English Skills - Brossura

John Langan has taught reading and writing at Atlantic Cape Community College for more than 25 years. The author of a popular series of college textbooks on both writing and reading, John enjoys the challenge of developing instructive materials that are clear and lively. Before teaching, he earned advanced degrees in writing at Rutgers University and in reading at Rowan University. He also spent a year writing fiction that is now at the back of a drawer waiting to be discovered and acclaimed posthumously. While in school, he supported himself by working as a truck driver, a machinist, a battery assembler, a hospital attendant, and an apple packer. In addition to his wife and Philly sports teams, his passions include reading and conveying to nonreaders the pleasure and power of books. Through Townsend Press, his educational publishing company, he has developed the nonprofit Townsend Librarya collection of more than 100 new and classic stories that appeal to readers of any age.

PART ONE: Basic Principles of Effective Writing

Preview

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Writing

Understanding Point and Support

An Overview: How the Book is Organized

Benefits of Paragraph Writing

Writing as a Skill

Writing as a Process of Discovery

Keeping a Journal

Using This Text

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

Prewriting

Writing a First Draft

Revising

Editing

Review Activities

Chapter 3: The First and Second Steps in Writing

Step 1: Begin With a Point

Step 2: Support the Point with Specific Evidence

Practice in Making and Supporting a Point

Chapter 4: The Third Step in Writing

Step 3: Organize and Connect the Specific Evidence

Practice in Organizing and Connecting Specific Evidence

Chapter 5: The Fourth Step in Writing

Step 4: Write Clear, Error-Free Sentences

Revising Sentences

Editing Sentences

Practice in Revising Sentences

Chapter 6: Four Bases for Revising Writing

Base 1: Unity

Base 2: Support

Base 3: Coherence

Base 4: Sentence Skills

Practice in Using the Four Bases

PART TWO: Paragraph Development

Preview

Chapter 7: Introduction to Paragraph Development

Nine Patterns of Paragraph Development

Important Considerations in Paragraph Development

Using a Computer

Using Peer Review

Doing a Personal Review

Chapter 8: Providing Examples

Chapter 9: Explaining a Process

Chapter 10: Examining Cause and Effect

Chapter 11: Comparing or Contrasting

Chapter 12: Defining a Term

Chapter 13: Dividing and Classifying

Chapter 14: Describing a Scene or Person

Chapter 15: Narrating an Event

Chapter 16: Arguing a Position

Chapter 17: Additional Paragraph Assignments

PART THREE: Essay Development

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Chapter 18: Writing the Essay

What Is an Essay?

Important Points About the Essay

Essays to Consider

Planning the Essay

Essay Writing Assignments

PART FOUR: Special Skills

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Chapter 19: Developing Key Study Skills

Chapter 20: Writing an Exam Essay

Chapter 21: Writing a Summary

Chapter 22: Writing a Report

Chapter 23: Writing a Resume and Job Application Letter

Chapter 24: Using the Library and the Internet

Chapter 25: Writing a Research Paper

PART FIVE: Handbook of Sentence Skills

Preview

Sentence-Skills Diagnostic Test

Grammar

Chapter 26: Subjects and Verbs

Chapter 27: Sentence Sense

Chapter 28: Fragments

Chapter 29: Run-ons

Chapter 30: Standard English Verbs

Chapter 31: Irregular Verbs

Chapter 32: Subject-Verb Agreement

Chapter 33: Pronoun Agreement and Reference

Chapter 34: Pronoun Types

Chapter 35: Adjectives and Adverbs

Chapter 36: Misplaced Modifiers

Chapter 37: Dangling Modifiers

Mechanics

Chapter 38: Paper Format

Chapter 39: Capital Letters

Chapter 40: Numbers and Abbreviations

Punctuation

Chapter 41: Apostrophe

Chapter 42: Quotation Marks

Chapter 43: Comma

Chapter 44: Other Punctuation Marks

Word Use

Chapter 45: Using the Dictionary

Chapter 46: Improving Spelling

Chapter 47: Vocabulary Development

Chapter 48: Commonly Confused Words

Chapter 49: Effective Word Choice

Practice

Chapter 50: Combined Mastery Tests

Chapter 51: Editing Tests

Sentence-Skills Achievement Test

CHAPTER 52: ESL Pointers

APPENDIX: Answers and Charts

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Answers to Sentence Skills Diagnostic Test and Introductory Projects

Charts

INDEX