For courses in Developmental Writing at the sentence or sentence to paragraph level, and paragraph or paragraph to short essay level. This text is based on the authors' belief that a person can become a better writer by using their speaking/listening skills. If you can speak, you can funnel that response into writing. It offers full coverage of the writing process, patterns of development, grammar and mechanics and usage. This new edition focuses on superior variety and quantity of exercises.

Table of Contents:
(NOTE: Each essay is prefaced by a headnote and followed by comprehension and thought provoking questions.)Sentences and Paragraphs:I. THE PARAGRAPH.  1. The ESL Student and the Native Speaker.  2. Myths About Writing.  3. How to Start Writing.  4. Moving from Sentences to Paragraphs.  5. Writing a Solid Paragraph.  6. Revising Paragraphs. II. THE SENTENCE.  7. The Basic Sentence.  8. Building Sentences.  9. Avoiding Non-Sentences. 10. Verbs—An Overview. 11. Regular and Irregular Verbs. 12. Subject-Verb Agreement. 13. Problems with Verbs. 14. Using Pronouns Correctly. 15. Pronoun Problems. 16. Distinguishing Between Adjectives and Adverbs. 17. Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers. 18. Using Prepositions. III. MECHANICS. 19. Punctuation You Can Hear. 20. Punctuation You Can't Hear. 21. Capitalization. 22. How to Use the Dictionary. 23. Spelling Rules. 24. Commonly Misspelled Words. IV. READINGS. Help for Your Reading. An Object. Tortillas, José Antonio Burciaga. The Ritual of the Grill, Bonny Thomson Belgum. The Cello, Lorena Bruff. A Place. The Hole at Alcatraz, Jim Quillen. Letter from Toyko, Michael A. Lev. The Monkey Garden, Sandra Cisneros. An Animal. Snakes, Michael Ondaatje. The Revolt of the Elephants, Ingrid E. Newkirk. Sport, Jimmy Carter. A Person. A Brotherly Bond That Beat the Odds, Bill Paschke. Two Roads Converged in a Wood, Jenijoy La Belle. Barbie Doll, Marge Piercy. An Event. Last Flight, Isao Matsuo. Looking for Love in Cyberspace Isn't as Easy—or Safe—as It Seems, Sharon Whitley. Shame, Dick Gregory. A Problem. Señor Payroll, William E. Barrett. Talkin' White, Wayne Lionel Aponte. TV's Distorted Images, Tom Siebert. An Argument. With Things That People Can Control, Such As Dress, Stereotypes Make Sense, Leonard Pitts Jr. Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides, Evelyn Storr Smart. Nation's Gun Play Is Dangerous Game, Norman A. Lockman. Credits. Index. Paragraphs and Short Essays:I. PREPARING TO WRITE.  1. The ESL Student and the Native Speaker.  2. Myths About Writing.  3. Purpose and Audience.  4. Gathering Ideas. II. WRITING GOOD PARAGRAPHS.  5. The Topic Sentence of a Paragraph.  6. Adding Details.  7. Sticking to the Point and Linking Sentences. III. PARAGRAPH STRATEGIES.  8. Narrating.  9. Describing. 10. Illustrating. 11. Explaining a Process. 12. Defining a Term. 13. Classifying. 14. Comparing and Contrasting. 15. Arguing. IV. WRITING GOOD ESSAYS. 16. What Is an Essay? 17. The Thesis Statement. 18. Organizing Your Essay, from Beginning to End. 19. Revising, Editing, and Proofreading. V. SENTENCE BASICS. 20. The Sentence. 21. Building Sentences. VI. THE 20 MOST COMMON SENTENCE ERRORS. Error # 1. Sentence Fragments. Error # 2. Run-On Sentences. Error # 3. Lack of Subject-Verb Agreement. Error # 4. Incorrect Verb Forms. Error # 5. Incorrect Forms of Do, Be, and Have. Error # 6. Passive Voice. Error # 7. Shift in Tense. Error # 8. Shift in Point of View. Error # 9. Unclear or Missing Referent. Error # 10. Lack of Pronoun Agreement and Sexism. Error # 11. Trouble with Comparisons and Superlatives. Error # 12. Dangling or Misplaced Modifiers. Error # 13. Omitted Commas, Part I. Error # 14. Omitted Commas, Part II. Error # 15. Apostrophe Problems. Error # 16. Trouble with Quotation Marks. Error # 17. Incorrect Capitalization, Part I. Error # 18. Incorrect Capitalization, Part II. Error # 19. Misspelled Words, Part I. Error # 20. Misspelled Words, Part II. VII. READINGS. Help for Your Reading. Narrating. Daddy Tucked the Blanket, Randall Williams. The Circuit, Francisco Jiminez. Describing. My Grandmother, the Bag Lady, Patsy Neal. Black Cadillac, Bart Edelman. A View from Mount Ritter, Joseph T. O'Connor. Illustrating. So Who Makes Up All Those Signs that Tell Us What We Mustn't Do?, Bailey White. Long Live High School Rebels, Thomas French. Explaining a Process. How I Was Bathed, Michael Ondaatje. Research Can Beat Making a Frustrating Call to Tech Support, Bill Husted. Defining. Bullying Broadly Defined, John Leo. “Both” or “Other”? It's Not as Clear as Black and White, Pamela Swanigan. Classifying. Wait Divisions, Tom Bodett. The Plot Against People, Russel Baker. Comparing and Contrasting. Doctor-as-God is Dead, or Dying, Ellen Goodman. They Stole Our Childhood, Lee Goldberg. Arguing. Tune In to TV, Tune Out to Language, Jack Smith. If I Were a Carpenter, John Balzar. Credits. Index.