College Writing For Dummies

Description

Transform your next college essay into an A+ masterpiece Taking a 100-level English composition course? Just doing your best to get ready for the rigors of college-level writing? Then it’s probably time you picked up College Writing For Dummies, the single greatest roadmap to writing high-quality essays, reports, and more! This book is the ideal companion for any introductory college writing course and tracks the curriculum of a typical English Composition, College Writing, English 101, or Writing & Rhetoric course. You’ll learn composition techniques, style, language, and grammar tips, and discover how to plan, write, and revise your material. You’ll also get: Ten can’t-miss resources for improving your college writingStrategies for revising and repairing inadequate essays on your ownTechniques to help non-native English speakers master the challenging world of English essay writing Full of real-world examples, lessons in essay structure, grammar, and everything in between, this book is a must-read for every incoming college freshman looking for a head start in one of the most important skills you’ll need over the next few years. Grab a copy of College Writing For Dummies today. Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Introduction About This Book Foolish Assumptions Icons Used in This Book Beyond This Book Where to Go from Here Part 1 Getting Started with College Writing Chapter 1 Transitioning to Greater Expectations: College Writing Full Steam Ahead — Entering College Understanding What to Expect in Your College Writing Course Realizing you’re not in your high school English class anymore Recognizing that college professors are nonnegotiable Debunking Writing Myths Myth No. 1: My professor doesn’t like my writing style Myth No. 2: Writing is just too darn hard Myth No. 3: Only problem writers need feedback Myth No. 4: I suffer from the block Myth No. 5: I can revise in ten minutes Myth No. 6: Writers are born Eyeing the Prize — Your Degree Becoming a 33.3 percenter Adjusting to college life Chapter 2 Sailing into Safe Waters: First-Year Writing Success Understanding the Essay and College Writing Time-honored rite of passage Comparing the five-paragraph and college essay Expanding the five-paragraph format Showing is knowing Grasping the essay role in college writing Talking the Talk Translating academic-speak Decoding your essay syllabus Discovering New Partnerships Reading and writing connection Reading and lifetime learning Writing and career success Chapter 3 Previewing a College Writing 101 Course: Getting Schooled Making First Impressions: First-Year-Writing Classroom The professor’s way — the only way Just accept it and do it Looking closer at a typical college comp course Reading and more reading Living a day in the life of a comp class Identifying the Variety of Writing You’ll Do Writing drafts, drafts, and more drafts Research papers, reports, and more, oh my Writing to discover Checking Out the Skills You’ll Learn and Use Forevermore Writing with a purpose Addressing new audiences Saying more with less Giving credit to earn credit Engaging with sources Valuing evidence and logic Writing with style Thinking and reading critically Budgeting your writing time Collaborating with other students Writing resiliency Respecting College Genre: What College Writing Isn’t Providing personal commentary Outlining Summarizing sources Reacting to sources Writing only one draft — not Challenging Yourself: College Writing’s Higher Expectations Performance earns points Say goodbye personality points Courses are islands Uncover some life and school balance Sail unchartered waters Chapter 4 Tasting Higher Steaks: Essay Portfolio Requirements Understanding What’s It All about: Essay Portfolio Requirements Identifying the ins and outs of portfolios Eyeing the advantages and challenges of portfolios The Power of One — Planning Your Portfolio Checking the list Scheduling dates Meeting Goals: Department, College, and University Fill ‘Er Up: Portfolio Requirements Being clear about essay specifications Including cover letters Showing off your revisions — Multi drafts Reflecting on improvements — Journals Focusing on organization — Presentation Preparing your e-portfolio Part 2 Establishing Essentials: Elements of Composing Chapter 5 Planning Your Essay Success: Organization and Structure Getting Organized: Your Mindset Structuring Your Essay’s Framework Narrative writing — Telling a story Descriptive writing — Detailing experiences Expository writing — Explaining a process Persuasive — Convincing beliefs Comparison and contrast — Identifying likes and differences Cause and effect — Justifying reasons and results Analytical — Evaluating and concluding Body Building: Heavyweight Middle Paragraphs Getting a hold of their purpose Utilizing tools to perform their duties Creating First Impressions — Openings Standing out Including an anecdote Using additional openings strategies Steering clear of these types of openings Focusing on the first sentences Writing a title to highlight your essay Leaving a Lasting Impression — Closings Creating a closing in five steps Avoiding crash endings — Closing don’ts Chapter 6 Determining Your Reasons for Writing: Audience and Purpose Identifying Who: Audience Figuring out who your audience is Recognizing what the college audience expects and doesn’t expect of you Differentiating among audiences Matching tense and tone to your audience Justifying Why: Purpose Figuring out your writing purpose Considering person Making Your Point: Thesis Statement Understanding what a thesis is Recognizing what a thesis isn’t Writing a successful thesis: The how-to Determining how: Writing forms Chapter 7 Showing Evidence: Thesis Support Search and Rescue: Sourcing Your Argument Discovering a couple of search strategies Tapping into required sources Using extended sources Laying Groundwork: Noting Sources Figuring out whether sources are acceptable to use Finding sources for your essay Using the sources wisely Recognizing the Different Ways You Can Use Sources Quoting Paraphrasing Summarizing Synthesizing Extracting What You Need from Sources Selecting sources Organizing sources Synthesizing sources Vetting Your Sources in Greater Detail Putting together the evidence Refuting evidence as easy as 1, 2, 3 Building Your Compelling Argument in Five Easy-to-Follow Steps Step 1: Write your thesis statement Step 2: Identify major supporting points Step 3: Synthesize data from multiple sources Step 4: Refute counterarguments Step 5: Form conclusions Giving Due Credit: Citing Sources Formal source references Informal source references Finalizing Recognition: References Getting Real: Avoiding Logical Fallacies Part 3 Writing with Style, Language, and Grammar Chapter 8 Establishing Structure: Sentences and Paragraphs Variety Packs: Sentence Organization Identifying parts of speech Recognizing important grammar terms Focusing on sentence structures Addressing sentence purpose Inspecting sentence formations Avoiding (Unintended) Incompletes: Fragments and Run-ons Cutting a thought short: Fragments Erroring with punctuation: Run-ons Indenturing Sentences: Paragraph Structure Focusing on topic sentences Developing paragraphs Flowing Smoothly: Coherence Being consistent: Transitional strategies Eyeing relationships: Transitional words Chapter 9 Scoring Personality Points: Stars of Style Knowing Who’s Doing What: Active Verbs and Specific Nouns Heart of speech: Verbs Never nameless: Nouns Using specific nouns and action verbs Pacing Makers: Varying Patterns Recognizing sentence rhythms Identifying punctuation rhythms Noting word rhythms Making the Right Word Choices Implementing sensory words Employing compact words Using familiar words Feeling Risky: Styling with Figures of Speech Comparing and contrasting Repeating Adding surprise Eyeing additional style builders Avoiding Tragedy: Sabotaging Your Style Overrepeating words Self-referencing Writing (exactly) like you talk Overexplaining Stacking adjectives Extending quotations Chapter 10 Showing Sensitivity: Language That Builds Better Societies Raising Standards: General Guidelines for Respectful Language Referencing Race and Ethnicity Using preferred racial and ethnic terminology Spelling and capitalizing racial and ethnic names Making Age References Making Disabilities References Writing about disabilities Showing respect through words Showing inclusion Being Inclusive with Gender and Sexual Orientation Using gender inclusiveness Making sexual orientation references Considering Socioeconomic References Chapter 11 Scrutinizing Your Paper for Sneaky Grammar Errors Making Pronouns Agree Recognizing the types of pronouns Tackling problem pronouns Positioning Prepositional Phrases Connecting Conjunctions Understanding what conjuctions are Noticing conjunction problems Following Parallel Structure Placing Description Remembering Verb Forms Correctly using regular verbs Being familiar with irregular verb forms Making friends with the past participle Comparing Incompletely Confusing Adjectives and Adverbs Profiting with Punctuation: Common Punctuation Errors Commas: Taking a short break Colons and semicolons: Taking a deep breath Dashes and slashes: Politely interrupting Ellipses, parentheses, and brackets: Adding afterthought End punctuation and spacing: Finalizing thoughts Quotation marks: Calling out the word Proper nouns, titles, and headings: Avoiding capital offenses Italics, abbreviations, and numbers: Punctuating words Apostrophes and possessives: Owning up Hyphenation: Making connections Locating, Locating, Locating: Common Usage Errors Sounding Smart: Similar-Sounding Words Improving Page Accuracy Plurals: Making it more than one Misspelling: My personal gremlins Part 4 Rehearsing for Success: Planning, Writing, and Revising Chapter 12 Preparing Your Persuasion: Planning, Gathering, and Organizing Information Organizing Yourself — and Your Essay Preparing yourself Preparing your essay Meeting Expectations: Analyzing Assignments Comprehending the assignment prompt Analyzing the approach: The how-to Zooming In: Assignment Requirements Noting the deliverables Answering the ask Surveying the rubric Starting Strong: Beginning with Background Reading Brainstorming Strategies: Surfacing the Unknown A-Z sentence generators Freewriting Asking What if . . . Give it five Contemplating other strategies Taking Time for R & R: Reading and Recording Recording notes Annotating readings Not Showing or Placing: Selecting Winning Topics Knowing what makes a good topic Recognizing when a topic isn’t good Ordering a La Carte: Optional Assignment Sections Title page Table of contents Appendices Glossary Abstracts and executive summaries Taking One for the Team: Team Projects Chapter 13 Getting One Done: Completing Draft One Awakening Inspiration: Composing Environments and Writing Rituals Location, location, location — college composing environments Ritualizing writing Destroying Delays: Procrastination and Writer’s Anxiety Focusing on procrastination and delays Reducing writer anxiety Completing a Draft in Six Easy-to-Follow Steps Step 1: Plan and focus Step 2: Read for background Step 3: Organize information Step 4: Write the body paragraphs Step 5: Draft opening, closing, and title Step 6: Revise Ensuring a Night’s Sleep: Plagiarism Protection Accepting academic integrity Researching plagiarism Avoiding plagiarism: Helpful strategies Understanding plagiarism and nonnative English students Recalling Olden Rules: Ethics and Objectivity Chapter 14 Rethinking and Repairing: Three-Level Revising Plan Feeling Loopy: Feedback and Revising Loop Understanding why you revise Giving and receiving peer feedback Getting professor feedback and comments Offering peer feedback Providing self-feedback Focusing on the Global Level: Organization and Structure Revising organization and structure Opening: Working title, first sentence, and introduction Supporting middle paragraphs Closing Addressing the Middle: Sentences and Paragraphs Eyeing sentence-starter patterns Avoiding spoken-language wordiness Steering clear of wordy expressions Concentrating on the Local Level Recognizing overused words Identifying unnecessary words Reducing redundancies Taking care of fragile qualifiers Zooming In: Designing a Doable Revising Plan Step 1: Start essays promptly Step 2: Revise in layers Step 3: Revise in short sessions Chapter 15 Finalizing for Shipment: Format and Presentation Making Ends Meet: Finalizing Titles, First Sentences, Openings, and Closings Starting on the right foot — The first page Standing out — The title Formatting the words — The first sentence and first paragraph Ending the right way: The closing Preparing for Grading: Formatting Engaging your reader: Page appearance Including optional parts: Front and back materials Submitting your essay Eagle-Eyeing the Editing Strategizing editing Identifying and avoiding common errors Truth Be Told: Verifying Information Figuring Out What’s Missing Looking Forward: Literacy Improvement Plan Improving your reading Improving your writing Chapter 16 Reaching Out: Writing across Courses Talking Discourse: Content Communities Humanities Social and behavioral sciences Exploring Genre: Writing in the Disciplines Recognizing content conventions Extending the comp essay Molding essay parts Writing essays in your other courses Identifying the Other Types of Papers You May Write in College Reacting to something: Reaction papers Focusing on information: Reports Evaluating research: Literature reviews Writing more in-depth: Research papers Finding Advantages: Content Resources Identifying course content resources Relying on mass media resources Making connections with content Looking at current events Seeing Is Believing: Model Excerpts Psychology Finance The arts Political science Part 5 The Part of Tens Chapter 17 Ten (or So) Resources for Improving College Writing Use Office Hours Maximize Accessible Campus Resources Maximize Other Campus Resources Form Study Teams Study Writing Reference Books Practice Exclusive Revising Use Online College Resources Create a Writing Improvement Plan Practice Reading and Writing Skills Chapter 18 Ten Tips for Nonnative English-Speaking College Writers Read and Read Some More Practice Writing Write Nouns and Verbs Prevent Plagiarism Practice Structural Revising Earn Non-Essay Grade Points Befriend the Writing Center Ask Artificial Intelligence Practice Freewriting Daily Master Idioms Chapter 19 Ten (or So) Tips for Repairing Broken Essays: DIY Fulfilling Requirements First Looking Large for Major Issues Pleasing Your Professor Addressing Professor Comments Opening and Closing Strong Clarifying the Repair Problem Presenting Perfectly Avoiding Failure to Credit Sources Index EULA