to the student writer - 1987
TRANSCRIPT
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English DepartmentNorth Dakota State University
Harcourt Custom PublishersHarcourt CollegePublishers
Fort Worth Philadelphla San Diego New York Orlando Austin San AntonioToronto Montreal Sydney Tokyo
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11 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledqments " , " vii
To the Student Writer lx
Preface " " ,." .." " " xtl
English 110, Writing and Reading I xiii
English 111, Writing and Reading II xiv
Course Policies xvi
Chapter 1: ReadingActively 1
Active Reading Strategies 1
Keeping a Reading Journal. 4
Outlining 5
Summarizing 5
Paraphrasing 7
Making Active Reading Work for You 8
To Review 8
To Practice 8
Chapter 2: Approaching the Assignments 9
Key Terms 9
Understanding Audience 11
Understanding Purpose 12
To Review 13
To Practice 13
Sample Assignment: English 110, Assignment #1 14
Chapter 3: Creating and Recreating Your Draft 15
Steps in the Writing Process 15
Choosing a Topic 18
Writing an Early Draft 21
Thesis Statements 23Initial Revisions 25
Critiquing Your Draft 27
Additional Revisions 29
To Review 33
1'0Practice 33
An Example of the Process 34
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IV
Chapter 4: Developing Strong Paragraphs " " .."" " " 43
Topic Sentences/Claims 43
Focus 45
Development '" 46Cohesion and Coherence 50
Beginning and Ending Paragraphs 54
To Review 59
To Practice 59
Chapter 5: Creating Effective Sentences 61
Write Grammatical Sentences 61
Write Cleat Sentences ...............................................................................•........... ; 64
Write Concise Sentences 65
Write Engaging Sentences 67
Write Varied Sentences 68To Review ·.: :..i . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
To Practice :: : 70
Chapter 6: Choosing Your Words " 13Choose Appropriate Language 73
Choose Interesting Language 76
Choose Correct Language : .. : 77
To Review : : :.;;.;;; ;;; 81
To Practice : : : ..; • 81
Chapter 7: Proofreadlnq Your Draft ...~....,...
Mechanics ..
Grammar ..
Punctua cion .
To Review
To Practice
83
..... 85
90
.. 9 7
97
Chapter 8: Using Reasoning ..
Elements of an 99
100
101
103
108
117
................. 128
..................... 129
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v
Strategies for Library and Online Research 132
Evaluating Sources '137
To Review '139
To Practice 139
Sample Search Strategy for English '110 140Sample Search Strategy for English 111.. 141
Chapter 10: Using Sources Effectsvely " " "" " "." " 143Borrow from Sources Accurately 143
Organize Your Essay 144
Incorporate Information from Sources 145
Integrate Source Materials 151
To Review 155
To Practice 155
Chapter 11: Documenting Your Sources " " " " """ .." ..157Citations in theText : 158
Works Cited Page 160
General Guidelines for Documenting Sources 163
Annotated List of Sources 168
Sample In-Text Citations and Works Cited Entries 171
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IX
TO THE STUDENT WRiTER
by Thomas Matchie
You are about-to begin a two-semester study of the art of composition. Each semester youwill be writing essays on subjects, most of which should be interesting to a person beginningcollege. As you do this you will be requited to do a considerable amount of reading andthinking about thesetopics, By late spring you may feel like you have just completed theBoston Marathon, but if you have seriously 'entered into the whole process, you will havedeveloped a capability that will not only serve you well in your other studies while in collegebut also prepare you in a very valuable way for life in general.
Preparing for life means not only preparing for a career, but also preparing to be a familymember-a wife ora husband, a parent, the son or daughter of an aging parent. It meansgetting ready to belong to a church group or social club, the PTA, or the city planningcommission. It means laying the groundwork to function as an intelligent voter, taxpayer, orpolitical advocate. All these roles requite skills of understanding, thinking, problem solving,and communication that are just as highly developed as the skills you will need on your job.
And if there is one thing you can count on in each of these roles, it's meeting people withdifferent opinions, values, needs, fears, expectations. Moreover, in this complex worldwhere consequences are at stake, you can bet people will debate these consequences fromwhatever viewpoints, thus posing serious problems for you asa decision-maker. And youcan't tunaway. If we are to live together as neighbors, as members of a community, asnations, it's imperative with each conflict we reach some kind of working consensus. Thatwill demand a great deal from you, but that's what a democracy is all about.
Before you begin your journey into thinking and writing, however, it's important that youhave an overall picture of what you are doing and why. One of the first things to keep inmind is that ifyou want to write well, you need to get in the habit of reading. Reading isabove all a means of getting ideas, expanding your mind, seeing new angles on reality.Together we will read many kinds of writing by a host of different authors. You may notlike them all: some may bore you, others confuse you, and a few will make you angry. Butby and large they are all filled with ideas about important things, and you would have to bedead not to begin to see what good reading can do to make you a more alert, thoughtful, andeven helpful human being.
The first-year English sequence is not designed like other courses in college-likepsychology and history or biology-to acquaint you with a body of knowledge. We will be
reading about issues that concern citizens. These issues are related to those roles you'll beplaying in the family, church, marketplace, and government. Considering these issues willhelp you make sense out of confusing and complex situations. Some of the topics will exciteyou more than others, but we want you to sample them all so that whatever role you playyouwill be prepared to fill it with confidence and direction. The real content of this courseis ideas, which are the "stuff" of writing, and if you've got good ones, you'll be a betterwriter and a better citizen.
.Another thing about reading is that you can't read others' writing very long before youbecome aware of the way other people string words and phrases together into thoughts.That's what good writing is about-making good sense with clear and interesting sentences,
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x
and developing paragraphs that flow smoothly and logically. After awhile you will be able tocompare styles of writing and talk about your own style. You'll want to know your own
strengths and weaknesses, and maybe that will come from looking at others' images, idioms,
or interesting ways of saying things. These cannot but help you develop new arrows for
your own writing quiver.
Actually, reading is related to another patt of writing, and that is thinking. Ifyou are to write
well, you not only have to read widely, but you have to think about what you read. Thinking
is not always easy these days. \Ve,are only too happy to accept what others say, or to mimic
the thoughts of our parents or peers, or simply to avoid having to use the energy it takes to
think. And we do this, in spite of the fact that it is our reason that sets us apart from the
animals and gives us our dignity. It may surprise you, but many first-year students don't
think much. The great majority hasn't given much thought to other people's perspectives,
and they see things pretty much as black or white, right or wrong, legal or illegal.
Most of us have opinions, but that's not the same thing as an informed judgment. While all
people have a right to their opinions on any subject, that right does not make one's opinion
as good or as valid as any other. The extent to which an opinion is informed increases its
validity. Informed judgments come from knowing and thinking out all sides of a problem,of evaluating the relative merits of different positions, and coming to hold a particular view
because the reasons for holding it are better than those connected with the other
perspective. To do this kind of intellectual growing means that you have to read, reflect,
compare, and read some more.
Then maybe you are ready to write. \Vriting, you know, is not just sitting down and setting
down ideas. Writing is above all a process. It demands that we try out ideas and styles of
expressing these ideas after we've read and thought and talked about what others say and
how they say it. This year you will be writing drafts of what you want to say; that is, you'll be
writing and rewriting your essays as you tr y to make your ideas work together, to flow, to
make sense as a whole. That takes practice, just as learning to play tennis takes practice, but
that's what this year is about-practice, practice, practice.
Many times during this year you will be tempted to say, "I'll just see what the teacher wants
and write my essay to fulfill the assignment and get through this course that way." \Vell,
that's exactly what this course is not about. It's really about becoming a better writer, and
that means taking the time to read, to think about what you've read, to compare new ideas
from your reading with your own experiences, and then to write-and to be willing to
rewrite sentences and paragraphs until your writing comes alive, flows, even sings. Even
your final draft may not be perfect, but it will be a long way down the road, and you'll know
by comparing it with earlier drafts that you are truly progressing.
One other subtle temptation, of course, given the fact that we live in an age of technology, is
to think that computers will do the lion's share of our work for us. Not so! All thatcomputers imply-the Internet, e-mail, word processing of all kinds--demands even more
that we learn to read, think, and write well. Because there is so much information out there,
you W 1 1 1 . need to red carefully as you do your research so that you can manage it in an
organG.ed way. Then you will need to select painstakingly, being highly critical. about what is
significant to your purposes. And ultimately you will need to express yourself illan accurate,
carefully developed manner. In short, your computer should become a highly honed tool,
subordinate to your mind and natural voice that will eventually blossom fully in your writing.
A final note is that writing can be fun. It need not be just a chore ..·The best writers like to
write because they think of it, not as drudgery, but as an adventure, a means of new
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Xl
discovery. Critics tell us that the best writing is really not the communication of an idea to
another person, but discovering-through the process of writing ourselves-who we are.
This means finding what we really think and what we want to say and the best way to say it.
ltmeans integrating our experiences and feelings with the information we have gathered into
a well-reasoned statement of our conclusions expressed in the best prose we can muster.
That's a magnificent task, perhaps one of the highest order of things we can do as humanbeings. .
So good luck this year, and don't waste the year, as some students do each year. Rather,
enter now into the process-the process of reading, thinking, and writing-with your whole
self. Itcould be one of the greatest decisions of your life.
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If i l i i
I
Freshman English CommitteeNorth Dakota S tate University
191 Spring Street
Lexington, Massachusetts 02173
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Copyright © 1987 by The Freshman English Committee (FEC) of the
English Department, North Dakota State University.
All rights reserved.
This copyright covers material written expressly for this volume by the
editor/s as well as the compilation itself. It does not cover the individual
selections herein that first appeared elsewhere. Permission to reprint these
has been obtained by Ginn Press for this edition only. Further reproduction
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying andrecording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, must be
arranged with the individual copyright holders noted.
Ginn Press, Lexington, Massachusetts 02173
Cover design by Genevieve T. Parent.
Reprinted with permisssion of Macmillan Publishing Company from The
Aims of Education by Alfred North Whitehead. Copyright 1929 by
Macmillan Publishing Company, renewed 1957 by Evelyn Whitehead.
BA7542
ISBN: 0·536-05881-4
Printed in the United States of America
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To the Student Writer
You are about to begin a three-quarter study of the art of composition. Each quarter you
will be writing essays on subjects, most of which should be interesting to a person beginningcollege. As you do this you will be required to do a considerable amount of reading and thinking
about these topics. By late spring you may feel like you have just completed the Boston
Marathon, but if you have seriously entered into the whole process, you will have developed acapability that will not only serve you well in your other studies while in college, but prepare
you in a very valuable way for life in general.
Preparing for life means not only preparing for a career, but preparing to be a family
member-a wife or husband, a parent, the son or daughter of an aging parent. It means getting
ready to belong to a church group or social club, the PTA, or the city planning commission. It
means laying the groundwork to function as an intelligent voter, tax-payer, or political
advocate. All these roles require skills of understanding, thinking, problem-solving, and
communication that are just as highly developed as the skills you will need on your job.
And if there is one thing you can count on in each of these roles, it's meeting people with
different opinions, values, needs, fears, expectations. Moreover, in this complex world where
consequences are at stake, you can bet people will debate these consequences from whatever
viewpoints, thus proposing serious problems for you as a decision-maker. And you can't run
away. If we are to live together as neighbors, as members of a community, as nations, it'simperative that with each conflict we reach some kind of working consensus. That will
demand a great deal from you, but that's what a democracy is all about.
Before you begin your journey into thinking and writing, however, it's important that you
have an overall picture of what you are doing and why. One of the first things to keep in mind
is that if you want to write well, you need to get in the habit of reading. Reading is above all a
means of getting ideas, expanding your mind, seeing new angles on reality. Together we will
read many kinds of writing by a host of different authors. You may not like them all: some maybore you, others confuse you, and a few will make you angry. But by and large they are all
filled with ideas about important things, and you would have to be dead not to begin to see
what good reading can do to make you a more alert, thoughtful, and even helpful human being.
The freshman English sequence is not designed like other. courses in college--likepsychology and history or biology-to acquaint you with a body of knowledge. We will bereading about issues that concern citizens. These issues are related to those roles you'll be
playing in the family, church, marketplace, and government. They'll give you information tohelp make sense out of confusing and complex situations. Some of the topics will excite you more
than others, but we want you to sample them all so that whatever role you play you will beprepared to fill it with confidence and direction. The real content of this course is ideas, which
are the "stuff" of writing, and if you've got good ones, you'll be a better writer and a better
citizen.
Another thing about reading is that you can't read others' writing very long before you
become aware of the way other people string words and phrases together into thoughts. That's
8/7/2019 To the Student Writer - 1987
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what good writing is about-making good sense with clear and interesting sentences, and
developing paragraphs that flow smoothly and logically. After awhile you will be able tocompare styles of writing and talk about your own style. You'll want to know your own strengths
and weaknesses, and maybe that will come from looking at others' images, idioms, or
interesting ways of saying things. These cannot but help you develop new arrows for your ownwriting quiver.
Actually, reading is related to another part of writing, and that is thinking. If you are towrite well, you not only have to read widely, but you have to think about what you read.
Thinking is not always easy these days. We are only too happy to accept what others say, ormimic the thoughts of our parents or peers, or simply avoid having to use the energy it takes to
think. And this, in spite of the fact that it is our reason that sets us apart from the animals,
gives us our dignity. This may surprise you, but most freshmen don't think much. The great
majority haven't given much thought to other people's perspectives, and see things pretty much
as black or white, right or wrong, legal or illegal.
Most of us have opinions, but that's not the same thing as an informed judgment. While all
people have a right to their opinions on any subject, that right does not make one's opinion asgood or valid as any other. The extent to which an opinion is informed increases its validity.
Informed judgments come from knowing and thinking out all sides of a problem, of evaluating
the relative merits of different positions, and coming to hold a particular view because the
reasons for holding it are better than those connected with the other perspective. To do this
kind of intellectual growing means that you have to read, reflect, compare, and read some more.
Then maybe you are ready to write. Writing, you know, is not just sitting down and setting
down ideas. Writing is above all a process. It demands that we try out ideas and styles of
expressing these ideas after we've read and thought and talked about what others say and how
they say it. This year you will be writing drafts of what you want to say; that is, you'll be
writing and re-writing your essays as you try to make your ideas work together, to flow, to make
sense as a whole. That takes practice, like learning to play tennis takes practice, but that's
what this year is about-practice, practice, practice.
There will be many times during this year that you will be tempted to say, "I'll see what
the teacher wants and write my essay to fulfill the assignment and get through this course that
way." Well that's exactly what this course is no t about. It's really about becoming a betterwriter, and that means taking the time to read, to think about what you've read, to compare
new ideas from your reading with your own experiences, and then beginning to write, and to be
willing to re-write sentences and paragraphs until your writing comes alive, flows, even sings.
Even your final draft may not be perfect, but it will be a long way down the road, and you'll
know by comparing itwith earlier drafts that you are truly progressing.
A final note is that writing can be fun. It need not be just a chore. The best writers like towrite because they think of it, not as drudgery, but as an adventure, a means of new discovery.
Critics tell us that the best writing is really not the communication of an idea to anotherperson, but discovering-through the process of writing ourselves-who we are. This means
finding what we really think and what we want to say and the best way to say it. Itmeans
integrating our experiences and feelings with the information we have gathered into a well-
reasoned statement of our conclusions expressed in the best prose we can muster. That's amagnificent task, perhaps one of the highest order of things we can do as human beings.
So good luck this year, and don't waste the year, as many students do each year. Rather,
enter now into the process-the process of reading, thinking, and writing-with your whole
self. Itcould be one of the greatest decisions ofyour life.