Caverns contain a mysteriousunderground world. [sentence lengths] More than 20 miles of caveshave been discovered, and miles more are found each year. [revisefor suitable mix by combining two sentences] Some of the caves, whichecho with watery noises and glimmer with reflected light, containmysterious underground lakes. [periodic sentence] Others are hugechambers whose ceilings rise 200 feet. [modifiers] Electric lights,which illuminate the caves for visitors, are placed for dramaticeffect [word order] to reveal unusual rock formations. Spikes ofrock hang from the ceiling, and tall, pointy rocks rise from thefloor. [sentence lengths] Hanging like drapery are delicate sheetsof thin rock. [word order] All were formed by the slow drip ofminerals through the caves’ limestone roof. [word order] In thedesert above, the sun shines, winds blow, birds sing, and coyoteshowl. [sentence lengths] Below in the caverns, where no daylightpenetrates, [modifiers] the air is cold and still. No winds or animalsounds disturb the silence. [sentence lengths] How amazing thecontrast is between the desert and the caves! [exclamation for vari-ety] Who would have guessed that these caves beneath the desertoriginated as a coral reef in an ancient sea? [question for variety]




ADDITIONAL RESOURCESIn “On Language: Breaking the Rules,” Patricia T. O’Conner rejects

popular opinion that the conjunctions and and but “should only be used tojoin elements” (New York Times, 28 July 1996, late ed., sec. 6:12). Sheasserts that they also should be used to begin sentences: “But it has beencommon practice to begin sentences this way at least as far back as the10th century. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Adding modifiers to basic sentences is the central feature of the “gen-erative rhetoric” developed by Francis Christensen in his classic workNotes Toward a New Rhetoric. The Christensen program teaches studentsvarious ways to expand a sentence by showing them model sentences,giving students a basic sentence and having them expand it following thepattern of the models, and then having students compose their own sen-tences according to that pattern. These exercises not only develop the writ-ing style of students but also teach them ways of elaborating their ideas.

In his article “Periodicity or Structural Delay” (American Speech 31.1(1956): 25–34), Henry Wilson argues that periodic sentences, rather thanbeing a sentence structure to be used sparingly to create a powerful effect,is a specific type of a more general kind of syntax he terms, as per histitle, “structural delay.” He posits that structural delays, of which the peri-odic sentence is the most extreme example, “are ingredients of an effectivestyle even when the writer is striving for simplicity” (33) since writersoften seek to enhance their points by “obtain[ing] suspense” (31).


Responses will vary greatly. Here is one way of combining the sentences to make the

writing more interesting. Words or phrases that were added are in bold.

A serious problem affecting American workers today is widely known as

Sick Building Syndrome. It comes from indoor air pollution and may cause office

workers to suffer from a number of ailments: breathing trouble, painful rashes,

headaches, and burning eyes.

Exercise 38–2Answers will vary. Here is one way the sentences might be combined.

Science fiction writers are often thinkers, dreamers who let their imagina-

tions wander. Jules Verne was such a writer. He predicted the invention of space-

ships and atomic submarines—at a time when most people did not believe even

airplanes were possible.

Exercise 38–31. The honey badger is a difficult opponent for predators. It has thick, loose skin that

protects it from injury, and it is able to fight fiercely with its strong claws.




2. Honey badgers are known to be fearless fighters, and they can often survive bites

from venomous snakes. [no change]

3. Primarily carnivorous, honey badgers hunt rodents, snakes, and even tortoises, but

at times they also eat vegetables, roots, and berries.

4. Honey badgers are difficult to kill and are expert burrowers, so they are a common

nuisance to farmers and ranchers.

5. Honey badgers are difficult to kill, expert burrowers, and a common nuisance to

farmers and ranchers.

Exercise 38–4Students’ answers will vary. Here is one set of possibilities.

1. a. Although the U.S. Mint can produce more than 50 million coins a day, the

U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing can produce only 20 million notes a day.

b. Although the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing can produce only 20 mil-

lion notes a day, the U.S. Mint can produce more than 50 million coins a day.

2. a. Even though the Federal Reserve Banks are responsible for both destroying

old money and ordering new coins and notes, they must keep the right amount of money in

circulation.

b. Because the Federal Reserve Banks must keep the right amount of money in

circulation, they are responsible for both destroying old money and ordering new coins and

notes.

3. a. Coins can stay in circulation for decades unless people let them accumulate in

jars and drawers in their homes.

b. While coins can stay in circulation for decades, people sometimes let them

accumulate in jars and drawers in their homes.

4. a. Whenever a $1 bill lasts fifteen to eighteen months, it reaches its average life

span.

b. If it reaches its average life span, a $1 bill lasts about fifteen to eighteen

months.

5. a. When the U.S. Federal Reserve Banks destroy dirty, worn, and torn bills, they

are destroying more than $40 billion worth of money a year.

b. When they destroy more than $40 billion worth of money a year, the U.S. Fed-

eral Reserve Banks are destroying dirty, worn, and torn bills.

Exercise 38–5Having students compare and discuss the differences in emphasis between the answers

to each item may help them clarify their understanding of these differences.

1. a. An ancient Greek law that allowed voters to banish politicians from their city

asked citizens to write the name of an unpopular politician on their ballots.

b. An ancient Greek law that asked citizens to write the name of an unpopular

politician on their ballots allowed voters to banish politicians from their city.




2. a. A voter who was filling out a ballot when Aristides the Just walked by needed

help in spelling Aristides.

b. A voter who needed help in spelling Aristides was filling out a ballot when

Aristides the Just walked by.

3. a. Aristides, who knew the voter did not recognize him, asked why the voter

wanted to banish that particular politician.

b. Aristides, who asked why the voter wanted to banish that particular politician,

knew the voter did not recognize him.

4. a. The voter, who said he resented hearing someone called “the Just” all the time,

handed Aristides his ballot.

b. The voter, who handed Aristides his ballot, said he resented hearing someone

called “the Just” all the time.

5. a. Aristides’ reaction, which demonstrated that the nickname “the Just” was well

deserved, was to write his own name on the voter’s ballot even though that person’s vote

helped banish Aristides.

b. Aristides’ reaction, which was to write his own name on the voter’s ballot even

though that person’s vote helped banish Aristides, demonstrated that the nickname “the Just”

was well deserved.

Exercise 38–6Each sentence contains misused subordination. Answers will vary considerably. Here is

one possibility.

Although many people in the United States consider the hot dog an Amer-

ican invention, it actually originated in Germany in 1852. Butchers in Frankfurt,

Germany, stuffed meat into a long casing, and in honor of the town they called

their creation a “frankfurter.” Because one butcher noticed that the frankfurter

resembled the shape of his dog, a dachshund, he decided to name the meat roll a

“dachshund sausage.” Soon, the new name caught on in Germany. Germans

brought dachshund sausages to the United States, and peddlers sold them on the

streets. The dachshund sausages were so hot that people often burned their fingers

and had trouble holding the meat. When one clever peddler put the sausage in a

bun, a New York Times cartoonist decided to draw a picture of hot dachshund

sausages in buns. He didn’t know how to spell dachshund, so he called them “hot

dogs.”

Exercise 38–7Students’ answers will vary. Here is one set of possibilities.

1. Owl pellets are the latest teaching tool in biology classrooms around the country

because they provide an alternative to dissecting frogs and other animals.

2. Inside the pellets are the remains of the owl’s nightly meal, which include beauti-

fully cleaned hummingbird skulls, rat skeletons, and lots of bird feathers.




3. The owl-pellet market has been cornered by companies in New York, California,

and Washington that distribute pellets to thousands of biology classrooms all over the world.

4. Company workers scour barns and the ground under trees where owls nest to pick

up the pellets, which sell for $1 each.

5. The owl-pellet business may have a short future because the rural areas of the

United States are vanishing. Old barns are being bulldozed. When all the barns are torn

down, the owls will be gone, too.

Exercise 38–81. I bought a red ball at the store.

2. Excited to play, we found the closest park.

3. The energetic children arrived after lunch.

4. Because there were no clouds, the hot sun shone on us.

5. We played the game, which kept us busy for hours.

Exercise 38–9Answers will vary. Here is one possibility for the first paragraph.

Thirst is the body’s way of surviving. Because every cell in the body needs

water, people can die by losing as little as 15 to 20 percent of their water require-

ments. Blood, which contains 83 percent water, provides indispensable nutrients

for the cells. Blood carries water to the cells, and blood carries waste away from

the cells. Insufficient water means cells cannot be fueled or cleaned, so the body

becomes sluggish. Although the body can survive eleven days without water,

bodily functions are seriously disrupted by a lack of water for more than one day.

When the body loses water, the blood thickens. The heart must pump harder, for

thickened blood is harder to pump through the heart. Some drinks replace the

body’s need for fluids, but alcohol or caffeine in drinks leads to dehydration.

Unless people know they should drink water often, they can become moderately

dehydrated before they even begin to develop a thirst.



CHAPTER 39

Parallelism

The likeness of form enables the reader to recognize more readily the likenessof content and function. The unskillful writer often violates this principle, from amistaken belief that he should constantly vary the form of his expressions.

—William Strunk Jr., Elements of Style

OVERVIEW This chapter instructs students on the proper usage of parallelism and

demonstrates how it can enhance their writing.

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: You might choose to write examples of parallelism errors

on the board and have students correct them. Here are two real examplesfrom old advertisements on fashion.

1. In an ad about women’s robes by Vanity Fair: “Total Luxury . . .Total Washable.”

2. In an ad about evening gowns: “Give her this gown to sleep orgoing out.”

Teaching Tip: You may want to ask your students to identify the vari-ous techniques by which parallelism is set up in the following sentences.

1. Standing on a concrete jetty at seven-thirty of a drizzly morning,looking across the gray Hudson at the shore softened by fog, onecan just make out an endless miniature procession of Manhattan-bound cars going down the ramp to the Lincoln Tunnel.

—“Gray Manhattan,” The New Yorker

2. There is a crazy restaurant in the south of France where you areexpected to eat well and copiously, to drink to excess, to listen tomusic and perhaps to spin to it—and also to break up the jointbefore you leave.

—Richard Atcheson, Le Pirate

3. On one side of this line are They: the bribers, the cheaters, thechiselers, the swindlers, the extortioners. On the other side areWe. . . .

—Marya Mannes, “The Thin Grey Line”

Activity: Bob J. Frye’s “A Habit of Being: Some Uses of Personal Let-ters in Freshman Composition” suggests using Martin Luther King, Jr.’s“Letter from Birmingham Jail,” along with other famous examples, as the


Chapter 39—Parallelism


basis for a first-year composition writing assignment (Rhetoric Review 1.2[1983]: 89–119).

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe site http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/623/1/ offered by

Purdue University gives examples of faulty parallel structures, includingproofreading strategies for recognizing parallelism errors.


The strongest reason why we ask for woman [to have] a voice in the government under

which she lives; in the religion she is asked to believe; equality in social life, where she is

the chief factor; a place in the trades and professions, where she may earn her bread, is

because of her birthright to self-sovereignty; because, as an individual, she must rely on her-

self. No matter how much women prefer to lean, to be protected and supported, nor how

much men desire to have them do so, they must make the voyage of life alone, and for safety

in an emergency they must know something of the laws of navigation. To guide our own

craft, we must be captain, pilot, engineer; with chart and compass to stand at the wheel; to

watch the wind and waves and know when to take in the sail, and to read the signs in the fir-

mament over all.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Address for the Hearing of the Woman

Suffrage Association, 1892

Exercise 39–2Answers will vary. Here is one set of possible answers.

1. According to the psychologist Harry Levinson, the five main types of bad boss are

the workaholic, the bully, the bad communicator, the jellyfish, and the perfectionist. [43C,

parallel words]

2. To get ahead, to keep their self-respect, and to survive, wise employees handle prob-

lem bosses with a variety of strategies. [43C, parallel phrases]

3. To cope with a bad-tempered employer, workers can both stand up for themselves

and reason with a bullying boss. [43C, 43D, correlative conjunctions]

4. Often, bad bosses communicate poorly or fail to calculate the impact of their per-

sonality on others; good bosses listen carefully and are sensitive to others’ responses. [43D,

parallel sentence structures]

5. Employees who take the trouble to understand what makes their bosses tick, who

engage in some self-analysis, and who stay flexible [43D, repeating parallel function words]

are better prepared to cope with a difficult job environment than employees who suffer in

silence. [10E, parallel form with than




Exercise 39–3Answers may vary. Here is one set of possible answers.

1. A married couple who met at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and

who are both left-handed have set up a scholarship for needy left-handed students attending

Juniata. [39E, repeating parallel function words]

2. Writers who specialize in humor bankroll a student humor writer at the University

of Southern California in Los Angeles; a horseracing association sponsors a student sports-

writer at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. [39B, balanced sentence]

3. The Rochester Institute of Technology in New York State is choosing 150 students

born on June 12, 1979. It is granting each one $1,500 per year. It is awarding these grants to

select students to honor the school’s 150th anniversary, which it celebrated on June 12, 1979.

[39D, parallelism among sentences]

4. The College of Wooster in Ohio grants generous scholarships to students if they

play the Scottish bagpipes, play the traditional Scottish drums, or excel in Scottish folk danc-

ing. [39C, parallel phrases]

5. In return for their scholarships, Wooster’s bagpipers must pipe for the school’s foot-

ball team, the drummers must drum for the team, and the dancers must cheer the athletes

from the sidelines. [39C, parallelism among clauses]

Exercise 39–4A. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen

or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall

not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas

and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall

defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on

the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills;

we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large

part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded

by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the new world,

with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old. (Winston

Churchill, June 1940)

B. Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors—the dreams of our old men, given

them in solemn hours of the night by the Great Spirit; and the visions of our sachems, and

is written in the hearts of our people.

Our dead never forget this beautiful world that gave them being. They still love

its verdant valleys, its murmuring rivers, its magnificent mountains, sequestered vales and

verdant lined lakes and bays, and ever yearn in tender fond affection over the lonely hearted

living, and often return from the happy hunting ground to visit, guide, console, and comfort

them.

It matters little where we pass the remnant of our days. They will not be many.

The Indian's night promises to be dark. Not a single star of hope hovers above his horizon.

Sad-voiced winds moan in the distance. Grim fate seems to be on the Red Man's trail, and


Chapter 39—Parallelism


wherever he will hear the approaching footsteps of his fell destroyer and prepare stolidly to

meet his doom, as does the wounded doe that hears the approaching footsteps of the hunter.

(Oration attributed to Chief Seattle, 1854)

C. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they

are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,

Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are insti-

tuted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That

whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the

People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on

such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to

effect their Safety and Happiness. (Declaration of Independence, 1776)

Exercise 39–5Answers will vary. Here is one possibility.

Improving Health

I. Exercise regularly

A. Do aerobic exercises for 30 minutes five times per week.

B. Do stretching and strengthening exercises five times per week.

C. Vary your exercise routine to make it interesting.

II. Improve your eating habits

A. Eat healthy foods.

B. Eat smaller portions.

C. Eat something healthy approximately every three hours during the day.



CHAPTER 40

Conciseness

There is no artifice as good and desirable as simplicity.

—Francis de Sales

OVERVIEW In this chapter, conciseness is defined and examples are given as to

what works against concisness. Guidance is also given on how to revisefor conciseness: combining sentences, shortening clauses and phrases,judicial use of words, and the effect of verbs on conciseness.

Quick Boxes40.1 Cutting unnecessary words and phrases, p. 605

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIES, AND EXTRA EXERCISESActivity: Since empty words and phrases occur with some frequency in

documents people receive every day, you might want to ask students tobring a memo from work, an advertising brochure from the mail, a blogentry, or a quotation from a newspaper that demonstrates useless verbalpadding. The examples are useful for group discussion and revision andthen for presentation to the class in their original and revised forms. For alonger exercise, you might also ask students to find wordy passages intexts they are reading for other courses.

Activity: Provide students with wordy phrases that commonly inflateand obscure English prose; then, ask them to find more direct and effec-tive replacements.

Wordy Concise

at this point in time now

free up some space make room

in the event that if

my personal physician my doctor

thunderstorm activity thunderstorm

it is believed by many many believe

head up a committee head a committee

experience some hurt discomfort

in order to to

making an effort to trying to


Chapter 40—Conciseness


Teaching Tip: A style-checker in word-processing software can helpwriters revise their sentences, but writers cannot expect the computer pro-gram to edit their papers for them. Most style-checkers flag phrases, verbs,and nominalizations often associated with wordiness, imprecision, andother problems, but the writer must decide whether and how to revise aflagged sentence.

Activity: Truman Capote, known for a prose style marked by clarityand lucidity, never relented in his efforts to delete everything that marredthe lean simplicity of his work. In a book of essays published toward theend of his life, he included a description of an experience he had had in aMoscow subway. To Capote’s surprise, he recognized a man who hadlived in Capote’s apartment building in New York ten years earlier. Blind,crippled, and dignified, Mr. Jones never left his apartment but received asteady stream of visitors and telephone calls. Suddenly, he disappeared.Using the following excerpt from Capote’s remembrance, you might askstudents if they can delete any words, reduce any phrases, or otherwiserevise the passage to be more concise.

Ten years pass.

Now it is a zero-cold December afternoon, and I am inMoscow. I am riding in a subway car. There are only a few otherpassengers. One of them is a man sitting opposite me, a manwearing boots, a thick long coat and a Russian-style fur cap. Hehas bright eyes, blue as a peacock’s.

After a doubtful instant, I simply stared, for even withoutthe black glasses, there was no mistaking that lean distinctiveface, those high cheekbones with a single scarlet starshaped birth-mark.

I was just about to cross the aisle and speak to him whenthe train pulled into a station, and Mr. Jones, on a pair of finesturdy legs, stood up and strode out of the car. Swiftly, the traindoor closed behind him.

—Truman Capote, Music for Chameleons

Activity: Ask students to compose an excuse for missing work (eitherreal or hypothetical!). Ask them to write it out in three forms: a text mes-sage, an e-mail, and a formal written letter. Use the three forms to talkabout concise language and appropriate academic discourse.

Activity: You might find it effective to take a passage of good prose(professional or student writing) and clutter it with wordy language. Dis-tribute copies and ask students to delete all unnecessary words, phrases,and clauses. Discuss their cuts. End by distributing copies of the original




for students to compare with their versions. The discussion can becomeparticularly lively if students question the conciseness of the original orchampion the value of your padding.

TEACHING TIP: Mel Silberman, in Active Learning: 101 Strategies toTeach Any Subject, offers a variety of writing activities (Boston: Allynand Bacon, 1996). One invites students to write a television commercial“that advertises the subject of the class.” You might choose to divide theclass into pairs or teams and ask students to write a commercial abouttheir school for a free local cable-access channel. A partial list of sellingpoints could be collaborative exercises, friendly students, and the writinglab. You may want to end the activity with a discussion about the value ofpithy writing for modern communication mediums. The premise is thatpeople are being bombarded by so many messages that they need writersto present information as concisely as possible.

Extra ExerciseRewrite each of the following pairs of sentences as a single statement

by reducing the information in one of them to a group of words that youcan include in the other.

1. William Shakespeare had seven brothers and sisters. He was the thirdchild.

2. He attended Stratford’s free grammar school until he was about thir-teen. Later, he apprenticed with a local tradesperson.

3. Anne Hathaway was eight years older than Shakespeare. He marriedher in 1582.

4. Their first child was born the next year. They named her Susanna.

5. In 1585, Anne bore twins. They were named Hamnet and Judith.

6. In 1597, Shakespeare moved from London back to Stratford. Hebought a large house called New Place.

Answers to Extra Exercise Answers will vary, but here are some possibilities.

1. William Shakespeare was the third of eight children.

2. He attended Stratford’s free grammar school until he was about thir-teen and later apprenticed with a local tradesperson.

3. In 1582, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was eight yearshis senior.

4. Susanna, their first child, was born the next year.

5. In 1585, Anne bore twins—Hamnet and Judith.

6. In 1597, Shakespeare moved from London to New Place, a largehouse back in Stratford.


Chapter 40—Conciseness


Activity: You might demonstrate conciseness by showing students howyou as a writer work toward it in your own work. Simply telling a student“I always revise to eliminate wordiness” rarely works. Instead, you mighttry one of two approaches:

1. Distribute copies of a first, messy draft and a final version of oneof your current projects. Invite students to trace the changes you made asyou took out unnecessary words and passages, wavered between syn-onyms, adjusted verb tenses, and so forth. If you are using an anthology ofessays that includes facsimile pages from writers’ early drafts, studentscan also look for changes there. Students are likely to take the processmore seriously, however, if they see your work. A page from Keats orFaulkner is not as immediate as one from their own instructor’s currentproject.

2. Distribute three or four versions of a piece (each successively moreconcise) without noting their order of composition. Ask the students toguess which came earlier or later and explain how they know. This activ-ity helps prove that revising for conciseness produces noticeable results.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESTEACHING TIP: Brenda S. Sloane’s “Say It Straight: Teaching Concise-

ness” (Teaching English in the Two-Year College 30.4 [2003]: 429–443)describes a series of exercises designed to help students revise their writ-ing for clarity and conciseness. Her students report that this lesson was oneof their favorites during the semester.


1. Tall buildings that exist are measured by a group known as The Council on Tall

Buildings and Urban Habitat.

2. This group, as a matter of fact, was founded in 1969 and is responsible for deter-

mining which building is the tallest.

3. Due to the fact that (Because) buildings serve many purposes, it seems that there is

debate on which buildings deserve consideration.

4. I am trying to make the point that The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habi-

tat must distinguish between buildings and towers.

5. To be considered, a building has to be the kind of structure that has (have) usable

floor area.

6. In the event that (If) a structure has no usable floor area, it is designated a tower.

7. Height is determined by means of measuring from the lowest pedestrian entrance to

the highest point of the building.




8. There are debates that exist over the definitions used by the Council on Tall Build-

ings.

9. considered.

10.Another debate and matter of controversy is whether a building’s antenna is an

essential factor in determining its height.

Exercise 40–2Several correct answers are possible. We provide one example for each item.

1. The Brooklyn Bridge is 1,595 feet long and spans the East River, connecting Man-

hattan and Brooklyn.

2. The Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world until the

Williamsburg Bridge opened 1903.

3. The original designer of the bridge was the German immigrant John Augustus Roe-

bling, who injured his foot, then died from an infection. Before he died, he turned over con-

trol of construction to his son Washington Roebling.

4. Emily Warren Roebling supervised most of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge

because her husband, Washington Roebling, suffered an illness and was unable to oversee

construction.

5. Because her husband was sick, Emily Warren Roebling spent fourteen years help-

ing him oversee the building of the bridge. She had to learn about important things, such as

stress analysis, cable construction, and catenary curves.

6. The bridge’s opening in 1883 was attended by several thousand people, including

President Chester A. Arthur.

7. Some people were concerned about the bridge’s stability, so the famous circus

founder P.T. Barnum led a parade of 21 elephants over it.

8. The bridge celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1983 and included a parade of cars

led by President Ronald Regan.

9. In 1981, the filmmaker Ken Burn, who has also directed documentaries about base-

ball, jazz, and the Civil War, made a documentary about the Brooklyn Bridge.

10.The bridge has six lanes of automobile traffic, but it also allows pedestrians to cross

on a wide pedestrian walkway.

Our dead never forget this beautiful world that gave them being. They still love

its verdant valleys, its murmuring rivers, its magnificent mountains, sequestered vales and

verdant lined lakes and bays, and ever yearn in tender fond affection over the lonely hearted

living, and often return from the happy hunting ground to visit, guide, console, and comfort

them.


CHAPTER 41

Periods, Question Marks, andExclamation Points

A kiss can be a comma, a question mark, or an exclamation mark.

—Mistinguett

OVERVIEW This chapter covers the proper usage of periods, question marks, and

exclamation points correctly.

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: Although reading a piece of writing aloud can often help

a writer hear a pause, a stop, or a question, you may want to caution stu-dents against using the “oral test” exclusively, for reading requires signalsthat listening alone may not show. Scholars of language history such as M.B. Parkes (Pause and Effect: Punctuation in the West) point out that, priorto the sixth century, punctuation rarely originated with the author. Onemay surmise that the ancient tradition of oral reading (instead of silentreading) and the practice of authors dictating their work to scribes mayhave created a wanton disregard for punctuation among writers. You mayfind it helpful to show your students (or ask them to find) examples of“wanton disregard for punctuation” as a way of impressing upon them theimportance of appropriate punctuation for clarity of meaning.

Activity: Encourage students to look for punctuation mistakes in flyerson campus, in take-out menus, and on signs. They can bring these exam-ples (or photographs of them) into class for discussion.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESNancy Mann argues that punctuation is either not taught or not taught

well at every educational level. In her article “Point Counterpoint: Teach-ing Punctuation as Information Management” (College Composition andCommunication 54.3 [2003]: 359–393), she offers a model of punctuationpedagogy based on a punctuation system


1. More than 1,000 laughter clubs exist throughout the world, each seeking to pro-

mote health by reducing stress and strengthening the immune system.





2. Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician in Bombay, India, developed a yoga-like strategy

based on group laughter and then set up laughter clubs.

3. Laughter clubs say, “Yes!” when asked, “Is laughter the best medicine?”

4. The clubs’ activities include breathing and stretching exercises and playful behav-

iors, such as performing the opera laugh, the chicken laugh, and the “Ho-Ho, Ha-Ha” exer-

cise.

5. According to the German psychologist Dr. Michael Titze, “In the 1950s people used

to laugh eighteen minutes a day, but today we laugh not more than six minutes per day,

despite huge rises in the standard of living.”

Exercise 41–2Weather experts refer to a rise in surface temperature of the Pacific Ocean as El Niño,

but La Niña refers to a drop in ocean temperature. What effects can these changes cause? In

the spring of 1998, the cold water of La Niña surfaced quickly and produced chaotic and

destructive weather. In the American Northeast, rainfall amounts for June were three times

above normal. But no one expected the strangest consequence: snow in June! Can you imag-

ine waking up on an early summer morning in New England and seeing snow? Throughout

the summer, most New England states failed to experience a single heat wave, which requires

more than three days of 90-degree weather. During that winter, the Great Lakes experienced

record warmth, but California suffered from disastrously cold air. A citrus freeze caused

$600 million of damage. That’s more than half a billion dollars!


CHAPTER 42

Commas

The gods, they say, give breath, and they take it away. But the same could besaid—could it not?—of the humble comma.

—Pico Iyer

OVERVIEW This chapter instructs students to use commas properly.

Quick Boxes42.1 Key uses of commas, p. 620

42.2 Tests for coordinate and cumulative adjectives, p. 627

42.3 Commas with dates, p. 633

42.4 Commas with names, places, and addresses, p. 633

42.5 Commas in correspondence, p. 634

42.6 Commas with numbers, p. 634

TEACHING TIPS, EXTRA EXERCISESExtra Exercise A

Insert commas before coordinating conjunctions that link independentclauses. Some sentences may be correct.

1. England, Scotland, and Wales are located on the same island. 2. Wales is located on the western peninsula of the island and England

and Scotland occupy the rest of it. 3. It is bounded on the east by the North Sea and on the south by the

English Channel. 4. The Teutonic invaders of the fifth century had to struggle with native

Britons for possession of the island for the Romans had virtuallyabandoned the island by that time.

5. Britain is the proper name of the whole island but England is thepolitical name of the part conquered by the Angles.

6. Neither the Jutes nor the Saxons moved north for they chose to settlein what is today Kent or moved on to Sussex, Wessex, and Essex.

7. The Scots were actually the people of Ireland yet a small colony theyestablished in the northern part of the island eventually gave Scot-land its name.

8. The Norman Conquest of Britain was begun under William the Con-queror and was continued by his sons.





9. With few exceptions, all the existing shires of England had beenestablished at the time of the Norman Conquest but the boundarieswere not always exactly the same as they are now.

10. Since the eleventh century, the map of Britain has remained littlechanged yet the reins of power have shifted many times.

Answers to Extra Exercise A 1. Correct 2. Comma before and England

3. Correct 4. Comma before for the Romans

5. Comma before but England

6. Comma before for they chose

7. Comma before yet a small colony

8. Correct 9. Comma before but the boundaries

10. Comma before yet the reins

Teaching Tip: A surprising number of students, especially those inex-perienced with academic writing, tend to equate writing ability withknowledge of spelling and rules for the comma. (Not all students whohave these ideas admit them freely, but often such notions emerge onanonymous questionnaires or in teacher-student conferences.) You mightdeal with this misperception about comma rules in two ways. First, youcan put commas in their place by referring to the writing process, espe-cially the different concerns that occupy a writer during drafting, revision,and editing—students can reread Chapter 5 to refresh their memoriesabout these activities. Second, you can invite students to circle any commain their writing about which they have a question—or any spot where theyhave not written a comma and have a question—and to jot the question inthe margin. This helps students avoid getting snagged on commas while atthe same time allowing them to get answers to their questions when youreturn their work. You will probably find that students have used mostcommas correctly (a fact that when pointed out enhances students’ confi-dence) and that you can categorize the areas of confusion and thus clarifythem for the students. Finally, after students have studied topics such ascoordination, subordination, parallelism, and variety and emphasis, youcan offer a tutorial review of commas—and students will be happy to dis-cover how much they already knew.

Teaching Tip: Unless they are set off by commas, some adverbs thatdouble as prepositions are likely to cause confusion when placed beforethe subject of a sentence. You can advise students to apply common senseto avoid confusion.


NO Below the submarine checked the water for mines. [What isbelow the submarine?]

YES Below, the submarine checked the water for mines.

NO After the crew expected to escort the president’s ship. [Thenwhat?]

YES After, the crew expected to escort the president’s ship.

Teaching Tip: The words restrictive and nonrestrictive are beingreplaced in many classrooms with the words essential and nonessential.For this reason, this chapter uses the more grammatically descriptive termsand then gives in parentheses the terms more accessible to nongrammari-ans. No matter what words you use in your teaching, the concept ofrestriction is a helpful one for students to understand. To illustrate thisconcept, you might focus on how the words the and a in these sentencesaffect restriction and the role of the commas: I took the bus, which mademany stops, to get here. I took a bus that made many stops to get here.

Examples:

Restrictive clauses and phrases

1. People who travel abroad should be willing to alter their eatinghabits.

2. Tours that make dining decisions for travelers sometimes provide sur-prises.

3. Diners with conservative tastes are sometimes offended. 4. For example, the evening meal in Spain is usually served after 9 p.m. 5. The restaurant where I often had dinner in Madrid was never filled

until after 10 p.m.

Nonrestrictive clauses and phrases

1. My aunt, who often travels abroad, enjoys experimenting withunusual foods.

2. Holiday Tours, which makes all the dining decisions for its travelers,provides too few surprises for her.

3. Her tastes, after her many excursions to exotic places, are still adven-turesome.

4. For example, eating in Spain, which is always a late-evening affair, isone of her favorite excursions.

5. Las Tres Encinas, where she often dines when she is in Madrid, isnever filled until after 10 p.m.

Extra Exercise B Circle unnecessary commas and add needed commas where restrictive

and nonrestrictive phrases, clauses, and appositives appear in the follow-ing sentences.

Chapter 42—Commas



1. Elizabeth II, who is queen of the United Kingdom, was born inLondon in 1926.

2. She is the elder daughter of King George VI and Queen Consort Eliz-abeth who was known as the Queen Mother.

3. Her education administered at home by private tutors included manysubjects.

4. She was married, at Westminster Abbey to Philip Mountbatten, whowas formerly Prince Philip of Greece.

5. He was created Duke of Edinburgh, with all the rights and privilegesof the title, on the eve of the marriage.

6. Prince Charles Elizabeth’s first child was born on November 14,1948.

7. Princess Anne the second child was born on August 15, 1950. 8. Elizabeth’s father George VI died in 1952. 9. Elizabeth was crowned, queen of England, in Westminster Abbey a

historic site on June 2, 1953. 10. Prince Charles, now himself a parent, thus became, the heir apparent.

Answers to Extra Exercise B 1. Correct2. Elizabeth, who 3. education, administered . . . tutors, included 4. married at 5. Correct 6. Charles, Elizabeth’s first child, was 7. Anne, the second child, was 8. father, George VI, died 9. crowned queen of England in Westminster Abbey, a historic site, on

10. became the

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESIn “The Pauses -, ; . : ?! - That Refresh” (New York Times, 23 March

1988, late ed.: C17), Richard F. Shepard explains that although the commawas devised around 260 BC, it was not widely used in writing until “aLatin grammarian named Donatus revived it and applied the marks to thepoints where he felt breathing cues were needed while reading aloud.”

In Pause and Effect: Punctuation in the West, M. B. Parkes explainsthe origin of the word comma (Los Angeles: University of CaliforniaPress, 1993). Fifteenth-century writers called the comma a tittle, from theLatin word titulus (“label” or “title”). In early medieval manuscripts,commas appeared as a full slash mark called a solidus (/).




The Web site http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/01/offers students a proofreading strategy for using commas.

The Web site http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/Commas.html offeredby the University of Wisconsin at Madison features an interactive quiz oncomma use under the heading “The Writer’s Handbook” in the sectiontitled “Grammar and Punctuation.”

Period Styles: A History of Punctuation, a catalog from The CooperUnion for the Advancement of Science and Art, offers these examples ofwhen commas are and are not needed with appositives: Dick, a boy,chased Jane, a girl [commas needed; nonrestrictive]; The boy Dick chasedthe girl Jane [no commas needed; restrictive].


1. Zamenhof believed that his invention would foster world peace, for he believed that

if people spoke a common language wars would cease.

2. No country recognizes Esperanto as an official language, but it is spoken by many

people in at least 115 countries.

3. Published in Warsaw, the first book of Esperanto grammar appeared in 1887, and

the first world congress of Esperanto speakers was held in France in 1905.

4. Before World War II, Hitler denounced Esperanto, for its creator was Jewish.

5. Stalin also attacked Esperanto and would not grant it official status nor would he

allow its use in the Soviet Union.

6. The U.S. military has used Esperanto in training exercises so soldiers can practice

communicating in a foreign language.

7. Similar to English, Esperanto uses 23 consonants and five vowels yet also uses two

semivowels.

8. Most speakers of Esperanto have to learn the language through their own study or

in courses taught by volunteers.

9. Esperanto has made its way into popular culture in movies, music, and literature,

and there is even a 1965 movie starring William Shatner in which all the dialogue is in

Esperanto.

10.If you want to learn Esperanto, it can be difficult to find support, but there are

Esperanto clubs in over 50 U.S. cities and many universities.

Exercise 42–21. When people laugh, scientists study them to find out what actually happens. [intro-

ductory adverb clause]

2. In fact, scientists track our physiological reactions to discover the chemicals we

produce while we are laughing. [introductory transitional expression]

Chapter 42—Commas



3. Produced in our bodies, dopamine is a chemical that makes us feel good and that

our brain uses when we laugh. [introductory past-participial phrase]

4. Interestingly, we sometimes activate our tear ducts by laughing, which may reduce

stress. [introductory word]

5. Immediately after people laughed, scientists tested their saliva and concluded that

immune systems may benefit from laughter. [introductory adverb clause]

6. Although blood pressure and heart rates tend to go below baseline after we laugh,

people should be happy about this effect because that’s what happens after we exercise well.

[introductory adverb clause]

7. In addition, laughter causes the lining of our blood vessels to expand and produce

good chemicals in our bodies. [introductory transitional expression]

8. In the human body, one of these good chemicals, nitric oxide, reduces inflammation

and clotting. [introductory prepositional phrase]

9. Seeming to have an analgesic effect, laughter may even help with pain manage-

ment. [introductory present-participial phrase]

10. Because humor has so many physical benefits and makes us feel better, try to

enjoy a few laughs every day. [introductory adverb clause]

Exercise 42–31. Even though the club became famous for punk music, it was originally built for

musicians who played country, bluegrass, and blues.

2. Correct.

3. Famous performances by singer Patti Smith, the band Television, and the British

band The Police made CBGB an important place in the history of punk music.

4. The club has become part of popular American culture, making appearances in the

TV show The Simpsons, the Broadway show Rent, and in the video game Guitar Hero:

Warriors of Rock.

5. Legal battles, financial troubles, and political conflicts caused CBGB to close its

doors in 2006, after a tribute concert featuring appearances by members of the Red Hot Chili

Peppers and the band Television.

Exercise 42–41. Correct.

2. The myth was that he showed up as a skinny, hungry stray one cold winter night in

Albany, New York.

3. Correct.

4. By 1897, the old, sick dog had become somewhat mean, and had to be put down

after attacking a mail clerk.

5. Sad, grateful postal workers raised money to have Owney’s body preserved by taxi-

dermy, and it still remains in the U.S. Postal museum.




Exercise 42–51. In spring, as birds and bees look for water and food, certain plants and trees provide

those needs and thus attract the greatest amount of airborne visitors. [nonrestrictive preposi-

tional phrase]

2. Correct: no commas with restrictive relative clause.

3. During suburban sprawl, when cities eat up more and more land, birds have to adapt

by putting their nests in buildings. [nonrestrictive dependent clause]

4. Birds are attracted to pines and evergreens, where they can find food and shelter.

[nonrestrictive relative clause]

5. Hungry birds, who are not picky, will enjoy a feeder stocked with black oil sun-

flower seeds. [nonrestrictive relative clause]

6. Birds also need to eat insects, which provide a higher protein content than seeds.

[nonrestrictive relative clause]

7. Some common plants, such as butterfly weed and lantana, are ideal for attracting

butterflies. [nonrestrictive adjectival phrase]

8. Because they have the nectar that butterflies want, these plants enhance any butter-

fly garden. [nonrestrictive dependent clause, and no comma with the restrictive relative

clause]

9. As butterflies pass by a garden, looking for bright colors and strong fragrances,

they will notice flowers planted in large clumps. [nonrestrictive participial phrase]

10. Correct: no commas with restrictive relative clause

Exercise 42–6Answers may vary slightly. Here is one set of possibilities.

1. An inability to write, some say, [parenthetical expression] stems from lack of dis-

cipline and a tendency to procrastinate.

2. In other words, [parenthetical expression] the only way to overcome writer’s block

is to exert more willpower.

3. But writer’s block is a complex psychological event that happens to conscientious

people, not just procrastinators. [expression of contrast]

4. Such people, strangely enough, [parenthetical expression] are often unconsciously

rebelling against their own self-tyranny and rigid standards of perfection.

5. If I told you, my fellow writer, [direct address] that all it takes to start writing again

is to quit punishing yourself, you would think I was crazy, wouldn’t you? [tag sentence]

Exercise 42–71. “Well, then,” the girl’s father replied, “what would you like to do?”

2. Correct as is.

3. “Have you finished your homework?” asked the father.

4. The little girl said, “I don’t have any homework to do. I finished it yesterday.”

5. “Then let’s go to the park!” announced the father.

Chapter 42—Commas



Exercise 42–81. Made by the noted German director Wim Wenders, Paris, Texas [comma after city

in title] was set in an actual town in Lamar County, Texas, [commas after county and state]

with a population of 24,699. [comma with numbers]

2. Correct as is.

3. The custom of naming little towns in the United States after cosmopolitan urban

centers in the Old World has resulted in such places as Athens, Georgia, and St. Petersburg,

Florida. [commas after cities and after state within sentence]

4. As of December 1, 2005, [commas with dates] the American St. Petersburg was

estimated to have nearly 250,000 [comma with numbers] citizens and the American Athens

nearly 109,000. [comma with numbers]

5. By comparison, St. Petersburg, Russia, and Athens, Greece, [commas after cities

and countries within sentences] were estimated to have populations of 4 million and 1 mil-

lion, respectively.

Exercise 42–91. Humans, like some other animals, have two sets of teeth over a lifetime.

2. Sharks, known for having deadly bites, develop several sets of teeth throughout

their lives.

3. Adult humans typically have 32 teeth, 12 more than they had as children.

4. For children, eruptions of teeth, also called teething, can be painful.

5. Correct as is.

Exercise 42–10The shaded areas in the following answers highlight where commas have been deleted.

1. One of the goals of alchemy was the development of the philosopher’s stone.

2. In addition to turning base metals into the gold, the philosopher’s stone was sup-

posed to grant immortality or eternal youth.

3. According to other legends, the philosopher’s stone also cured illnesses, revived

dead plants, and created clones.

4. The fantastic claims about the philosopher’s stone and mentions of it in historical

writings can be traced as far back as the fourth century.

5. Because alchemists were attempting to turn metals into gold, they developed some

laboratory techniques that are still used in chemistry.

6. Alchemy also helped develop important ideas that are used in modern medicine,

such as the dangers of heavy metal poisoning.

7. Robert Boyle, considered to be a founder of modern chemistry, began his work as

an alchemist.

8. The famous, important scientist Isaac Newton wrote more about his work in

alchemy than he did about optics or physics.

9. The origins of European alchemy date back to ancient Greece and Egypt.




10.Unlike modern science, alchemy also replied upon religion, mythology, ancient

wisdom, and the occult.

Chapter 42—Commas




CHAPTER 43

Semicolons

I think of myself as a stylist, and stylists can become notoriously obsessedwith the placing of a comma, the weight of a semicolon.

—Truman Capote

OVERVIEW This chapter instructs students about how to use semicolons correctly.

Quick Boxes43.1 Semicolon patterns, p. 640

TEACHING TIPSExamples of Semicolon Patterns

1. Each year, people from all over the world visit the Tower of London;for centuries, it served as a prison for famous persons who weredeemed to be enemies of the crown.

2. The tower is located in the borough of Stepney; it covers about eight-een acres.

3. The central portion, called the White Tower, was begun in 1078; itwas modernized by the architect Christopher Wren.

4. The Beauchamp Tower has ninety-one inscriptions of prisoners in it;the Bloody Tower served as the prison of Sir Walter Raleigh, whowrote an incomplete history of the world during his stay there in1614.

5. The place of execution within the walls was Tower Green; AnneBoleyn was beheaded there in 1536.

6. Black varieties of the leopard are common in humid parts of India;however, they are rare in Africa.

7. Leopards prey on monkeys, birds, and reptiles; consequently, theymust hunt both in trees and on the ground.

8. A leopard begins its meal by tearing at the forequarters of its prey; incontrast, the tiger starts with the hindquarters of its victim.

9. One Indian leopard was alleged to have killed two hundred humanbeings in two years before it was shot; similarly, a leopard in Ceylonused to lie in wait for passersby on a main road.

10. The leopard’s roar of belligerence is different from its mating call;nevertheless, both sound fierce to the human ear.


Chapter 43—Semicolons

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESStudents will find two practice exercises on the use of commas and

semicolons at the Web site http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/04/, which also links to the answers.

Angela Petit’s “The Stylish Semicolon: Teaching Punctuation asRhetorical Choice” (English Journal 92.3 [2003]: 66–72) gives advice oncreating a workshop on semicolon usage to improve student writing style.

In “Celebrating the Semicolon in a Most Unlikely Location,” SamRoberts chronicles the unexpected (and correct!) usage of the semicolon ina New York City transit agency service announcement, ”Please put it in atrash can; that’s good news for everyone.” (New York Times, 18 Feb. 2008,late ed., sec. B:3).


1. The Tour de France is the world’s best-known bicycle race; the 94-year-old Giro

d’Italia runs a close second. [43B, closely related independent clauses]

2. Both are grueling, three-week-long events that require cyclists to cover over 2,000

miles of difficult, mountainous terrain; and both are eagerly anticipated, draw enormous

crowds along their routes, and receive extensive media coverage. [43D, two closely related

independent clauses containing commas and connected by a coordinating conjunction]

3. That media attention leads to marketing opportunities for the events’ sponsors,

which place ads along the race’s route, in the nearby towns, and on the cyclists themselves.

[43F, no semicolon with dependent clause]

4. Martin Hvastija, a participant in the 2003 Giro d’Italia, had no chance of winning

the race; nevertheless, he drew extensive media attention for his sponsors. [43C, second

closely related independent clause starts with conjunctive adverb]

5. Correct sentence; semicolon separates closely related independent clauses.

6. Although he had no chance of winning the race, newscasters beamed his image

around the world during the short time he was a front-runner, during the same period show-

ing the world the brightly colored advertising logos on his jersey. [43F, no semicolon after

dependent clause; also, 25F, no semicolon after introductory phrase]

7. In addition to sponsoring individual athletes, corporations plaster ads all over the

towns that the race goes through; they toss samples, coupons, and gadgets to spectators from

promotional vehicles that ride the route an hour ahead of the cyclists; and they run ads during

TV and radio coverage of the race. [43E, items in a series that contain commas; also, 25B,

closely related independent clauses]

8. In 2003, the organizers of the Giro took in over $8 million in fees from advertisers

and $12 million in broadcast rights from the Italian state-owned TV network, RAI; how-





ever, these figures were down a bit from the previous year. [43C, second closely related

independent clause starts with conjunctive adverb]

9. An additional source of revenues for race organizers is fees from the towns where

the race starts and ends each day; as a result, organizers determine the actual course accord-

ing to which cities are willing to pay the $120,000 charge. [43C, second closely related inde-

pendent clause starts with transitional expression]

10. Media watchers think the Giro d’Italia could become even more profitable and

popular, especially among young adults, but only if it took a cue from the Tour de France by

encouraging more international press coverage, more star riders, and even heavier corporate

sponsorship. [43F, no semicolon to introduce a list]

Exercise 43–21. Tesla was born in what is now Croatia and studied at the Technical University at

Graz, Austria; he excelled in physics, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering.

[43A, semicolons between independent clauses already containing commas]

2. Tesla’s accomplishments include inventing alternating current; contributing to the

fields of robotics, computer science, and wireless technology; and helping increase knowl-

edge of nuclear physics, ballistics, and electromagnetism. [43B, semicolons between items in

a series already containing commas]

3. The Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi and Tesla both claimed to have invented the

radio; however, the US Supreme Court, in 1943, upheld Tesla’s radio patent and officially

credited him as the device’s inventor. [43A, second closely related independent clause starts

with a conjunctive adverb]

4. In 1901, Tesla began construction of a tower that he claimed would create a global

network of wireless communication and be able to control the weather; unfortunately, Tesla

soon lost funding and never finished the project. [43A, second closely related independent

clause starts with a transitional expression]

5. At his lab in Colorado Springs, he was able to produce artificial lightning; this

scene was vividly portrayed in the 2006 film The Prestige. [43A, closely related independ-

ent clauses]


CHAPTER 44

Colons

Punctuation is like an engine: it pulls the sentence along.

—Anonymous

OVERVIEW This chapter instructs students how to use colons correctly.

Quick Boxes43.1 Semicolon patterns, p. 645

TEACHING TIPS, EXTRA EXERCISESExamples of Colons:

To introduce quotations, summaries, and lists:

1. Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s colorful reputation is exemplified bythis remark: “I have a simple philosophy. Fill what’s empty. Emptywhat’s full. And scratch where it itches.”

2. Greek mythology comprises the descriptions of the gods and the var-ious stories told about them: It is a series of narratives depicting theirpersonalities, functions, and relationships.

3. Zeus, the supreme god of the Greeks, served in a number of capaci-ties: weather god, sender of rain and lightning, and ruler over theother gods.

To separate material:

1. Eric Partridge is the author of You Have a Point There: A Guide toPunctuation and Its Allies as well as Usage and Abusage: A Guide toGood English.

2. I will cite the work in the bibliography as follows:O’Connor, Flannery. “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.” The

Realm of Fiction: Seventy-Four Stories. Ed. James B. Hall andElizabeth Hall. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw, 1977. 479–88.

3. Date: January 15, 2006To: Professor Jill AlexanderFrom: Professor Max GregorianRe: Selection of textbooks





Alternate ExerciseYou might ask your students to rewrite the following sentences, omit-

ting the colons. The students will probably have to divide each into severalsentences.

1. The institution of marriage is generally divided by sociologists intofour main types: monogamy, polygyny, polyandry, and group mar-riage.

2. An early reference to group marriage was made by Julius Caesar con-cerning the early Britons: “Ten and even twelve have wives commonto them, and particularly brothers among brothers, and parents amongtheir children.”

3. Monogamy, the marriage of one man with one woman, is the mostwidely approved form in contemporary society: It is the basis of themodern family.

4. Polygyny is practiced by some religious sects: It is acceptable, forexample, in some Arab countries.

5. Most modern women do not generally favor such an arrangement:They have no desire to be one of several wives.


1. To prepare for the application process, Carlos read the book Expanding Your

Options: A Guide to Writing a Successful College Application.

2. Date: 2 March 2012

To: Office of Admissions

To whom it may concern:

3. Since the post office closed at 5:30, Carlos had to rush to meet the application dead-

line.

4. To represent himself effectively, Carlos wrote his application letter about his many

successes, such as his high grade point average, his work as the high school newspaper

editor, and his community service.

5. After his application was completed and in the mail, he started to look forward to

hearing back from the colleges.

6. He decided not worry when he remembered the words of his favorite Bible quote

from Matthew 6:34.

7. Correct as is.

8. He hoped that he would be accepted to his first choice: Valley College.

9. Valley College was his first choice because it offered beautiful scenery, a diverse

student body, and a small teacher-student ratio.

10.However, Valley College is very selective and admits only a small percentage of

applicants.


CHAPTER 45

Apostrophes

Such forms as Achilles’ heel, Moses’ laws, Isis’ temple are commonly replaced by theheel of Achilles, the laws of Moses, the temple of Isis.

—William Strunk, Jr., Elements of Style

OVERVIEW This chapter instructs students about how to use apostrophes correctly.

Quick Boxes45.1 Leading apostrophe errors, p. 653

TEACHING TIPS, EXTRA EXERCISESTeaching Tip: You may want to point out that while pronouns do take

the place of nouns, they form their possessives in an altogether differentway from the nouns they represent: pronouns through their own possessivespellings, never with apostrophes; nouns, of course, with apostrophes.Apostrophes are used with pronouns only in their contracted pronoun-verbforms. When students see these grammatical forms represented side byside, they can more readily recognize the differences: “That student’s stud-ies” (possessive noun with apostrophe); “His studies” (possessive pronounwithout apostrophe); “He’s studying” (pronoun-verb contraction for “He isstudying”); the machine’s characteristics (possessive noun with apostro-phe); its chief characteristics (possessive pronoun without apostrophe);“It’s chiefly a gas-driven machine” (contraction for “It is . . .”).

Extra Exercise A The questions that follow this brief paragraph are designed to point

out how much information about the situation has been provided by theapostrophes. You may want to use the questions in a class discussion ofapostrophe usage.

The jury’s deliberations were over. Charles’s trial had at lastcome to an end. The defendants’ lawyers seemed calm as theywaited, but the prosecuting attorney’s hands twitched with nerv-ousness. Charles’s and his family’s lives would be either ruinedor saved by the verdict of the court. The judge’s face was impas-sive as he addressed the jury about its verdict. The jury foreman’svoice trembled as he began to speak.

1. Does the writer think of the jury as a single body or as individu-als?





2. Is there one defendant or more than one? 3. Is there one prosecuting attorney or more than one? 4. Whose lives are affected? 5. Why is there no apostrophe in its verdict (next to last sentence)? 6. Why do the words jury’s (first sentence), judge’s (next to last sen-

tence), and foreman’s (last sentence) end in ’s?

Answers to Extra Exercise A 1. as a single body 2. more than one 3. one 4. those of Charles and his family 5. The personal pronoun its is possessive without an apostrophe. 6. Each word is a singular noun that does not end in -s.

Teaching Tip: Some instructors despair of ever having students remem-ber the differences between certain common contractions and theirhomonyms (their, they’re; its, it’s). You might find it helpful to let stu-dents know how experienced writers recognize the differences. Many writ-ers pronounce the two-word form of each possibility. If the two-word formmakes no sense in that context, then the other word (usually a possessivepronoun) is needed. If the two-word form makes sense, experienced writ-ers ask themselves if the informal contraction is appropriate. Of course,experienced writers do this in a microsecond, but some of our studentsneed to do it slowly, consciously, and methodically.

I need to know if their/they’re home. [I need to know if they arehome.]

I need to know if their/they’re gas meter is working. [I need to knowif they are gas meter is working = nonsense; therefore, their is correct.]

Teaching Tip: One need not look far in popular culture to find apos-trophe errors in abundance. Billboards, restaurant menus, names of busi-nesses, and instructional signs are particularly predictable places to findthese errors. You may want to heighten students’ awareness of apostropheerrors by offering a little extra credit when they produce evidence of apos-trophes placed incorrectly in possessive nouns (Womens’ Rest Room);added inappropriately to nonpossessive plurals (Rest Room’s); used inerror with possessive pronouns (“Dining at It’s Finest”); and/or omittedfrom a contraction (“Its Bike Week!”).

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESGrammar Girl’s “Apostrophe Catastrophe” podcast features a history

of the apostrophe, an original song about the apostrophe, and commen-


tary on correct apostrophe usage; see http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/apostrophe-1.aspx. (Make sure to listen to both Parts One and Two.)


1. product’s; consumers’

2. people’s; product’s

3. box’s; product user’s; shopper’s

4. Arm & Hammer’s; Tide’s

5. Heinz’s; Coca-Cola’s

6. company’s; adult female’s; adult males’; children’s; teenagers’

7. marketing business’s; consumers’; companies’

8. test takers’; Gross’s; Russell Crowe’s; Oprah Winfrey’s; someone else’s

9. companies’; Gross’s; image makers’

10.Sports teams’; teams’

Exercise 45–2If students revise this material to include all possible uses of the apostrophe, you might

point out that good style usually calls for a balance of possessive and nonpossessive struc-

tures in a single passage. Then you might ask them to restore some nonpossessive structures

to achieve a suitable balance in the material. All possible possessives are included in the

answers below.

1. The firefly’s scientific name is lampyridae, but the bug’s nicknames include glow-

worm and lightning bug.

2. More than two thousand species of fireflies can be found throughout the world’s

temperate climates.

3. The firefly’s light is caused by a chemical reaction in the abdomen’s organs.

4. Fireflies played a role in ancient Mayans’ mythology and were often compared to a

star’s light.

5. Although it may be in nobody’s interest to know, fireflies are not flies at all; they

are, according to scientists’ classifications, beetles.

Chapter 45—Apostrophes




CHAPTER 46

Quotation Marks

Like italics and hyphens, quotation marks are to be used as sparingly as pos-sible. They should light the way, not darken it.

—Eric Partridge

OVERVIEW This chapter instructs students about how to use quotation marks cor-

rectly.

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: Many students think that they are not plagiarizing as

long as they use quotation marks to indicate material taken from an out-side source. These students do not realize that they must also document thesource. You might find it useful, therefore, to take some time to explaindocumentation and the use of parenthetical citations, which may be unfa-miliar to students inexperienced in writing research papers. Explain furtherthat the placement of the parenthetical citation depends on the length ofthe quotation. If the quotation is “run in,” the citation comes before theperiod; if the quotation is displayed, the citation comes after the period.You may also want to discuss, for students who are writing blogs andother online material, how to hyperlink to original sources as well as citingthem in their text.

Teaching Tip: You may want to divide the class into groups of three orfour, asking two members of each group to assume the role of a particu-lar person or type of person. Giving one of them an opening statementthat is likely to generate a dialogue, you can ask the two to engage in aconversation with each other. When they have finished, the group canwrite what they heard, first as direct discourse and then as indirect dis-course. The first writing can take the form of a short play; the second, ashort story.

Teaching Tip: One pleasant way to review the use of quotation marksis to have students “translate” passages of indirect discourse found in shortstories into dialogues. An alternative is to give students a short scene froma play they enjoy and ask them to rewrite it as if it were a chapter in ashort story. Their first task is to set the scene and present the dialogue asconversation, following the conventions of the short story rather than those


Chapter 46—Quotation Marks

of the play. Then, they can rewrite the scene using indirect discourse in allthe conversations.

Examples:1. Virginia Woolf was a member of the “Bloomsbury Group,” the

name taken from the district of London in which she and her sister livedafter the death of their father.

2. She was the author of many short stories, essays, and sketches,such as “The Mark on the Wall.”

3. She was an early user of “stream of consciousness” writing.

4. Have you read her long essay called “A Room of One’s Own”?

Teaching Tip: Lewis Thomas objects to the misuse and overuse of quo-tation marks in ordinary prose. He cites advertising as a prime culprit inthe practice. You might want to ask students to bring to class examples ofquestionable uses of quotation marks that they find in stores, in newspa-pers, on billboards, and in other advertising spaces. What point was theadvertiser trying to make by using quotation marks? Was the advertisersuccessful?

Teaching Tip: Comic strips and graphic novels offer wonderful exam-ples of dialogue. To practice quotation, have students convert the conver-sations of comic characters, usually displayed via speech balloons, intoquoted text.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESIn Pause and Effect: Punctuation in the West, M. B. Parkes notes that

the first quotation marks were referred to as the diple, “represented by apair of semicircular comma-marks which appeared with roman typefaces.” However, the diple was not originally used to tag direct speechbut rather “to draw attention to something noteworthy in the text.” Forexample, during the Middle Ages the diple was used to “indicate the tes-timony of Scripture.”

The Web site http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/577/01/offers a comprehensive guide on the use of quotation marks, includinglinks to practice exercises with answer keys.

The Web site http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/quizzes/quotes_quiz.htm features an interactive quiz on using quotationmarks.

Since 2005, The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks athttp://quotation-marks.blogspot.com keeps a running photo-log of misusedquotation marks.






Answers may vary.

1. Mary asked why it is so important to wash her hands, especially when they aren’t

dirty.

2. Dr. Sanchez replied, “Many diseases are spread because of inadequately washed

and infected hands.”

3. “The Centers for Disease Control,” explained Dr. Sanchez, “argues that hand wash-

ing may seem trivial but it is a vital part of public health.”

4. Mary asked if it is ok to use alcohol-based hand sanitizers instead of soap and water.

5. Dr. Sanchez replied, “Soap and clean water are best, but a sanitizer with at least

60% alcohol is also very effective.”

Exercise 46–21. The song “America the Beautiful” by Katharine Lee Bates celebrates the natural

beauty and the ideals that many people associate with the United States.

2. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “The American Scholar” praises the ideals of inde-

pendence and self-reliance in American education and was first heard as an oration delivered

to the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

3. However, not only the ideals, but also the harsh realities of life in America for Fil-

ipino immigrants form the basis of Carlos Bulosan’s autobiography, America Is in the Heart.

4. A film that honestly and poignantly reveals the realities facing a family of Irish

immigrants in New York City and their hopes for a better life is In America.

5. The poet Langston Hughes in his poem “Let America Be America Again” is fierce

in his criticism of the way poor people and minorities are often treated in the United States.

Exercise 46–31. Shakespeare’s phrases such as “the sound and the fury” from Macbeth and “pale

fire” from The Tempest have been used by authors such as William Faulkner and Vladimir

Nabokov as titles for their books. [use quotations marks around quoted phrases]

2. Shakespeare’s understanding of human nature was profound and helped him become

a prolific writer. [misuse of quotation marks to call attention to words]

3. Correct [quotation marks around words used as words]

4. To understand the difference between the words “sanguinary” and “sanguine” (or

sanguinary and sanguine) is important for a reader of Shakespeare because the former means

“bloody” and the latter means “optimistic.” [consistent treatment needed]

5. In the play Romeo and Juliet, one of Shakespeare’s most famous quotations is

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.”

[quotation marks around quotation]


Chapter 46—Quotation Marks

Exercise 46–41. Mark Twain’s observation—“Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pli-

able.”—is an interesting critique of news media.

2. Twain valued travel and said that it “liberates the vandal.” He argues that you cannot

become “bigoted, opinionated, stubborn, narrow-minded” if you travel. Someone who refuses

to travel is “stuck in one place” and thinks that “God made the world” for his “comfort and

satisfaction.”

3. In a poem called “Genius,” Mark Twain says that “Genius, like gold and precious

stones / is chiefly prized because of its rarity.”

4. Was it Shakespeare or Twain who wrote, “The course of true love never did run

smooth”?

4. In a speech offering advice to young people, Twain said, “Be respectful to your

superiors, if you have any.”




CHAPTER 47

Other Punctuation Marks

Punctuation is the art of dividing a written composition into sentences, orparts of sentences, by points or stops, for the purpose of marking the differentpauses which the sense and an an accurate pronunciation require.

—Lindley Murray, 1794

OVERVIEW This chapter instructs students about how to use parentheses, brackets,

ellipses, and slashes correctly.

Quick Boxes47.1 Hyphens with prefixes and suffixes, p. 674

47.2 Hyphens with compound words, p. 675

TEACHING TIPSEXAMPLES (DASH):

Appositive

Elizabeth Barrett Browning—the wife of Robert Browning—wasprobably a more popular poet than her husband in the nineteenth century.

Example

Many students—elementary school, high school, and college stu-dents—find themselves taking required courses that they would not choosefor themselves.

Definition

Futuristic novels with a bleak vision of the prospects for the free indi-vidual characteristically portray a society in which history—knowledgeof the past—has been systematically eliminated.

—Diane Ravitch

Dinner at the Huntercombes possessed only two dramatic features—the wine was a farce and the food a tragedy.

—Anthony Powell

Contrast

It’s not right or wrong—it’s just fattening.

An Aside


Chapter 47—Other Punctuation Marks

If you choose to vote for that candidate—and I don’t care whetheryou do or not—then you have put yourself in the conservative camp.

Broken-off Speech

“It’s not that I don’t love you, Tom, it’s just that—”

EXAMPLES (PARENTHESES):

Explanations

Most Americans try to be honest about filing their income tax returns(no matter how much it hurts to pay).

Examples

Many modern zoos (such as the Santa Barbara Zoo) try to present theanimals so that young children can easily see them.

Asides

House plants are subject to bug infestations (at least mine are) thatrequire special treatment if the attack is to be repelled.

Numbers and Letters

There are five basic ingredients in a good gumbo: (1) a roux, (2) avariety of chopped vegetables, (3) water, (4) seafood or chicken, and (5)seasonings.

Numerical Repetition

A freshman is required to take twelve (12) hours of course work to bein regular status.

Expression of Doubt

She was born in 1463 (?) in Rome.

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES (PARENTHESES):

When eating at a formal restaurant (such as Chez Marcelle), a man isexpected to wear a coat and tie.

Although the rain kept falling (and the river rising!), we decided towait for the rescue boat instead of striking out on our own.

Casablanca has become a favorite film of many people too young tohave seen it when it was originally released (or to have seen Bogart andBergman in their other films).

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES (BRACKETS):

Insertion of Words

Describing the end of grief, Marjorie Waters wrote, “[It] was a home-coming, a returning to myself made sweeter by the long separation.”





To be reasonably comfortable for even short walks outdoors [inMoscow during the winter] it is necessary to wear coats of natural fur.

—Leona P. Schecter, “Moscow”

Brief Parenthetical Material Inside Parentheses

The Declaration of Independence (subtitled “The Unanimous Decla-ration of the Thirteen United States of America” [and published by Con-gress in 1776]) is an eloquent assertion of human rights.

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES, MLA STYLE (ELLIPSIS POINTS):

Give me liberty or . . . death!

—Patrick Henry

As a recommendation for raising children in the future, ElizabethJaneway urges “the establishment of enriching and exciting childcare facil-ities at industrial plants, commercial centers, educational establishments. . . .”

In a comment about Dashiell Hammett, Lillian Hellman says, “Hehad made up honor early in his life and stuck with his rules . . .” (AnUnfinished Woman, 126), and then she cites examples of that honor fromhis own acts.

Teaching Tip (Ellipsis Points): One very good way of teaching studentsthe art of quoting sources without overquoting is to have them experimentwith inserting a portion of a quoted statement (preferably one of their ownchoosing) into sentences of their own. Remind them not only to use ellip-sis points (to signal the omission of words from the original quotation)but also to use quotation marks and provide needed documentation aswell. Teaching punctuation within the larger context of artful writing oftenproduces astonishingly good results.

Teaching Tip (Hyphenation): Because the hyphenation of compoundwords tends to change over time, students are sometimes uncertainwhether or not to use hyphens with many terms. Words used in consecu-tive order over a considerable period of time often move closer togetherthrough hyphenation and may later become a single word. Steamboat, forexample, was once written steam boat, then steam-boat, and finally as oneunhyphenated word. Wristwatch was, earlier, wrist watch and later wrist-watch. To be sure of current usage, students need to use a dictionary.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESJohn Dawkins’ delightful “Teaching Punctuation as a Rhetorical Tool”

(College Composition and Communication 46.4 [1995]: 533–548) dis-cusses using successful writers like Annie Dillard or George Orwell asexamples of using punctuation for rhetorical effect.


Chapter 47—Other Punctuation Marks

In “On Language; #@\/()! = Hash, At, Slash, Backslash, Open, Close,Bang,” (New York Times, 30 June 1991, late ed., sec. 6:8.), William Safirereflects on the changes in nomenclature for computer keyboard symbols.Safire writes, “What we old-timers know as ‘parentheses’ are now justopen and close, or more descriptively, left banana and right banana.”

In How Do You Spell, Perry W. Buffington cites research to suggestthat gifted spellers are avid readers. He also notes that “the ancient Greeksbelieved that a lesser god named Skripto was responsible for all errors inspelling, grammar, and diction.”

In It’s Hyphen Time, Carl Kane suggests inserting a hyphen “when-ever a re prefix creates a word identical to another word,” such as, recre-ation and re-creation; resigned and re-signed; resolve and re-solve.


Answers will vary. When checking them, make sure the dashes are used according to

the instructions. This particular exercise lends itself well to peer-review, to help students

identify and check correct usage.

EXERCISE 47–21. Brian May is famous for being the guitar player for the rock band Queen—one of

my favorite bands of all time—but he also has a Ph.D. in astrophysics.

2. Besides being the guitarist, he also wrote one of Queen’s biggest hits (“We Will

Rock You” [1977]).

3. May wrote the lyrics for this famous rock anthem that includes the two lines,

“Gonna take on the world some day / You got blood on your face.”

4. After May earned his Ph.D. in astrophysics in 2008, another astronomer joked, “I

don’t know any scientists who look as much like Isaac Neuton [sic] as you do.”

5. Of all the early Hollywood actresses—Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner—

Hedy Lamarr may have been one of the most famous.

6. But Lamarr also invented a frequency-hopping system that is still used in the fol-

lowing modern devices: (1) wireless telephones, (2) Bluetooth technology, and (3) Wi-Fi

networks.

7. Skunk Baxter is a guitar player known for his work with Steely Dan (“Rikki Don’t

Lose That Number” and “Reeling in the Years”) and The Doobie Brothers (“Takin’ It to the

Street” and “What a Fool Believes”).

8. In describing his decision to make a career change, Baxter said, “After we [the

band The Doobie Brothers] had been together for so many years, many of the members

diverged to their own musical directions.”

9. Having some connections in the military (his next-door neighbor was a missile

designer), Baxter began experimenting with new designs for data-compression algorithms.





10. Correct.

EXERCISE 47–31. Blake’s poem notes that the lamb was given three qualities: (1) life, (2) clothing,

(3) a voice.

2. The image of the lamb grazing “o’er the mead” (the meadow) creates a tranquil

vision.

3. The poem asks

Little Lamb, who made thee?

. . .

Gave thee life, and bid thee feed

By the stream and o’er the mead.

4. Twice, at the poem’s beginning and at its end, the poet asks, “Little Lamb, who

made thee? / Dost thou know who made thee?”

5. The poem asks who “Gave thee life. . . , Gave thee clothing. . . , and Gave thee

such a tender voice?”


CHAPTER 48

Capitals, Italics, Abbreviations,and Numbers

Some readers think my writing is a capital offense. Others think it is capitalfun. I hope it converts into capital.

—Diana Davis

OVERVIEW This chapter instructs students how to use capital letters, italics, abbre-

viations, and numbers correctly.

Quick Boxes48.1 Capitalization, p. 680

48.2 Italics, quotation marks, or nothing, p. 684

48.3 Major scholarly abbreviations—MLA style, p. 689

48.4 Specific numbers in writing, p. 691

TEACHING TIPS, EXTRA EXERCISESTeaching Tip (Capitalization): Because capitalization practice sometimes

varies from one publisher to another, and even from one instructor toanother, writers must be aware of the basic rules that are in general use butshould stand prepared to adjust minor matters, depending on the guidelinesunder which they are working at the time. Students should also be awarethat capitalization (as well as research documentation and other conven-tions of the mechanics of writing) varies from one discipline to another,which makes it necessary for students to be alert to the requirements of thesituation in which they are writing. ESOL students may need special atten-tion when they are learning capitalization conventions in English, sincepractices are not the same in all languages. German, for instance, capital-izes all nouns, whereas English does not. Many Asian and Middle Easternlanguages have no capital letters at all.

Examples (Capitalization): Can your students cite the rules governingthe following uses of capital letters?

1. I spent my last vacation in Santa Barbara, California. 2. My father has retired from the First National Bank. 3. I didn’t know that she is British. 4. I met Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat representing New York in

the U.S. Senate.





5. I am reading a biography of Queen Elizabeth I. 6. It is written by Martha Patterson. 7. The guests are to arrive early: They should be here by 6 p.m. 8. Before next week, the parties involved must complete several tasks:

(1) Painters must finish with the living room. (2) Apartment ownersmust move their furniture back into their rooms. (3) Carpet cleanersmust erase the marks left by the renovation efforts.

9. Who was it that wrote, “They also serve who only stand and wait”?10. You are quoting John Milton’s sonnet “On His Blindness.”

Extra Exercise A (Capitalization)To point out the importance of capitalization, you might want to give

your students a paragraph that has been typed with only lowercase letters.Ask them to sort out the sentences and their meaning, placing capital let-ters where they are needed. Here is a paragraph you can use. (The wordsset in italic type should be capitalized.)

drugs are one of the techniques of western therapy of whichwe are most proud. however, drugs are used by healers in othercultures as well. rauwulfia root, for example, which was intro-duced into western psychiatry in the 1950s as reserpine, a majortranquilizer, has been used in india for centuries as a tranquilizerand has also been in wide use in west africa for many years.another example is shock therapy. when electric shock therapywas introduced by cerletti in the 1930s, he was not aware that ithad been used in some cultures for up to 4,000 years. the tech-nique of applying electrical eels to the head of a patient isreferred to in the writings of aristotle, pliny, and plutarch. whatkinds of results do therapists in other cultures—witch doctors—achieve? a canadian psychiatrist, dr. raymond prince, spent 17months studying 46 nigerian witch doctors and judged that thetherapeutic results were about equal to those obtained in northamerican clinics and hospitals.

—Edwin Fuller Torrey, The Mind Game

Teaching Tip (Capitalization): You might find that students overcapital-ize in their writing. Comparison can be a useful tool in encouraging themto distinguish between common and proper nouns. First, review the basicrule: Proper (capitalized) nouns are the official names of specific people,places, or things; common (uncapitalized) nouns refer more generally topeople, places, or things. Then, give students pairs of noun phrases, one ofwhich contains a proper noun and one a common noun. Omit all capitals.Ask students to identify and capitalize the proper noun: president wash-ington, the president of the country; hunter high school, the high school


band; a new car, a cadillac seville; psychological testing, psychology 101.Augment this list with pairs representing your students’ most commonerrors. Your students will probably find this rather easy because contrasthighlights the specific nouns. The next step can be to make up or edit aparagraph to eliminate all capital letters except those that begin sentences.Ask students to capitalize the first letters of all proper nouns. You mightalso ask students to bring in some examples of their own informal writ-ing—text messages and e-mails—to discuss how they use capitalization(or don’t) in their informal writing. You might also discuss with studentssome of the differences between using capitalization for emphasis in an e-mail (sometimes known as “shouting”) versus using the formal rules ofcapitalization.

Teaching Tip (Capitalization): The variety of computer fonts availabletoday, together with increasing emphasis on visual presentation of printand nonprint media from business documents to Web sites, results in manydepartures from conventional rules of capitalization. An article online maywell be titled “capital lessons for the capital letter,” all words in lowercasetype. A business document may use SMALL CAPS or even ALL CAPS tobring emphasis to a concept or to signal a new topic. You may want tohave students collect several such examples and show how they wouldappear under conventional rules of capitalization. Ask your students toobserve how MLA, APA, and other style manuals ask writers to “trans-late” titles from one style of capitalization to another.

Teaching Tip (ESOL): Some students write in languages that have verydifferent rules for capitalization than American English. Students with asecond language background will find detailed rules about capitalizationand an emphasis on standardization particularly useful.

Extra Exercise B What is the difference in meaning suggested by the following changes

in the italicized words? (Answers will vary.)

1. a. Six different bodies compose the United Nations. b. Six different bodies compose the United Nations.

2. a. All members of the UN can send five representatives to the Gen-eral Assembly. b. All members of the UN can send five representatives to the Gen-eral Assembly.

3. a. The primary responsibility of the Security Council is to maintaininternational peace and security. b. The primary responsibility of the Security Council is to maintaininternational peace and security.

Chapter 48—Capitals, Italics, Abbreviations, and Numbers





Teaching Tip (Italics): In more informal writing, italics are often used toindicate irony and humor. Consider using examples from blogs and news-paper editorials to demonstrate how italics can be a stylistic choice ininformal writing.

Examples (Italics): Can your students cite the rule governing the fol-lowing italicized words?

1. Hamlet is still one of the world’s most frequently produced plays. 2. Several magazines, such as TV Guide and U.S. News & World Report,

have significantly changed their format in recent years. 3. Some people prefer to keep up with current events by watching the

CBS Evening News instead of reading USA Today. 4. The reruns of Star Trek continue to attract viewers. 5. The Challenger and Columbia disasters will be long remembered. 6. My grandfather always told me, “Mind your p’s and q’s, young man!” 7. The literary works of the fin de siècle were shocking to many readers.8. English has borrowed many words from other languages, including

chauffeur, taco, and moccasin. 9. The Red Badge of Courage is a modern epic.

10. The Titanic was originally thought to be invulnerable.

Teaching Tip (Abbreviation): William Safire, speechwriter in the WhiteHouse at the time American astronauts first set foot on the moon, wasamused years later when he realized that the plaque left on the moon borethe inscription “July 1969, A.D.” Noting that the placement of A.D. afterthe date was no longer correct, Safire wrote the following:

In a century or so, I hope some descendant of mine will takea sharp stylus on some weekend rocket to the moon and, whileawaiting a transfer rocket to Mars, will draw a little circle aroundthe A.D. and put an arrow placing it in front of the word July.This will show that human beings in the early days of space weregrammatically fallible; that mankind . . . is forever editing, andthat a little precision is a dangerous thing. —William Safire, “OnLanguage”

A fun exercise is to ask your students to examine Safire’s “corrected”statement and determine what other changes in phrasing and punctuationan editor of this plaque would choose to make today. (Consider the fol-lowing: omission of periods from AD abbreviation; substitution of CE forAD; choice of inclusive word humankind in place of mankind. Otherchanges?) An activity of this sort sparks speculation about changes in lan-guage and grammatical convention that might occur over the course ofanother decade.


Extra Exercise C You may want to organize your class into competing teams, giving

each in turn a postal abbreviation to which a member is to respond bynaming a city in that state. For example, an acceptable answer for a playerwho is given the abbreviation MN would be Minneapolis. When a playercannot answer, the abbreviation is given to a player on the other team.

Teaching Tip (Abbreviation): Indiana University has the 1996 OxfordEnglish Dictionary (OED) list of abbreviations available on line. An exten-sive listing, you might share this list with students in class; see www.indiana.edu/~letrs/help-services/QuickGuides/oed-abbr.html. As a varia-tion on this exercise, you might also show students the “Net Lingo Dic-tionary” at www.netlingo.com/emailsh.cfm and have them compare textmessaging and e-mail abbreviations that are commonly used with theabbreviations in the OED. You might also have students compose theirown “Abbreviation Dictionary” with abbreviations they use everyday. Thisexercise would be useful in helping students to think about the importanceof clarity in communication.

Teaching Tip (Numbers): Some writers mix suffixes with figures: 1st,33rd. Traditional practice calls for the spelled-out word (the first robin),except for days, when only the figure without a suffix is correct (Novem-ber 1). When you clarify this issue for students, you might also want topoint out that this is among the few cases in English in which formalspoken practice differs from formal written practice. That is, a person cansay in a formal speech: “The crisis occurred on November 21st.” In writ-ten form, however, the formal convention is November 21 or 21 Novem-ber.

Teaching Tip (Numbers): Some students may need a review of romannumerals. The major ones are: I = 1; V = 5; X = 10; L = 50; C = 100; D= 500; M = 1,000. In academic writing, roman numerals have few uses.They designate the major divisions in outlines. They are used as parts ofnames and titles: Peter Brown III, Queen Elizabeth II, Rocky IV. Youmight remind students that roman numerals are not interchangeable witharabic (regular) numerals in addresses, dates, or measurements.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe Web site http://acronyms.silmaril.ie/cgi-bin/uncgi/acronyms offers

a database to find the meanings of acronyms, initialisms, and other abbre-viations. For example, the initialism ERA can mean any of the following:Earned Run Average, Electronic Realty Associates, Entity-Relationship-Attribute, or Equal Rights Amendment.







If a word needs to start with a capital letter, the whole word is italicized here to be

clearly seen.

1. The state of California is best known as The Golden State, but other nicknames

include The Land of Milk and Honey, The El Dorado State, and The Grape State.

2. Most people think of San Francisco as northern California, but the city of Eureka,

from the Greek word meaning “I have found it,” is 280 miles north of San Francisco, and the

state line is another 90 miles north of Eureka.

3. South of San Francisco on the California coast is Santa Barbara, which hosts the

annual Dickens Universe, a weeklong series of studies and celebrations of the works of the

famous writer Charles Dickens.

4. The highest point in the continental United States is Mt. Whitney at 14,495 feet

high, and the lowest place in the continental United States is Bad Water in Death Valley at

282 feet below sea level, both located in California.

5. Having approximately 500,000 detectable seismic tremors per year, California

rocks, literally.

6. Because the Tehema County Fairgrounds are located in Red Bluff, California hosts

the largest three-day rodeo in the United States.

7. Numerous songs have been written about California, including “California Girls”

by the Beach Boys and the theme of the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies.

8. San Bernardino County with almost three million acres is the largest county in the

United States.

9. Hollywood and movie stars are what many people associate California with, and

well they might because two of California’s governors, Ronald Reagan and Arnold

Schwarzenegger, were actors before they became governors.

10.When told all these fantastic facts about California, a typical Valley girl would

respond, “Whatever.”

Exercise 48–21. While waiting for my dentist to call my name, I flipped through a copy of a maga-

zine called Entertainment Digest.

2. I enjoyed reading the magazine seemed because it included several interesting arti-

cles: movie reviews, recipes, and tips for spring cleaning.

3. I read a review of the movie Night Comes Calling, which I learned is an adaptation

of English writer Hugo Barrington’s short story “Adventures in the Fog.”

4. I asked the receptionist if I could keep the magazine because a few of the articles

might help me in my Spanish and economics classes.

5. For example, there was an article on a composer who wrote an opera about the

Spanish Civil War.


Exercise 48–3The corrected abbreviations are shown here in italics.

1. Originally named the George S. Parker Company, located in Salem, Massachusetts,

the toy company changed its name to Parker Brothers when Charles joined the business in

1888.

2. Several of their games have become quite famous, especially Monopoly and Clue,

both of which were released in the twentieth century.

3. The object of the game Monopoly, (meaning “dominating the market”) is to get the

most money by purchasing, renting, and selling real estate.

4. Clue, another popular board game, is a murder mystery in which players move from

one room to another, making accusations to reveal the identity of the murderer, the weapon

used, and the room where the crime took place.

5. On a cold day in January, when the snow is three feet deep and it’s dark by early

evening, passing the hours with your family and friends playing a board game is great fun.

Exercise 48–41. The 102-story Empire State building, which is 1,250-feet, is struck by lightning on

an average of 500 times a year.

2. If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19, but you

still can’t make even change for a dollar.

3. Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the United States with a maximum depth

of 501 m (1,645 ft).

4. Thirty-seven percent of Americans have passports, which means that nearly two

out of three U.S. citizens cannot fly to Canada.

5. On March 2nd, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain, playing basketball for the Philadelphia

Warriors, scored 100 points.

6. Some people trace the origin of the knock-knock joke back to act 2, scene 3 of

Shakespeare’s 1611 play Macbeth.

7. If you place a vertical stick in the ground on the Equator, it will cast no shadow at

12:00 p.m. on March 21st.

8. Bamboo plants can grow up to 100 cm every 24 hours, and they grow best in warm

climates, but some species can survive in temperatures as low as -20° F.

9. Correct as is.

10.Five hundred thousand spectators watch the Boston Marathon every year as an aver-

age of twenty thousand runners each try to complete the 26.2-mile run.





CHAPTER 49

Spelling

Bad spellers of the world, untie!

—Anonymous graffiti writer

OVERVIEW This chapter introduces students to spelling rules and helps them to

distinguish between homonyms and other easily confused words.

Quick Boxes49.1 Proofreading for errors in spelling, p. 694

49.2 Homonyms and other frequently confused words, p. 697

TEACHING TIPS, EXTRA EXERCISESWords Often Misspelled: Throughout this Instructor’s Resource Manual

chapter, we present lists of commonly misspelled words, organized in thefollowing categories: ie/ei, unstressed syllables, double consonants, andword endings (suffixes). It’s a good idea to assign words for study ingroups of twenty-five at a time.

Teaching Tip: While spelling is best handled during the editing processin writing, you might want to talk with students about the fact that in theage of digital communication, something as simple as an e-mail shouldprobably be drafted, revised, and edited. Students often forget to checktheir spelling before hitting “send” on e-mails.

WORDS OFTEN MISSPELLEDie/ei

achievement apiece atheist belief

believed ceiling chief conceited

conceive conscientious eighth foreign

forfeit height leisure lenient

niece receive relief relieve

review seize view weird

Unstressed Syllables (including syllables frequently not

pronounced)

adolescent alcohol amateur analysis

angel apology article aspirin

average bargain boundary cafeteria


Chapter 49—Spelling

calendar category cemetery census

certain challenge channel children

chocolate chosen coarsely concentrate

controversial curious decorate delicate

despair destroy develop disease

dispel divide divine ecstasy

embarrass enemy escape everything

exercise family favorite grammar

heroes holiday hundred imagine

imitate integrate interest introduce

laboratory liable luxury magazine

manual mathematics medicine miniature

participle perhaps persuade physical

pigeon pitiful pleasant poison

practical prepare privilege propaganda

pumpkin purpose pursue pursuit

quandary rebel recognize regular

remember reproduce resources restaurant

sacrifice saxophone sentence separate

several sheriff similar sophomore

specimen sponsor statistics strategy

surprise temperature therefore thorough

tobacco together tomorrow typical

vitamins Wednesday woman women

WORDS OFTEN MISSPELLED Double Consonants

accommodate accompanied accomplish accordion

accustomed address annihilate appoint

appreciate appropriate arrest bulletin

commercial committee controlled different

disappear disappoint disapprove efficient

equipped fulfill happened harass

interrupt mirror missile occasion





occurred parallel processes quizzes

satellite stepped succeed suppose

surround tyranny villain

Word Ending (Suffixes)

acceptable accessible accidentally accuracy

acreage actually admission affectionately

aggression announcement apparent appearance

approximately arguing argument assassination

attendance barbarous basically beautiful

beginning beneficial biggest bureaucracy

business calculator carrying changeable

changing characteristic Christianity commitment

competent competition completely confident

consistent continuous convenient coolly

criticism criticize cruelty curiosity

decision definitely description desirable

desperate despicable disastrous discussion

dormitory easily elaborately entirely

environment equipment especially evidently

existence experiment explanation extremely

finally financially generally government

governor guidance happily hindrance

hoping humorous hungry hurriedly

hypocrisy ideally idiosyncrasy ignorant

illogical imaginary immediately immensely

incalculable incidentally incredible independent

indispensable individually influential innocuous

insurance intelligent interference irrelevant

irresistible irritate likelihood listening

liveliest livelihood lying magnificent

maintenance manageable management marriage

meanness mischievous mysterious narrative



naturally ecessary noticeable noticing

nuisance umerous occasionally occurrence

occurring official omission omitting

opponent opportunity opposite oppression

optimism ordinarily originally particularly

peaceable peculiar performance permanence

permissible politician possession practicality

predominant preparation prevalent prisoner

probably professor prominent pronunciation

publicly pursuing questionnaire rarity

reality realize really recession

recommend referring regulate rehearsal

religious remembrance repetition representative

resemblance ridiculous scarcity scenery

secretary senseless shining shrubbery

significant simply sincerely skiing

strenuous stubbornness studying suburban

succession sufficient summary superintendent

upersede suppress surely susceptible

suspicious swimming technical temporary

tendency tragedy tremendous truce

unanimous unconscious undoubtedly usage

using usually valuable various

vegetable vengeance violence visible

writing written

Teaching Tip: Much of the recent research on spelling improvementsstresses the importance of using as many of the senses as possible duringword study. You may want to suggest to students that they try to improvetheir visual memory by writing a word in the air, using a finger to makethe troublesome letters especially large. Ask them to try to imagine a wordas if it were on an outdoor movie screen. Then, they can try to write theword mentally in “longhand.” The auditory sense can be invoked bymaking exaggerated pronunciations. That is, the speaker emphasizes theproblem portion of a word when saying it. For example, the person whohabitually leaves off the final -d of used should practice pronouncing theword as “you said.” The kinesthetic and tactile senses are combined when





a writer records a problem word on paper using a different kind ofmedium to write the difficult spots, changing from a ballpoint pen, forinstance, to a crayon. This technique can include a visual element if thestudent puts the problem letters in red or some other bright color.

Activity: For fun, you might want to host an old-fashioned spellingbee with your students for a quick exercise in emphasizing the importanceof spelling. You can create a list of words as a class and give studentstime to memorize the spelling. An alternative activity is working on cross-word puzzles with your students, which reinforces both vocabulary andspelling. Two recent documentaries highlight our cultural fascination withwords. You might show students clips from Patrick Creadon’s 2006 filmWordplay about the popularity of the New York Times crossword puzzle ordirector Jeffrey Blitz’s 2002 documentary, Spellbound, on the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee.

Activity: A sophisticated relative of the spelling test is the dictationexercise. Passages can be created to test students’ ability to spell, punctu-ate, or capitalize. Here is a sample dictation passage aimed at testingwhether students can distinguish among homonyms and commonly con-fused words. The context gives students clues about which word isintended (much as the sentences normally given as part of a spelling testdo); at the same time, the paragraph format is more interesting thanrandom illustrative sentences.

The institution of marriage has received its share of publicattention over the past few years. Rising divorce rates, seen as asymptom of a troubled society, have led people to question whysome marriages break up and others succeed. One reason maybe that the effect of courtship is to cause the bride and groom tolose sight of reality. Researchers cite evidence that some couplesare too unrealistic. They proceed to the altar carrying romanticillusions about themselves, each other, and marriage itself.Having grown accustomed to compliments and presents, theyfind themselves walking down the aisle expecting a lifetime ofromantic bliss to follow. The groom may assume that his bride isan angel, and she may choose to think of him as a knight on awhite horse. They may fail to realize that one expects to dominaterather than complement the other or that he lacks patience andshe is not as quiet as she seems. They’re reluctant to look at thewhole situation until later, when they are called on to accept theserious responsibilities of marriage. The best advice, of course, isfor husbands and wives to live by principles that lead them totreat each other respectfully, lightening each other’s troubles andacknowledging each other’s rights.



ADDITIONAL RESOURCESCapital Community College’s “Guide to Grammar and Writing” has

seven interactive spelling quizzes and three practice sheets. Some of thespelling quizzes involve audio, so students listen to the words and spellthem, see http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/quiz_list.htm.

In Back to Front, Chauncey Mabe reflects on the “quirky inventive-ness” of palindromes: “words or phrases that spell the same frontwardsand backwards.” According to Mabe, “A man, a plan, a canal: Panama,” isa perfect example of a palindrome: “It not only makes sense, it tells thestory of the Panama Canal in miniature.” Following are briefer examples:civic, madam, pull-up, race car, and radar.


1. yourselves

2. sheep

3. photos

4. women

5. appendixes (or appendices)

6. millennia

7. lamps

8. runners-up

9. criteria

10. lunches

11. echoes

12. syllabi

13. wives

14. get-togethers

15. crises

Exercise 49–21. a. profitable

b. reproducible

c. controllable

d. coercible

e. recognizable

2. a. luxuriance

b. prudence

c. deviance

d. resistance





e. independence

3. a. truly

b. joking

c. fortunately

d. appeasing

e. appeasement

4. a. happiness

b. pried

c. prying

d. dryly

e. beautifying

5. a. committed

b. commitment

c. dropped

d. occurred

e. regretful

6. a. relief

b. achieve

c. weird

d. niece

e. deceive

Exercise 49–3If you’re an adult in 2012, it’s three times more likely that you will live alone than you

would have if you’d been an adult in 1950. No longer is getting married right out of high

school or college considered a normal rite of passage. In the past, the sight of a thirty-year-

old living by him or herself would have been seen by many as quite disturbing. Even

recently, the book The Lonely American (raised, razed) the concern that maybe living alone

would lead to later depression. However, to choose to live alone is no longer viewed as a

road to unhappiness. In fact, evidence shows that people who live alone tend to compensate

by being socially active. Whether you feel lonely is less a matter of your circumstances than

a matter of your activities. Sociologist Eric Klinenberg conveys the sense that accepting

who’s happy simply on the basis of their living arrangements is altogether a waste of time.


CHAPTER 50

Multilingual Students Writingin U.S. Colleges and Universities

English orthography satisfies all the requirements of the canons of reputabil-ity under the law of conspicious waste.

—Thorstein Veblen

OVERVIEW This chapter for the multilingual student gives them the skills needed

for effective writing.

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: Students from some educational backgrounds may be

accustomed to their instructors providing sample essays as models to imi-tate. It’s important to let students know to what extent you want them tomodel their own writing after the samples you provide.

Teaching Tip: Most grammar-check programs are not designed to checkfor the kinds of errors typically made by ESOL students (e.g., articleusage). Warn ESOL students, in particular, about the limitations of suchprograms.

Teaching Tip: Some ESOL students may have first languages that haveno written form.

Teaching Tip: If your college or university places second language stu-dents in regular composition classes, explore the additional resourcesavailable to you and your students. For example, the writing or tutoringcenter might be willing to provide additional writing tutorials or supple-mental instruction for your students.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe TESOL Web site www.tesol.org is by far the most comprehensive

Web site available for educators working with ESOL/EFL students.

In “Abdullah’s Blogging: A Generation 1.5 Student Enters the Blo-gosphere” (Language Learning & Technology: A Refereed Journal forSecond and Foreign Language Educators 11.2 [2007]: 128–141.http://llt.msu.edu/), Joel Bloch describes how blogs can contribute to thesense of ownership and empowerment that Generation 1.5 students (stu-dents who have received at least a partial education in the United States,





but who may have also received part of their education in another country,or who may continue to use their first language in most or all of theirnoneducational settings) have for their writing. He gives special emphasisto teaching students about plagiarism and helping them acquire rhetoricalstrategies for argument making and evidence analysis.

In her article “Literacy Autobiographies in a University ESOL Class”(Canadian Modern Language Review. 63.4 [2007]: 563–573), Linda Stein-man discusses the ways she used a literacy autobiography—“a reflective,first-person account of one’s development as a writing being”—to bring“the first language (L1) into the second language (L2) classroom, and toengage with students in constructivist learning” (563).

The OWL at Purdue has an excellent list of resources for ESOL stu-dents at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslstudent.html.

The 1-language.com Web site at www.1-language.com offers lan-guage-learning flash games and other resources for ESOL students.


CHAPTER 51

Handling Sentence-Level Issuesin English

Grammar, which knows how to control even kings.

—Molière

OVERVIEW In this chapter, ESOL students will learn to recognize sentence-level

errors in English.

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: It is not realistic to expect that the English-language writ-

ing of most ESOL students will sound like that of native English speakers.Just as most ESOL students speak with an accent, they will probably alsoalways write with an “accent.” Section 51B of this chapter is designed tohelp students make progress in addressing serious sentence structure prob-lems; the remainder of the chapter is devoted to helping students becomemore aware of common ESOL errors so that they can look for them intheir own writing and attempt to correct them. Since language acquisitionis a complicated, long-term process, it is not realistic to expect ESOL stu-dents to be able to avoid a certain type of error just because that type oferror has been pointed out or corrected in the past. In fact, the efficacy oferror correction in second-language writing is a hotly debated topic, sincesome research on error correction has indicated that it has no effects or, insome cases, is detrimental to writing development (See John Truscott,“The Case Against Grammar Correction in L2 Writing Classes,” LanguageLearning 46 [1996]: 327–369.) Most ESOL specialists advocate selec-tively marking the location of one or two categories of students’ errors(e.g., subjectverb agreement) and asking students to try to make correc-tions, with a teacher or tutor nearby to assist as necessary. Robert Yatesand James Kenkel’s “Responding to Sentence-Level Errors in Writing”addresses the importance of not misinterpreting a student’s text when pro-viding error-correction (Journal of Second Language Writing 11.1 [2002]:29–47).

Teaching Tip: One addition to ESOL teaching tools is the online virtualworld Second Life. Many ESOL teachers have been working in SecondLife to create “English Village,” a virtual island where students can learnand practice essential speaking and writing skills. To learn more about this





work, visit the “Second Life English Blog” at www.esl-secondlife.blogspot.com.

Teaching Tip: Since some languages do not use verb endings to showtime frame in the way that English does, some ESOL students will havedifficulty with this aspect of English usage.

Teaching Tip: Some languages do not add suffixes to nouns to showplural forms; for this reason, some ESOL students may have difficultywith making singular/plural distinctions in English.

Teaching Tip: Using prepositions can be especially difficult for ESOLwriters because English has so many of them. While there are some rulesthat describe which preposition to use, students often must simply mem-orize which prepositions belong in which phrases.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESTESOL Quarterly and Journal of Second Language Writing regularly

publish articles on the most up-to-date practices in teaching second lan-guage learners.

A 2005 issue of Computers and Composition (22.3) is devoted to thetopic of “Second Language Writers in Digital Contexts.”.

The Web site Free Rice at www.freerice.com provides fun, interac-tive vocabulary practice. Every correct answer donates 10 grains of rice tocountries facing the threat of hunger.


Answers will vary. You might want to have students present or peer review paragraphs

after completion. An additional way of approaching this assignment is to rewrite the para-

graph as a whole class. If you choose to do this, annotate the changes students make and pro-

vide them with a copy of the old paragraph, the revised paragraph, and the revision notes.

Exercise 51–2Answers will vary. You might consider breaking students into peer-review groups based

on similar error patterns. Students can revise paragraphs, using their error logs as a guide.

Exercise 51–3Incorrect Correct

takes took

plan planned

cross crossed

am was


Chapter 51—Handling Sentence-Level Issues in English


have had

try tried

keeps kept

travel traveled

want wanted

nails nailed

enjoy enjoyed

drink drank

enjoy enjoyed

Exercise 51–4Many embarrassing errors have been [or are] made by multinational corporations when

translating U.S. brands or slogans abroad. For example, when Pepsi entered the Chinese

market some years back, it had translated the slogan, “Pepsi Brings you Back to Life,” which

means in Chinese, “Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave.” Braniff Airlines

was interested to tell passengers about the comfort of its upholstery by using the slogan “Fly

in Leather.” However, in Spanish, this slogan was translated into “Fly Naked.” In Italy, a

campaign for “Schweppes Tonic Water” was aimed to quench customers thirst. Understand-

ably, Italians were not rushing to buy what translated to “Schweppes Toilet Water.” Adver-

tisers outside the United States must remember that language, after all, is a primary tool that

is used to generate both customer interest and corporate profits.

Exercise 51–5Incorrect Correct

have has

has have

appears appear

are is

make makes

Exercise 51–6Every country has its own custom [customs]. When traveling, it’s important to remem-

ber that your way of doing thing [things] may not be the same in other country [countries].

For example, in some places, it is common for customer [customers] to barter for a price on

item [items] for sale. Also, American [Americans] generally shake hand [hands] when greet-

ing one another, but in some places, it is common for friend [friends] to kiss.

Exercise 51–7I’ve always wanted to learn languages other than my native language. I started taking

English and French lessons at school and I liked the idea of becoming fluent in at least one




language. I thought English would help me a lot in the future because it could help me com-

municate with people from all over the world.


Exercise 51–9These are some primary errors; however, answers will vary.

I’ve always faced some problems when writing in English because it took

me some time to get used to it. Facing these complexities encouraged me to

develop my skills in English writing. My first class in English was about gram-

mar, spelling, and writing. I realized later that grammar is hard to learn, so I knew

I had to put in a lot of effort to understand it perfectly and use it properly. I also

had some difficulties with vocabulary, as it was hard to understand the meaning

of some words. Another thing that helped me with my English was when my

mother enrolled me in an English learning center that specialized in teaching writ-

ing skills. After a month of taking classes, my teacher saw some improvement in

my grammar and vocabulary. To test me, she asked me to write an essay on how

to be successful. I was really excited about it and started to write (or writing) it

immediately. After I finished my essay and my teacher checked it, my teacher

suggested that I take a few more classes for her. She taught me how to organize

my ideas. After finishing these classes I realized that my writing was getting

much better with time.

Exercise 51–10These are some primary errors; however, answers will vary.

Recently, the number of private language schools have increased in Japan.

These schools put special emphasis on oral communication skills. In them, stu-

dents take not only grammar and reading classes, which help them pass school

examinations, but also speaking and listening classes. They can also study Eng-

lish for six years, which is the same period as in public schools. Some of the

teachers in these schools are native speakers of English. Since these teachers do

not speak Japanese in the classes, the students have to use English to participate

in them. They have the opportunity to use English in these classes more than

public school students do. Some people have observed that the students who took

English in private schools can speak English better than those students who took

English-language classes in public schools.

582


CHAPTER 52

Singulars and Plurals

An original writer is not one who imitates no one but one whom no one canimitate.

—François-August-René de Chateaubriand

OVERVIEW In this chapter, the ESOL students will learn to ascertain what is a

count noun and what is a noncount noun. They will also be given guidanceon using the proper determiners with singular and plural nouns.

Quick Box52.1 Determiners to use with count and noncount nouns, p. 722

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: Since some languages do not add suffixes to nouns to

show plural forms, some ESOL students may have difficulty with makingsingular/plural distinctions in English.

Teaching Tip: Many ESOL Web sites offer additional exercises andlesson plans. These can be very attractive when you are short on time!However, make sure that you check the accuracy of these sites beforeusing materials in class, as the sites are not peer-reviewed. One excellentsite is “Activities for ESL Students,” sponsored by the Internet TESL Jour-nal at http://a4esl.org/ .

One interesting lesson plan online for count and noncount nouns is acard game by Karin M. Cintron at www.eslpartyland.com/teachers/grammar/cncnouns.htm>. Ron Belisle offers several activities for teachingcount and noncount noun distinctions at http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Belisle-CountAndNoncount.html.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESPurdue University’s OWL has an additional exercise on count and

noncount nouns; see http://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/2/10.

A classic article by Betty Wallace Robinett, “The Application of Lin-guistics to TESOL: Once More” argues that linguistic study reveals a sit-uational or contextual ambiguity that leads to student errors in correctcount and noncount noun usage (TESOL Quarterly 7.4 [1973]: 425–435).






1. feet, recipes

2. foot, water

3. American, flour

4. liquids, liquid

5. effects, bread


CHAPTER 53

Articles

I regard the writing of humor as a supreme artistic challenge.

—Herman Wouk

OVERVIEW In this chapter, ESOL students will learn to use articles correctly.

Quick Boxes53.1 When a singular count noun is specific and requires the, p. 727

53.2 Proper nouns that use the, p. 730

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: One temptation in the ESOL classroom, according to

Gloria Paulik Sampson in her article “A Real Challenge to ESL Method-ology” (TESOL Quarterly 11.3 [1977], 241–255), is to insist on gram-matical accuracy in student writing, rather than an “outpouring” (245) oflanguage. She argues that the latter method, modeled on language arts(rather than ESOL) pedagogy, is the more effective in teaching ESOL stu-dents because it concentrates more on the “function” of language ratherthan the “form” (248). Keeping Paulik’s thesis in mind is especially impor-tant when teaching students article usage, a difficult grammatical conceptthat perhaps should be reserved for late-stage learning.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe Web site www.ruthvilmi.net/hut/help/grammar_help/ sponsored

by the Helsinki University of Technology features various quizzes andactivities geared to ESOL students.

The Learn4good Web site offers three interactive exercises on theproper use of articles at www.learn4good.com/languages/evrd_grammar/articles.htm>.

Among the many exercises available at Activities for ESOL Studentsat http://a4esl.org/q/h/grammar.html, students will find several exercisesof increasing difficulty on proper article usage.






1. If a highway runs north and south, then it is designated with an odd number, but [no

article needed] highways that run east and west are given an even number.

2. For example, a highway that runs north and south along the coast of California is

called [no article needed] Highway 1.

3. An interstate highway that runs east-to-west is given a low even number if it is in

the southern U.S., such as [no article needed] Interstate 10.

4. A three-digit freeway usually encircles a major city.

5. One of [no article needed] America’s most famous highways is [no article needed]

Route 66, which is a road that runs from Los Angeles to Chicago.


CHAPTER 54

Word Order

I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch ofblank paper.

—Steve Martin

OVERVIEW In this chapter, ESOL students will place words in the correct order in

their sentences, including subject, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

Quick Boxes54.1 Word order: cumulative adjectives, p. 735

54.2 Word order: positioning adverbs, p. 736

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: Students can practice putting English sentences in the

correct order at the interactive Web site http://a4esl.org/q/h/mc-ck-order.html. Be sure to have them attempt to answer the question on a separatesheet of paper before they click on the answers!

Teaching Tip: Since some languages do not have articles—or use themin the way English does—many ESOL students have trouble with usingarticles correctly. The rules for article usage, which are summarized inChapter 51, are complex and difficult to apply in some cases. Most ESOLspecialists advocate focusing on other, more easily correctable errors instudent writing, and attending to article errors only for advanced students.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESFor an interactive quiz on word order (from The Internet TESL Jour-

nal), visit http://a4esl.org/q/j/.

Among the many exercises available at Activities for ESOL Studentsat http://a4esl.org/q/h/grammar.html, students will find several exercisesof increasing difficulty on proper article usage.

The interactive quizzes on adjective order at www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/worldservice/quiznet/quizengine?ContentType=text/html;quiz=1428_adjectives and article usage at www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/worldservice/quiznet/quizengine?ContentType=text/html;quiz=1252_articles are but two of the extensive resources available through the BBC’s“Learning English” Web site at www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/





learningenglish/ to help ESOL students master English grammar andusage.

The grammar Web site English Grammar Online 4U atwww.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/word-order has extensive explana-tions and exercises to help students learn proper word order in English.


1. I was looking for an interesting new book, so I walked to the library.

2. Quietly, I asked the librarian where I could find biographies, and he pointed his

finger quickly to a shelf.

3. I asked him, “Do you have a biography of Emmy Noether?”

4. The librarian, who was extremely helpful, looked on an old white computer for me

and said, “Yes.”

5. “Where can I check it out?” I asked, excited finally to find a new book.


CHAPTER 55

Prepositions

If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it.

—Tennessee Williams

OVERVIEW In this chapter, ESOL students will learn to use prepositions correctly.

Quick Boxes55.1 Common prepositions, p. 738

55.2 Using in, at, and on to show time and place, p. 739

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: Using prepositions can be especially difficult for ESOL

writers because English has so many of them. While there are some rulesthat accurately describe which preposition to use, students often mustsimply memorize which prepositions belong in which phrases.

Teaching Tip: In teaching prepositions, don’t be afraid to try kinestheticexercises where you have students act out their relationships to preposi-tions. “On” could be standing on a chair; “by” could be standing near achair, etc. This will help to give students a visual sense of prepositionsand their relationships.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe Web site Lanternfish has delightful flashcards to help students

learn how to use prepositions correctly at http://bogglesworldesl.com/prepositions.htm.

The Web site www.english-zone.com/grammar/1preps.html offersquizzes of varying levels on prepositions.

The Web site ESLflow.com has exercises for students and lessonplans for instructors on prepositions at www.eslflow.com/prepositionlessonplans.html. The “Command Preposition Game” mayappeal especially to students who are kinesthetic learners.


Answers will vary.




CHAPTER 56

Gerunds, Infinitives, andParticiples

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

—Elmore Leonard

OVERVIEW In this chapter, ESOL students will learn to use gerunds, infinitives,

and participles correctly.

Quick Boxes56.1 Verbs and expressions that must be followed by gerunds, p. 744

56.2 Verbs and expressions that must be followed by infinitives, p.745

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe Web site www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/worldservice/quiznet/

quizengine?ContentType=text/html;quiz=1243_infinitives_ing, hosted bythe BBC, offers a quiz on gerunds and infinitives. As mentioned else-where, the Learning English site of the BBC at www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish has extensive resources, including podcastsand interactive exercises, to assist ESOL students with language acquisi-tion.

A great resource for both ESOL teachers and teachers with ESOL stu-dents is Dave’s ESL Cafe, found at www.eslcafe.com. This Web site offersquizzes, links, quotations, and discussion forums among its variousresources.

The OWL at Purdue has a colorful set of Web pages illustrating theproper usage of verbals (gerunds, infinitives, and participles) athttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/627/01/.

The Continuing Studies page at the University of Victoria has a set ofinteractive exercises at http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/StudyZone/410/gram-mar/gerund1.htm to test students’ ability to form gerunds.


Chapter 56—Gerunds, Infinitives, and Participles



1. While camping outside, people often want to build a fire for warmth or for cook-

ing food.

2. If you have ever attempted to light a fire, you know that you need a reliable igni-

tion source, such as sturdy matches or a good lighter.

3. You will be capable of creating a decent campfire if you use dry wood.

4. For the sake of safety, do not let the fire spread outside of the fire pit.

5. When you are finished, you need to extinguish the fire completely.

Exercise 56–21. interesting [life conveys rather than experiences interest]

2. horrified [observers experience rather than convey horror]; injured [Kahlo experi-

ences rather than causes injury]

3. disappointed [Kahlo experiences rather than causes disappointment]

4. disturbing [images cause rather than experience disturbance]

5. fascinating [works of art cause rather than experience fascination]; overwhelming

[paintings overwhelm rather than experience being overwhelmed—overwhelming modifies

the pronoun them, for which the referent is paintings]



CHAPTER 57

Modal Auxiliary Verbs

The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stablebusiness.

—John Steinbeck

OVERVIEW In this chapter, the ESOL student will learn to use modal auxiliary

verbs correctly.

Quick Box57.1 Modals versus other auxiliary verbs, p. 750

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESAt the Web site owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/601/05/, the

Purdue University OWL offers several quizzes on modal usage.

If your students are interested in another lecture on modal verbs, havethem point their browsers to the YouTube video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5Drs2UuB2Y, where “Yossarian the Grammarian” deliversa concise presentation on modals and auxiliary verbs. Yossarian the Gram-marian also has a growing library of YouTube videos on a number ofgrammar topics.

The following Web sites offer information and practice exercises onmodal verbs:

• Englishpage.com at www.englishpage.com/modals/modalintro.html. Explanation and numerous exercises.

• Englishclub.com at www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-modals.htm. Specific focus on can/could/be able to; have to/must/must not; andshall versus will.

• The Capital Community College’s grammar Web site has thoroughexplanations of modal auxiliary verbs. See http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/auxiliary.htm and an interactive quiz on themat http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/cgi-shl/quiz.pl/modal_quiz.htm.


Chapter 57—Modal Auxiliary Verbs


1. could

2. could have

3. must have

4. should have

5. had to

Exercise 57–21. ought to have [correct form for modal auxiliary expressing advisability]

2. must have rained [correct form for past tense modal auxiliary expressing likelihood]

3. might not have been [correct form for past-tense modal auxiliary expressing possi-

bility or likelihood]

4. should have been [passive modal auxiliary with Pedro receiving the action of the

verb]

5. should not [correct form for modal auxiliary expressing negative advisability rather

than negative ability]

Exercise 57–31. cannot [correct form for modal auxiliary expressing negative ability rather than neg-

ative advisability]

2. would have been [passive modal auxiliary with Juan receiving the action of the

verb]

3. ought not to have [correct form for past tense modal auxiliary expressing advisa-

bility]

4. must have been [correct form for past tense modal auxiliary expressing possibility

or likelihood]

5. may not have been [correct form for past-tense modal auxiliary expressing possi-

bility or likelihood]




CHAPTER 58

An Overview of Writing Acrossthe Curriculum

The secret of business is to know something that no one else knows.

—Aristotle Onassis

OVERVIEW This chapter introduces to students to the concept of writing across

the curriculum (WAC), as a prelude to the more discipline- and situation-specific chapters that follow. The key concept is that, while some featuresof good writing remain constant across disciplines and situations, writersmay encounter differing expectations from readers in specific discoursecommunities and contexts. Learning the discourse expectations of a disci-pline is as important as learning its technical details.

Quick Boxes58.1 Comparing the disciplines, p. 758

58.2 Some common cue words, p. 759

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESActivity: Have students conduct a brief (15 to 20 minutes) one-on-one

interview with a faculty member or professional in another discipline—preferably one in which they are interested in majoring or minoring—about the role of writing in that discipline. The class can work as a groupto formulate a common set of questions, but should be include questionsabout some of the concepts discussed in the text, such as audience andpurpose. Then have students report back to the class about their findings.

Teaching Tip (Portfolios): Portfolios allow students to transfer what theyhave learned in a writing course to other courses. By identifying, organ-izing, and reflecting on the various writing and reading activities necessaryto master a course, students learn connections between curricula thatexceed what can be taught. Recent approaches to portfolios include digi-tal portfolios (see Chapter 8). Electronic Portfolios: Emerging Practices inStudent, Faculty, and Institutional Change, edited by Barbara Cambridge,Susan Kahn, Daniel P. Tompkins, and Kathleen Blake Yancey (Washing-ton, DC: American Association of Higher Education, 2001), provides anexcellent starting place for reading more about digital portfolios.

Activity (Creating a writing portfolio): Use the following guidelines tohelp students develop a writing portfolio (adaptable across disciplines)


Chapter 58—An Overview of Writing Across the Curriculum


that combines writing samples with reflection on the content and activitiesthat are going into the portfolio.

1. Establish prior knowledge and current needs: • Use informal journal writing.

• Preview the course: Read syllabus; mark calendar for importantdue dates.

• Review prior experience: Identify barriers (consider everythingfrom time management and reading and writing skills to the spe-cialized vocabulary or jargon of the course).

• Recognize your audience: Consider the instructor; record instruc-tor’s opinions and preferences.

• Identify resources: Find out about the library, learning centers,tutors, instructor’s office hours.

2. Set temporary goals and activities for study sessions: • Use a formal essay. Keep written records of all activities in and

out of class

• Use a notetaking system for academic research and for self-studyand class notes (see Chapter 3 for close reading techniques.).

• Reflect frequently: What did I learn? How will this help? What isits relevance? Label and organize everything: date, type, and pur-pose of assignment.

• Set up sections as needed: Class notes, reading log, research proj-ect, test previews, reviews and revisions, and so on.

3. Adjust goals as necessary and continue reflective study process. Com-ment on successes and growth as they occur.

4. Reflect on your progress in a final piece of formal writing. Prove youdeserve the grade you want.

Teaching Tip (Scoring issues): Scoring a content portfolio can be assimple as assigning a percentage as if it were an independent project. Even10 percent of a final college grade will provide an incentive to make theprocess work. However, the more the process is valued and weighted, themore the student pays attention to the process. Holistic scoring, accompa-nied with published rubrics and eventually even sample student portfo-lios, makes the process surprisingly manageable. However, checklists andpoint systems for individual entries work just as well. In fact, the greatstrength of portfolio assessment is that the instructor is free to chooseweights and values. A portfolio is a means to an end, a framework tohouse learning, a way to connect learning to assessment.




ADDITIONAL RESOURCESArt Young, Professor Emeritus at Clemson University and founder of

its WAC program, supports the integration of written, oral, visual, andigital communication into English composition classes as well as intoother courses throughout the curriculum. His provocative article “WritingAcross and Against the Curriculum” (College Composition and Commu-nication 54.3 [2003]: 472–485) advocates poetry across the curriculum asa tool for expressing meaningful thoughts and emotions not readily sup-ported in the disciplinary languages and contexts of traditional academicdiscourse.

In Electronic Communication Across the Curriculum (Urbana, IL:National Council of Teachers of English, 1998; republished 2008 by WACClearinghouse), Donna Reiss, Dickie Selfe, and Art Young present twenty-four essays that investigate what happens when proponents of WAC incor-porate computer-mediated tools and techniques into their pedagogies.

In “Clearing the Air: WAC Myths and Realities” (College English62.5 [2000]: 573–583), Susan McLeod and Elaine Maimon, two pioneersin WAC theory and practice, refute common WAC myths in a “full scalecorrective.” They offer a comprehensive definition of WAC and refer read-ers to models worthy of emulation.

The WAC Journal at http://wac.colostate.edu/journal/ is an ongoingsource of information and ideas about approaches to WAC.



CHAPTER 59

Writing About the Humanities

We’ve heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce theComplete Works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

—Roberty Wilensky

OVERVIEW This chapter defines the humanities, discusses the different types of

humanities papers, instructs on documentation styles, and offers guide-lines on writing an analysis. The chapter ends with a sample student’sessay.

Quick Boxes59.1 Selected analytical frameworks used in the humanities, p. 762

59.2 Questions for an interpretation paper, p. 764

59.3 Major elements to analyze in literary works, p. 765

59.4 Major topics for cultural analyses, p. 766

TEACHING TIPSTeaching and Resource Tip: Arguably, the single most comprehensive

Internet site for humanities research is Voice of the Shuttle (VoS) athttp://vos.ucsb.edu/, which has won numerous awards. Originated by AlanLiu at the University of California, Santa Barbara, by 2003 the contents ofthis site included pages on General Humanities Resources, Anthropology,Archaeology, Architecture, Area & Regional Studies, Art & Art History,Classical Studies, Cultural Studies, Cyberculture, Gender Studies, History,Legal Studies, Literature (in English), Literatures (other than English),Literary Theory, Media Studies, Minority Studies, Music & Dance, Phi-losophy, Photography, Politics & Government, Postindustrial BusinessTheory, Religious Studies, Science, Technology & Culture, and Technol-ogy of Writing. Each page leads to numerous specific resources.

Teaching Tip: Some students have great difficulty engaging in analysisof a text and confuse plot summary for interpretation/analysis/critique.One way to help these students is to require them to include a plot sum-mary in their writing, and then move on to more cerebral kinds of analy-sis. That way, if they include plot summary where critique belongs, youneed only to relocate the plot summary to the correct section and then askthem to use that summary as the basis for more critical analysis.




Teaching Tip: Of course, many other types of literary analysis exist(Queer/Gender Studies, Postcolonial, Phenomenological, etc.), and theones we have listed are so difficult to categorize that the brief definitionswe have provided hardly do them justice. Students will require a gooddeal of preparatory reading and study to be able to use literary theoryeffectively in their writing. Unless your class has as one of its outcomes areview of major literary analytic frameworks, you may wish to focus onjust one or two frameworks and allow them to serve as an introduction toliterary ways of thinking about texts.

Teaching Tip: In “Grading with an Attitude” (Pedagogy, Fall 2002:416–419), Mark Gellis describes a strategy whereby he returns literaturepapers to students only in conferences. Using what he calls “just-in-timegrading,” he writes comments that function as notes for oral comments inface-to-face exchanges. Gellis writes:

My advice about how to conference is simple. First, tell yourstudents what they did well before you explain what they didbadly. It boosts their morale and makes them more willing tolisten to the “bad news.” Second, offer constructive criticism.Focus on solving problems. Discussing problems for their ownsake is a dead end. Third, focus on only a few things. Knowbefore you meet with a student . . . [what will most benefit thatstudent]. I sometimes tell students that one aspect of good writ-ing is to do one thing well instead of ten things badly. The sameis true for conferences. If you tell students about every singleerror in their papers, most of them will be overwhelmed; theywill shut down and stop listening to you.

Teaching Tip: Ask students to list the ways that they know a work ofliterature (or any work of art) is “great.” It is likely you will get someresponses such as “It’s true to life,” “It had a good moral,” “It took me toa whole new world,” and “It showed some of the problems that are goingon today.” These comments can serve as introductions to various ways wethink about literature. Why is it important that literature be “true to life”?Why does important literature speak to “problems that are going ontoday”? The answers to those questions can further serve as springboardsto discussions about current ways we have of exploring literature, fromstructural approaches (Poststructuralism, Deconstructionism, etc.) to cul-tural/political ones (Marxism, Feminism, etc.). .

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESArguing that a multiethnic literary experience is achieved not only on

the curricular level but also on the more subtle and complex level of genre,Laura L. Behling (Gustavus Adolphus College, MN) contends in her essay


Chapter 59—Writing About the Humanities


“‘Generic’ Multiculturalism: Hybrid Texts, Cultural Contexts” (CollegeEnglish 65.4 [2003]: 411–426) that a new form of “colonialism” maydevelop if instructors require students to write in traditional ways abouthybrid texts; conversely, that new ways of writing about generic hybrids,ways that break rules and transgress boundaries, may themselves becomemarginalized. Behling poses these thorny questions not to offer solutionsbut to raise consciousness about how instructors do (and perhaps need to)help students gain heightened understandings of multicultural identities.

In “Critical Analysis of Literature: Making the Connection betweenReading and Writing” (English Journal 89.4 [2000]: 85–88), Michael A.Gunther describes a reading-writing course design that encourages stu-dents to actively read, think, debate, and write about literature.

In “Using Reader-Response in a College Literature Class” (TeachingEnglish in the Two-Year College, May 1995: 136–140), Derek Soles pres-ents specific techniques to help students enjoy poetry in literature classes.



CHAPTER 60

Writing in the Social Sciencesand Natural Sciences

If politics is the art of the possible, research is surely the art of the soluble.

—Peter Medawar

OVERVIEW In this chapter, social sciences and natural sciences are defined; it also

presents the different types of papers that students might encounter.

Quick Boxes60.1 Guidelines for using the scientific method, p. 774

60.2 Parts of a science report, p. 775

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: Faculty development efforts over the past twenty years

have encouraged instructors in all disciplines to use a range of assign-ments. Some colleges require students to take a given number of “writingintensive” courses in disciplines other than English. Among them are“writing-to-learn” exercises, tasks in which the goal is to have studentslearn course material and develop insights, in contrast to their demon-strating specific discourse conventions or genres. Writing-to-learn assign-ments are often briefer and less formal than the kinds of case studies orresearch reports students prepare in the social and natural sciences. Forthese assignments, students might keep course journals or observationlogs, or they might do practice interviews with classmates. Faculty mightinterrupt lectures to ask students to write for five minutes on a focusedquestion based on the lecture or a concept in the textbook chapter assignedfor that day. Or, faculty might give students narrowly framed problemsthat can be solved in one page of writing. Another strategy is to hand eachstudent a 5-by-9-inch card on which they write—on one side only—theircurrent knowledge of a definition or concept, and at the end of a lecture ordiscussion they use the other side of the card to write their new oramended knowledge.

In contrast with writing-to-learn, students needing to become fullyfledged members of a discipline have to master that discipline’s writingstyle. A powerful tool is systematic analysis and reflection. Students mightwrite summaries of articles in professional journals. They might comparean article in a professional science journal with an article on the same


Chapter 60—Writing in the Social Sciences and Natural Sciences


topic in a more popular magazine such as Discover or Scientific American.You can also guide them to pay close attention to the use (or lack) of cita-tions, the voice of the writing, the organizational method, the use (or lack)of narrative techniques, and so on.

The following questions can serve as models for student reflection.Students can apply them to studies they have read as well as to their ownwork. They can ask themselves these questions—and write down theiranswers—before, during, or after they write their papers.

• What is the purpose of this study?

• What might/did you expect to learn or prove?

• What barriers or obstacles might/did you encounter?

• How might/did you overcome them?

• What kinds of unexpected understandings might/did you encounter?

• What types of writing did you read?

• What type of paper did you choose to write, and why?

An additional strategy is to have students apply the scientific methodand the parts of a science report to a formal, final reflective essay in aportfolio. Instead of the scientific method being the basis for the formal,final reflective essay, you might direct students (according to what yourcourse covers) to reflect on how they combined objective and subjectiveobservations; dealt with the differences between primary and secondarysources; learned to read in the discipline for both literal and inferentialthinking; employed both creative and critical thinking; and so on. Thiscan truly be a bridge between reflecting, writing, and participating in con-tent courses.

Teaching Tip: Research papers in composition classes, depending ontheir subject matter, may very well use experiments and case studies fromthe social and natural sciences in order to support their arguments. Theconverse, however, is less often true: It is rare that a science professorand at least uncommon that a social science professor will require stu-dents to use materials from the humanities—save perhaps a prescriptivegrammar textbook. Ask your students why they think this might be thecase and what that difference tells them about how we as a society viewknowledge, information, and truth.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe site http://wac.colostate.edu contains advice about teaching writ-

ing in various disciplines. The “teacher exchange” section of this Web siteshares assignments, syllabi, classroom activities, and so forth.




In “The WAC Matrix: Institutional Requirements for Nurturing aTeam-Based WAC Program” (Writing Program Administration, 27.3[2004]: 53–68), Lisa Emerson describes the value of collaboration betweenscience faculty (content specialists) and writing faculty (skills specialists)to generate a synergistic change environment for students who write inthe natural sciences. Emerson emphasizes the need for qualitative evalua-tion, including open-ended.

In “Bridging the Disciplines: Interdisciplinary Discourse and FacultyScholarship” (The Journal of Higher Education 74.2 [2003], 119–149)Susan Frost and Paul Jean describe Emory University’s eight-year exper-iment to foster true communication and build meaningful interactionsbetween academic disciplines through their “Luce Seminars.”



CHAPTER 61

Writing Under Pressure

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

—Douglas Adams

OVERVIEW This chapter gives students pointers about writing in high-stakes sit-

uations that afford little or no time for all of the usual stages of the writ-ing process. For first-year students, the most immediate such situation willbe the one focused on in the chapter: writing essay exams.

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: In addition to the tips outlined in section 61B, advise

students to take the time to prepare at least a rudimentary phrase or sen-tence outline of key points to be covered in the essay exam question. If thestudent is unable to cover all of the points, he or she may receive at leastpartial credit for the details in the outline.

Teaching Tip: The benefits to students of generating practice questionsand writing practice exam answers cannot be overemphasized. Studentswill find that these activities also provide a way of reviewing and inter-nalizing the course material. Most critically, they should time themselveswhile writing practice answers so that they have a realistic sense of howto allocate their time during the actual situation.

Activity: Have students analyze their notes for a course that will berequiring an essay exam and prepare three questions, along with phrase orsentence outlines for the answers, for an upcoming exam. Ask students tobegin by reviewing typical verbs used in essay exam questions at aresource such as http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/737/01/; theverbs will often suggest an organizational structure for the exam answer.

Activity: The Purdue OWL resource at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/737/01/ offers exercises on evaluating two sample essayquestions, as well as a series of generic essay prompts that you use tohave students block out strategies for answers.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe University of North Carolina Writing Center offers tips—both

practical and psychological—on writing essay exams; visit http://writing-center.unc.edu/handouts/essay-exams/.



CHAPTER 62

Making Presentations

Have common sense and . . . stick to the point.

—W. Somerset Maugham

OVERVIEW This chapter guides the student through the process of creating and

giving presentations, as well as providing information on presentation mul-timedia.

Quick Boxes62.1 Adapting a presentation to your audience, p. 779

62.2 Guidelines for designing a PowerPoint or similar presentationslides, p. 782

TEACHING TIPSTeaching Tip: Have you had a personal experience with stage fright

before a presentation? Perhaps a time you met a new class for the firsttime? (Perhaps every time you meet a class for the first time?) Sharingyour most embarrassing and frightening experiences with public presen-tation will help your students recognize that even a highly knowledgeableand well-prepared “expert” can have nervous moments too. The studentswill appreciate your candor and “humanness” and may develop more con-fidence in their own ability to face the fear that ranks, for many, ahead ofthe fear of death. Journaling/prewriting about presentation jitters can helpas well.

Teaching Tip: In addition to the tip above, you might want to sharewith them this curious bit of theater history: Roman actors swore theycould fend off nervousness by yawning! Have your students give it a trybefore their speeches; if nothing else, a big, boisterous yawn may be goodfor a laugh (which may also help them relax).

Teaching Tip: An enjoyable and effective teaching strategy frequently isto have students generate “negative examples.” Asking students intention-ally to create a bad poster or PowerPoint slide, for example, can dramatizefor them the qualities of good work. You might even have them “judge”one another’s work, with prizes going to the worst example and to the“best worst” example.

Teaching Tip: Here are some general pointers for making a good Pow-erPoint presentation:


Chapter 62—Making Presentations


1. Make sure it is easy to read, especially from a distance. Distractingbackgrounds, color clashes, or too little color differentiation may makeyour presentation difficult to follow.

2. Avoid using too much clip art. Not every slide requires an image.

3. Avoid writing too much text. Your audience will find it difficult toread, and you will be tempted to simply read from your slides, which willinhibit your ability to deliver a powerful presentation.

4. Avoid the overuse of bulleted lists. Oftentimes, bulleted lists areused simply because the default template for a PowerPoint slide is“title/bulleted list.” On the other hand, if you will spend some timeexplaining each of the bulleted points, you might consider creating aunique slide for each point. Doing so will emphasize those points a greatdeal more than a bulleted list would.

5. Use sound sparingly, if at all. Sound files are more difficult topackage with your presentation than are images, and the quality of audiospeakers at your venue may not allow the sound to be heard.

6. Do not feel that you must stand dutifully next to your computer toadvance slides. The PowerPoint is there to help you; you are not there totend to the PowerPoint.

7. Make hard copies of slides and print them out, in case the technol-ogy fails and you will not be able to use your PowerPoint presentation.

8. In short, think of your PowerPoint presentation as a “presentationenhancer,” not a “presentation maker.” That way, if the technology fails—and everyone who presents with PowerPoint regularly has stories of stu-pendous, show-stopping technological failures—you will still be able todeliver your presentation.

Teaching Tip: One way to help students learn how to use their voiceseffectively and deliver a memorized speech with passion is to have themcommit a classic speech, soliloquy from a play, or other dramatic mono-logue to memory and deliver it to the class. As they practice, have themmake “stage notes” to themselves about their use of voice, gesture, move-ment, eye contact, etc. Remind them to match their delivery to the tone ofthe speech they are reciting.

Teaching Tip: Although students need to know that preparation andpractice provide the best way to reduce stage fright and ensure a strongpresentation, they may feel better when they hear that most performersand public speakers have learned to welcome a little anxiety as a goodsign that the presentation will have energy. “Consider the worst that canhappen,” one expert recommends; then picture your response to that sce-nario. Cardiac arrest? Doubtful. But someone moving into the presenter




role and imagining that “worst case scenario” could ask his or her audi-ence to memorize the emergency number “911” and then repeat it twice toassure himself or herself they will remember. The audience will laugh,and the presenter will relax. You may also mention to your students thatbeginning a presentation with a little touch of humor, if appropriate to thetopic and smoothly integrated into the introductory remarks, can build inthe chuckle that helps everyone relax.

Teaching Tip: Like actors, students may find it helpful to “step intocharacter” before giving their speeches. Ask them to think about who, ide-ally, would deliver the speeches they have written. The person eachchooses could be an actor, living or dead, a person from history, or evena fictional character. When the students go to give their speeches, havethem imagine that they are “playing” that person. The distance created byplaying a character rather than “speaking for themselves” may prove help-ful for some students’ nerves. Furthermore, imagining someone else deliv-ering their speeches may help them think about effective ways to usevoice, gesture, etc.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe History Channel maintains a large Web site of famous speeches

from the fields of politics, entertainment, science and technology, and warand diplomacy; go to www.historychannel.com/speeches. Another goodresource is the Online Speech Bank, at the Web site www.americanrhetoric.com/ speechbank.htm. Over five thousand speeches areavailable.

In a much-cited article in the Chicago Tribune Magazine (“Is Power-Point the Devil?” January 5, 2003), Julia Keller quotes several profes-sionals, including some writing instructors, who have reservations aboutthis software. She includes an entertaining example of Lincoln’s Gettys-burg Address done as a PowerPoint presentation. (Visit http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/sld001.htm to see the PowerPoint.)



CHAPTER 63

Writing for DigitalEnvironments

Many things difficult to design prove easy to perform.

—Samuel Johnson

OVERVIEW This chapter introduces students to strategies for adapting their writ-

ing to digital environments and forms such as blogs, wikis, Web sites,social media, videos, and podcasts. While many students will be highlyfamiliar with how to interact with such environments, they may well havelittle explicit knowledge of writing and design principles that reflect theway users interact with digital environments. These topics are further com-plicated by the increasingly widespread use of mobile devices such assmartphones and tablets, whose varying screen sizes and capabilities mayaffect how words, images, and sounds are rendered to the user.

Quick Boxes63.1 Guidelines for writing in a blog, p. 786

63.2 Guidelines for writing in a wiki, p. 787

63.3 Guidelines for producing sound and video recordings, p. 788

63.4 Editing checklist for a Web site, p. 790

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: In teaching writing for digital environments, you will

want to see what programs your university already has and uses. Forexample, many course management systems support wikis and blogs. Youcan also use free sites on the Internet; the following list provides someexamples. Students may also suggest apps for these purposes, althoughyou will need to ensure that all students have access to the apps.

Blogs:

• Blogger www.blogger.com

• WordPress www.wordpress.com

• Drupal http://drupal.org

Image Collages:

• Photobucket http://photobucket.com

• Picasa http://picasa.google.com

Wikis: Wikispaces www.wikispaces.com

Podcasting: PodBean www.podbean.com




Teaching Tip: The Pew Internet and American Life Project publishesregular reports at www.pewinternet.org on how American life has beenchanged by digital resources. The timely statistics and short reports on thesite can make a good starting point for class discussion or student research.

Activity: According to Jakob Nielsen, P. J. Schemenaur, and JonathanFox, writing for publication on the Web differs from writing for print inthe following ways: “79% of users scan the page instead of reading word-for-word; reading from computer screens is 25% slower than from paper;and Web content should have 50% of the word count of its paper equiva-lent.” Have students adapt an essay that they have written, or one that youprovide, so that its format, content, and style are more appropriate forscreen-based reading. You may want to have students work in groups andthen present their “before and after” texts to the class; have them explainspecific strategies that they used to modify the text for a digital environ-ment.

Activity: While originally developed to make Web content accessibleto users with disabilities (e.g., low vision, dyslexia), accessibility guide-lines have become increasingly important for designing digital content thatrenders effectively across platforms and devices (e.g., the small screens ofsmartphones). Have students explore the accessibility guidelines outlinedat www.w3.org/wai and use them to evaluate a Web site they havedesigned or one already in existence. If possible, have students explorethe same site across different platforms and devices, to see if problemsarise.

Activity: Elizabeth Losh’s “Digital Rhetoric: Genres, Disciplines, andTrends” overviews digital rhetoric and related changes in contemporarycomposition; see www.digitalrhetoric.org. She suggests that having stu-dents construct intentionally bad presentation slides and Web sites(“parody” sites such as www.angelfire.com/super/badwebs) can help thembecome consciously aware of good design principles.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESKarl Stolley’s book How to Design and Write Web Pages Today

(Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2011) offers an introduction to rhetorical,design, and practical considerations of Web site design.

Two online journals, Kairos http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/ and Com-puters and Composition www.bgsu.edu/cconline, regularly publish inno-vative approaches to digital pedagogy.

Usability News, an online newsletter associated with usability issues,can be found at www.usabilitynews.org.


Chapter 63—Writing for Digital Environments


In “Moving to the Public: Weblogs in the Writing Classroom,”Charles Lowe and Terra Williams argue that public writing helps studentsto connect to the world outside the classroom. They offer several examplesof how they incorporate blogs in their classrooms, such as readingresponses, personal explorations, and research responses. Seehttp://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/moving_to_the_public.html.

Cynthia L. Selfe’s Multimodal Composition: Resources for Teachers(Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2007) has a variety of excellent essays onthe use of multimodal composition in the classroom

In “Beyond the ‘Bells and Whistles’: Toward a Visual Rhetoric forTeachers’ Digital Portfolios” (English Education 37.3 [2005]: 200–222),Troy Hicks argues for standards-based as well as tech-savvy criteria forWeb postings of teacher portfolios. A similar argument is now also devel-oping for student Web-based assignments in composition and rhetoric.

The Web site Design & Publishing, located at www.graphic-design.com, offers numerous resources such as tips on designing Web sites, usingAdobe Photoshop for improving digital photographs, selecting fonts, andso on.



CHAPTER 64

Writing for Work

I for one appreciate a good form letter, having worked on Capitol Hill andlearned several dozen cordial ways to say nothing.

—Carrie Johnson

OVERVIEW This chapter introduces students to fundamentals of business writing.

While students who plan on a business major will often be required totake a more comprehensive course in business communication later intheir college career, all students will benefit from an understanding ofexpectations about writing for the workplace.

Quick Boxes64.1 Guidelines for work-related correspondence, p. 793

64.2 Guidelines for writing business e-mail, p. 795

64.3 Guidelines for writing a traditional, scannable, or plain-textrésumé, p. 799

64.4 Guidelines for writing a job application letter, p. 802

TEACHING TIPS, ACTIVITIESTeaching Tip: This chapter is written from the perspective of “standard

business practices,” much like this textbook takes “edited American Eng-lish” as the basis for its grammar. Local business practices will vary. Insome business environments, for instance, an informal tone is permissible,perhaps even preferred. Earlier chapters’ considerations of audience (4C)and style, tone, and voice (Chapter 37) apply here as well.

Teaching Tip: Combine business writing formats such as business let-ters and résumés with literature or content course topics. For example,you might ask students to create a résumé based on the biography of asignificant author, inventor, or leader. Or perhaps reward students for cre-ating and sending real-life documents, such as letters to the editor of anewspaper or periodical, or to a federal, state, or local politician. Thesedocuments, along with any reciprocal communication, become substantialportfolio entries that show commitment and mastery, if you use portfoliosin your writing class (see Chapter 8).

Teaching Tip: Most students are highly motivated to learn aboutemployment-related materials such as résumés and job application letters.A session on preparing such materials is a good time to invite a guest


Chapter 64—Writing for Work


speaker from your university’s career center, who will most likely behappy to visit your class and will have numerous examples to show stu-dents. A typical first-year student will not yet have enough work or vol-unteer experience to fill a résumé appropriate for applying for apost-graduation job. Nonetheless, students can benefit from finding outearly about the need to develop and keep records of their volunteer andpart-time work for later use on a résumé.

Activity: Unlike many types of academic essays, business proposalsand reports make frequent use of headings to help readers scan material.Executive summaries are also quite important in business reports, espe-cially those directed to managerial readers. Have students revise a reportthey have written (or one that you provide) so that it includes at least twolevels of headings and begins with an executive summary. Students maywant to review Chapter 20 for pointers about summary-writing.

Activity: Have students work individually or in teams to conduct abrief interview with a workplace professional about the types of writtenand oral communication in which the person regularly engages. Studentscan report back to the class afterward. The act of setting up an appoint-ment with the professional and writing a thank-you note afterward canalso give students practice in creating e-mails that meet business stan-dards.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESKim Sydow Campbell’s Pros Write blog at http://proswrite.com/

author/proswrite/ offers frequent columns about topics in workplace writ-ing, as well as links to related resources such as videos about commonbusiness writing features.

Business Communication Quarterly, the teaching-oriented publicationof the Association for Business Communication, offers articles about bestpractices in teaching business communication, including many specificassignment suggestions; see http://bcq.sagepub.com/.

The OWL at Purdue has a great number of resources available to“workplace writers,” including techniques, samples, guidelines, and tipsfor writing to Chinese and Indian business audiences; see http://owl.eng-lish.purdue.edu/owl/resource/681/01/.

Service-learning projects combine classroom learning with volunteerwork in a community setting, usually a not-for-profit agency. They can beexceptional ways for students both to learn real-world business writingskills and to contribute to the lives of others. The National Service-Learn-ing Clearinghouse at www.servicelearning.org/slice offers extensiveresources and current service-learning opportunities.
