The Longwood Guide to Writing

Preface



I. STRATEGIES FOR THE WRITING PROCESS.

Why Write? How Does Writing Happen? Stages in the Writing ProcessWriting and ReadingComputers and Writing
1. Invention: Finding Something to Say

Finding TopicsWriting about an Assigned Topic



Exploring Topics



Finding Information



Sample Student Process-Prewriting



From Inventing to Drafting

2. Shaping an Essay

Initial Shaping StrategiesSample Student Process-Discovery Draft



Developing an Essay's Structure



Elements of an Essay



3. Revising

Revising Strategies







Writer's Notebook: Responding to Readers' Comments



Editing Strategies







Writing a Self-Assessment



Sample Student Process-Revision



Marisol Vargas, Mirror Image





4. Responding to Readings

Sample Reading Lee K. Abbott, The True Story of Why I Do What I Do



Reading Strategies for TextsReadings Strategies for Visuals



Writers Notebook: Dialogue Notes



Writing Paraphrases and Summaries *Steven Pinker, Racist Language, Real and ImaginedWriting a ResponseSample Student Essay - Summary and Response *Christian Clark, Emotion and the Death Penalty: An Analysis of Jaclyn Tablert's, "Justice For Those Who Have Shown Us No Mercy"



II. WRITING OCCASIONS

Aims of DiscourseModes of DiscourseWedding Aim and ModeClassifying Occasions
5. Personal Essays Sample Essays Datus Proper, Dark Hollow Judith Ortiz Cofer, The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria Charles McNair, My Father's Cabin *Christopher Fisher, Scars The Rhetorical Triangle Distinguishing Features of Personal Essays Visuals and Personal Essays Assignment and Guidelines for Writing Sample Student Process Chris Miller, Gringos on Safari





6. Information Essays Sample Essays Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, On the Fear of Dying



Suzanne Smalley, The Perfect Crime Jay Chiat, Illusions are Forever Arthur Rosenfeld, Should Anyone Have to Live WIth Pain? Gloria Naylor, Mommy, What Does "Nigger" Mean? *Sandra Y. Govan, Listening to the Word, or 21st Century Readers and "The Souls of Black Folk" *Elizabeth C. Gardner, Transforming a Nation, Transforming an Enemy The Rhetorical Triangle Distinguishing Features of Information Essays Assignment and Guidelines for Writing Making Use of Visuals Meir Shalev, If Bosnians Were Whales Sample Student Process Michael Graham, All In a Day's Work: Generalizing, Profiling, and Stereotyping

7. Essays About and From Literature Sample Works of Literature Joyce Carol Oates, Shopping *Aaron Gwyn, Of Falling Robert Frost, For Once, Then, Something Margaret Atwood, Spelling Sherman Alexie, That Place Where Ghosts of Salmon Jump Sherman Alexie, The Powwow at the End of the World *Sherman Alexie, Evolution Sample Essays Kendra Stead, The Making of Spells *Amy Wright, A Quest to Return to the Garden: Perception "Of Falling" Kendra Stead, No Exceptions *Steve Stoeckel, What About the Customer? The Rhetorical Triangle Distinguishing Features of Interpretive Essays Assignment and Guidelines for Writing Writing About Literature Writing From Literature Sample Student Process Kristina Geray, "How Exhausting It Is" To Keep Up Appearances 8. Evaluation Essays Sample Essays



Ellen Goodman, Beauty Industry on Rampage



*Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Shooting to Win; Do Attack Ads Work? You Bet -- and That's Not All Bad



Bill Bridges, "No Thanks"-A Step Beyond "Just Say No"



Jennifer Pitman, Booze It? Lose It! An Evaluation of North Carolina's Drunk Driving Laws



*Amy Wright, "The DaVinci Code": A Study in Print and Film



The Rhetorical Triangle



Distinguishing Features of Evaluation Essays Lou Jacobs, What Qualities Does a Good Photograph Have?

Evaluating Visual Images

Assignment and Guidelines for Writing





An Exercise in Evaluation and The Internet



Portfolios



Jacqueline Cotter, Getting It Right: Fitting Message to Audience



Steve Duran, Steve Wants an A



Sample Student Process



Bridget McCollam, Adult Audiences Only





9. Position Essays

Sample Essays



*Michael Haley, The Right Not to Listen



*David Amante, Teaching Is Always A Political Act



*Stephen Jay Gould, Nonoverlapping Magisteria



Jennifer Pitman, Euthanasia and the Right to Die



The Rhetorical Triangle



Distinguishing Features of Position Essays



Assignment and Guidelines for Writing



Sample Student Process



Heather Hall, The Next Big Winner Is...!!





10. Persuasion Essays

Sample Essays



Michael R. Heaphy, Dismemberment and Choice



*Thomas Oliphant, Exposed in the Supreme Court: Lies About 'Partial Birth Abortion'



*Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream *Richard Dawkins, When Religion Steps On Science's Turf: The Alleged Separation Between the Two Is Not So Tidy



Jaime Sherrill, Zero Tolerence for Abuse



Jaclyn Talbert, Justice for Those Who Have Shown Us No Mercy



The Rhetorical Triangle



Distinguishing Features of Persuasion Essays



Assignment and Guidelines for Writing







Sample Student Process



Alysia Tucker, No More





11. Problem/Solution Essays

Sample Essays.



William E. King, Out of Hurricane's Way Julie Titone, Balance of Power: Can Endangered Salmon and Hydroelectric Plants Share the Same Rivers?



Andrew Overton, Change



The Rhetorical Triangle



Distinguishing Features of Problem/Solution Essays







Assignment and Guidelines for Writing



Sample Student Process



Kristina Geray, The Pet Overpopulation Problem





III. RESEARCH



12. Researching and Writing

Topic Selection



Searching a Topic







Incorporating Material from Sources



Documenting Information







CitationsSample Annotated Essay *Clarita Brown, The American Indian Movement as a Counterculture



Writing Assignment



Sample Student Process



Gardiner Rhoderick, Yes, It's Graffiti, but Is It Art?





IV. WRITING AND ASSESSING

Assessment via Essay Exams


13. Essay Examinations

Packaging the Process



Planning Your Essay's Content



Planning Your Essay's Structure



Overlapping Terminologies



Essays That Ask for Practical Applications



Planning Sample Essays





V. PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION

Basic Grammar

Parts of Speech







Phrases and Modification



Sentence Functions







Sentence TypesPunctuation, Spelling, and Manuscript Mechanics

End Punctuation



Punctuation within Sentences



Spelling



Manuscript Mechanics



Capitalization

Literary CreditsIndex