English Skills with Readings

One of the most comprehensive and well-respected books of its kind, this best-selling rhetoric/reader/handbook is designed for developmental writing courses that focus on paragraph writing skills in preparation for essay writing.

English Skills with Readings features John Langans crystal-clear explanations and his wide range of motivating activities and writing assingments that effectively reinforce the Four Bases of Effective Writing: Unity, Support, Coherence, and Sentence Skills.

This Fifth Edition includes new coverage on using the computer, expanded coverage on the writng process, updated coverage on library resources, and fresh new examples, writing activities, editing tests, and readings.


Key features


The Langan Support Hotline: 1-800-MCGRAWH (800-624-7294) or langan@mcgraw-hill.com

Staffed from 8:00 to 4:30 pm CST, the Langan line offers:

Expert answers to text queries and concerns
Fast fulfillment of Desk/Exam Copy Requests
Updates on the Langan Series
Information on Special Discount Packages
Technology Advice and Support
New Readings: All the Good Things, Helen Mrosla; Fifth Chinese Daughter, Jade Snow Wong; Ticket to Nowhere, Andy Rooney; How They Get You to Do That, Janny Scott; Dealing with Feelings, Rudolph Verderber; Bullies in School, Kathleen Berger
The Internet: A revised and updated chapter on using the library includes helpful advice on using the internet.
Model Research Paper: This new paper follows the latest MLA guidelines and incorporates a variety of electronic sources.
New Chapter for Non-Native Speakers: The Fifth Edition has a new chapter in the Sentence Skills section for non-native speakers. It is complete with exercises and activities.
More Process: A new chapter in Part One, The Writing Process, uses sample student paragraphs to demonstrate how prewriting and revision are essential parts of the act of writing, and a major new section on revising sentences has been added.


Table of contents


PART ONE: BASIC PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE WRITING
1. An Introduction to Writing
2. The Writing Process
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
4. The Third Step in Writing
Step 3: Organize and Connect the Specific Evidence, Practice in Organizing and Connecting Specific Evidence
5. The Fourth Step in Writing
Step 4: Write Clear, Error-Free Sentences
Revising Sentences
Editing Sentences
Practice in Revising Sentences
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
7. Introduction to Paragraph Development
8. Providing Examples
9. Explaining a Process
10. Examining Cause and Effect
11. Comparing or Contrasting
12. Defining a Term
13. Dividing and Classifying
14. Describing a Scene or Person
15. Narrating an Event
16. Arguing a Position
PART THREE: ESSAY DEVELOPMENT
17. Writing the Essay
What Is an Essay?
Important Points about the Essay
Essays to Consider
Planning the Essay
Writing an Exam Essay
Essay Writing Assignments
PART FOUR: RESEARCH SKILLS.
18. Using the Library and the Internet
19. Writing a Research Paper
PART FIVE: HANDBOOK OF SENTENCE SKILLS
Grammar
20. Subjects and Verbs
21. Sentence Sense
22. Fragments
23. Run-Ons
24. Standard English Verbs
25. Irregular Verbs
26. Subject-Verb Agreement
27. Pronoun Agreement and Reference
28. Pronoun Types
29. Adjectives and Adverbs
30. Misplaced Modifiers
31. Dangling Modifiers
Mechanics
32. Paper Format
33. Capital Letters
34. Numbers and Abbreviations
Punctuation
35. Apostrophe
36. Quotation Marks
37. Comma
38. Other Punctuation Marks
Word Use
39. Using the Dictionary
40. Improving Spelling
41. Vocabulary Development
43. Commonly Confused Words
44. Effective Word Choice
45. ESL Pointers
Practice
46. Combined Mastery Tests
47. Editing Tests
Sentence-Skills Achievement Test
PART SIX: SEVENTEEN READING SELECTIONS
Introduction to the Readings
Goals and Values
All the Good Things by Sister Helen Mrosla
Rowing the Bus by Paul Logan
Fifth Chinese Daughter by Jade Snow Wong
Adolescent Confusion by Maya Angelou
Tickets to Nowhere by Andy Rooney
What Good Families Are Doing Right by Delores Curran
Education and Self-Improvement
Do It Better! by Ben Carson, M.D. with Cecil Murphey
Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name by James Lincoln Collier
Old Before Her Time by Katherine Barrett
Lets Really Reform Our Schools by Anita Garland
How They Get You to Do That by Janny Scott
Dealing with Feelings by Rudolph F. Verderber
Human Groups and Society
Television Changed My Family Forever by Linda Ellerbee
Rudeness at the Movies by Bill Wine
Bullies in School by Kathleen Berger
People Need People by S. Leonard Syme
A Drunken Ride, a Tragic Aftermath by Theresa Conroy and Christine M. Johnson
Appendix: Answers and Charts
Answers to Sentence Skills Diagnostic Test and Introductory Projects
Charts
Acknowledgments
Index