GET WRITING: SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS is a flexible textbook that meets the needs of a variety of developmental writers including recent high school graduates, working adults, and those for whom English is a second language. GET WRITING gives students the opportunity to acquire skills and develop confidence through their own writing. It encourages students to write about their own goals, families, jobs, college-life, personal interests, and the world around them. Throughout the book students have the opportunity to express themselves on a range of issues, then examine and improve their words, sentences, and paragraphs. Above all, GET WRITING asks students to think critically and sharpen their editing skills by asking them two basic questions: "What are you trying to say?" and "What have you written?"

Table of Contents:
Part I: GETTING STARTED. 1. Why Write? Responding to Images. Writing Activity. Goals of This Book. Using Get Writing. Working Together. What is Good Writing? The Writing Context. Strategies for Succeeding in Writing Courses. Critical Thinking. Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 2. The Writing Process. Responding to Images. The Writing Process. Step One: Prewrite. Strategies for Increasing Critical Thinking. Prewriting Techniques. Step Two: Plan. Moving from Topic to Thesis. Working Together. Organizing Support. Creating an Outline. Writing Activity. Step Three: Write. Writing Activity. Step Four: Cool. Step Five: Revise. Using Peer Review. Peer Review Guidelines. Revising Activity. Step Six: Edit. Editing Activity. Avoiding Plagiarism. Critical Thinking. Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. Part II: DEVELOPING PARAGRAPHS. 3. Developing Topic Sentences and Controlling Ideas. Responding to Images. What is a Paragraph? What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Topic Sentences and Controlling Ideas. Reading Topic Sentences. Writing Topic Sentences. Paragraphs Without Topic Sentences. Revising Paragraphs. Working Together. Using Paragraph Breaks in Dialogue. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? What Have You Learned? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 4. Supporting Topic Sentences with Details. Responding to Images. What Are Supporting Details? What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Steps to Building Effective Paragraphs. Types of Support. Observations and Personal Experience. Examples. Facts. Statistics. Testimony (Quotations).Blending Support. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? Responding to Images. What Have You Learned? Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 5. Developing Paragraphs Using Description. Responding to Images. What is Description? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Using Objective and Subjective Description. Creating Dominant Impressions. Exam Skills. Improving Dominant Impressions and Supporting Detail. Student Paragraphs. Putting Paragraphs Together. Readings:"American Muslims," Critical Thinking and Discussion. Paul M. Barrett. "My Ecumenical Father," Jose Antonio Burciaga. Critical Thinking and Discussion. Writing at Work. Critical Thinking and Discussion. Steps to Writing a Descriptive Paragraph. Selecting Topics. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 6. Developing Paragraphs Using Narration. Responding to Images. What is Narration? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Writing Narration: Making a Point. Exam Skills. Writing Narrative: Using Transitions. Writing Narrative: Using Dialogue. Student Paragraphs. Putting Paragraphs Together. Readings:"What's in a Name," Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Critical Thinking and Discussion. "The Fender Bender," Ramon "Tianguis" Perez. Critical Thinking and Discussion. Writing at Work. Critical Thinking and Discussion. Steps to Writing a Narrative Paragraph. Selecting Topics. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 7. Developing Paragraphs Using Example. Responding to Images. What Is an Example? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Writing Example Paragraphs. Types of Examples. Using Hypothetical. Examples. Writing Examples: Using Transitions. Key Transition Words. Exam Skills. Student Paragraphs. Putting Paragraphs Together. Readings: "The Company Man," Ellen Goodman. Critical Thinking and Discussion. "Mexicans Deserve More Than La Mordida," Joe Rodriguez. Critical Thinking and Discussion. Writing at Work. Critical Thinking and Discussion. Steps to Writing an Example Paragraph. Selecting Topics. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written?. Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 8. Developing Paragraphs Using Comparison and Contrast. Responding to Images. What Are Comparison and Contrast? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? The Purposes of Comparison and Contrast. Writing to Explain. Writing to Convince. Organizing Comparison and Contrast Paragraphs. Subject-by-Subject. Point-by-Point. Exam Skills. Student Paragraphs. Putting Paragraphs Together. Readings: "Chinese Space, American Space," Yi-Fu Tuan. Critical Thinking and Discussion. "Of My Friend Hector and My Achilles Heel," Michael T. Kaufman.Critical Thinking and Discussion. Writing at Work. Critical Thinking and Discussion. Steps to Writing a Comparison and Contrast Paragraph. Selecting Topics. Working Together. Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 9. Developing Paragraphs Using Cause and Effect. Responding to Images. What Is Cause and Effect? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Cause and Effect: Critical Thinking. Exam Skills. Student Paragraphs. Putting Paragraphs Together. Readings: "Why Boys Don't Play With Dolls," Katha Pollitt. Critical Thinking and Discussion. "I Refuse to Live in Fear," Diana Bletter. Critical Thinking and Discussion. Writing at Work. Focus Consulting. Critical Thinking and Discussion. Steps to Writing a Cause and Effect Paragraph. Selecting Topics. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 10. Toward the Essay. Responding to Images. What Is an Essay? The Introduction. The Body. The Conclusion. Developing Topic Sentences in Outlines. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 11. Writing at Work. Responding to Images. E-mail. Strategies for Writing E-mail. Reports. Strategies for Writing Reports. Resumes. Strategies for Writing Resumes. Cover Letters. Strategies for Writing Cover Letters. Working Together. Critical Thinking. Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. Part III: WRITING SENTENCES. 12. Recognizing the Power of Words. Responding to Images. The Power of Words. What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Use Correct Words. Use Effective Words. Use Concrete Nouns. Use Strong Verbs. Avoid Cliches. Use Appropriate Words. Use Appropriate Level of Diction. Use Appropriate Idioms. Be Aware of Connotations. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Learned? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 13. Writing Sentences. Responding to Images. What Is a Sentence? What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Parts of Speech. Subjects and Verbs. What Are Nouns? What Are Pronouns? Locating "Hidden Subjects". Prepositional Phrases. Verbs. Building Sentences: Independent and Dependent Clauses. Sentence Length. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Learned? What Have You Written? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 14. Avoiding Fragments. Responding to Images. What Do You Know? What Are Fragments? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Correcting Fragments. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? What Have You Learned? What Have You Written? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 15. Building Sentences Using Coordination and Subordination. Responding to Images. What Do You Know? What Are Coordination and Subordination? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Types of Sentences. Coordination. Coordinating Conjunctions. Adverbial Conjunctions. Working Together. Subordination. What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? Responding to Images. What Have You Learned? Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 16. Repairing Run-ons and Comma Splices. Responding to Images. What Are Run-ons? What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Run-ons: Fused Sentences and Comma Splices. Fused Sentences. Comma Splices. Identifying Run-ons. Repairing Run-ons: Minor Repairs. Critical Thinking: Run-ons Needing Major Repairs. Methods of Repairing Run-ons. Working Together. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? Responding to Images. What Have You Learned? Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 17. Correcting Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers. Responding to Images. What Are Modifiers? Dangling Modifiers. What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Avoiding Dangling Modifiers. Testing for Dangling Modifiers. Misplaced Modifiers. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? What Have You Learned? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 18. Understanding Parallelism. Responding to Images. What Is Parallelism? What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Overcoming Parallelism Errors. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? Responding to Images. What Have You Learned? Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. Part IV: UNDERSTANDING GRAMMAR. 19. Subject-Verb Agreement. Responding to Images. What Is Subject-Verb Agreement? What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Grammar Choices and Meaning. Special Nouns and Pronouns. Group Nouns. Hidden Subjects. "Either ... Or" Subjects. Indefinite Pronouns. Relative Pronouns: Who, Which, and That. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? Working Together. Responding to Images. What Have You Learned? Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 20. Verb Tense, Mood, and Voice. Responding to Images. What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? What Is Tense? Helping Verbs. Regular and Irregular Verbs. Problem Verbs: Lie/Lay, Rise/Raise, Set/Sit. Shifts in Tense. Working Together. Active and Passive Voice. Grammar Choices and Meaning. Other Verb Problems. Could Have, Must Have, Should Have, Would Have. Double Negatives. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? Responding to Images. What Have You Learned? Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 21. Pronoun Reference, Agreement, and Case. Responding to Images. What Are Pronouns? What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Types of Pronouns. Using Pronouns. Pronoun Reference. Using They without an Antecedent. Pronoun Agreement. Singular and Plural Nouns and Pronouns. Avoiding Sexism. Methods of Avoiding Sexism. Using They to Avoid Sexism. Avoiding Shifts in Point of View. Using the Right Case. Pronoun Cases. Plural Constructions. Between. Comparisons. The Verb To Be. Who and Whom. This and That, These and Those. They and Them. Unnecessary Pronouns. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? What Have You Learned? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 22. Adjectives and Adverbs. Responding to Images. What Are Adjectives and Adverbs? What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Understanding Adjectives. Commas and Adjectives. Understanding Adverbs. Grammar Choices and Meaning. Good/Well, Bad/Badly. Comparisons. Avoiding Double Comparisons. Using Superlatives. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? What Have You Learned? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. Points to Remember. 23. Using Prepositions. Responding to Images. What Are Prepositions? What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Commonly Confused Prepositions. Locating Prepositions. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. What Have You Learned? Points to Remember. Part V: USING PUNCTUATION AND MECHANICS. 24. Using Commas and Semicolons. Responding to Images. What Are Commas and Semicolons? What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Comma. Comma Uses. Avoiding Unnecessary Commas. Guide to Eliminating Unnecessary Commas. Semicolon. Working Together. Critical Thinking.What Have You Written? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. What Have You Learned? Points to Remember. 25. Using Other Marks of Punctuation. Responding to Images. What Are the Other Marks of Punctuation? What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Apostrophe. Quotation Marks. Colon. Parentheses. Brackets. Dash. Hyphen. Ellipsis. Slash. Question Mark. Exclamation Point. Period. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. What Have You Learned? Points to Remember. 26. Using Capitalization. Responding to Images. What Is Capitalization? What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Rules for Capitalization. Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have Your Written? Improving Your Writing. Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. What Have You Learned? Points to Remember. 27. Correcting Spelling Errors. Responding to Images. What Do You Know? What Are You Trying to Say? What Have You Written? Strategies to Improve Spelling. Commonly Misspelled Words. Forty Commonly Misspelled Words. Commonly Confused Words. Ten Most Commonly Confused Words. Forming Plurals. Adding Endings. Past-Tense Spellings. Spelling Other Endings.Working Together. Critical Thinking. What Have You Written? Responding to Images. Writing on the Web. What Have You Learned? Points to Remember. Improving Spelling. HANDBOOK. Basic Sentence Structure. Phrases and Clauses. Types of Sentences. Parts of Speech. Sentence Errors. Fragments. Run-ons. Modifiers. Dangling Modifiers. Misplaced Modifiers. Faulty Parallelism.Verbs. Subject-Verb Agreement. Verb Tense. Problem Verbs. Shifts in Tense. Pronouns. Reference. Agreement. Adjectives and Adverbs. Comma. Semicolon. Apostrophe. Quotation Marks. Colon. Parentheses. Brackets. Dash. Hyphen.Ellipsis. Slash. Question Mark. Exclamation Point. Period. Capitalization.Spelling. Commonly Confused Words. Commonly Misspelled Words. Two Hundred Topics for College Writing. ANSWERS TO ODD-NUMBERED EXERCISES.