This print textbook is available for students to rent for their classes. The Pearson print rental program provides students with affordable access to learning materials, so they come to class ready to succeed. Practical writing skills for composing in the real world Writing Today is an accessible text that fits the way today's students read and learn — and the way today's instructors teach. Its chunked writing style, eye-catching design, and focus on writing genres, strategies, and processes sets up students for success in their college courses, careers, and civic lives. The 4th edition marks a turning point with a new focus on reflection, or discovering why we think the way we do. As students explore this theme, they build their intellect, while becoming more aware, versatile, and resilient. Writing Today, 4th Edition, is also available via Revel®, an interactive learning environment that enables students to read, practice, and study in one continuous experience.

Table of Contents:
PART 1: GETTING STARTED Writing and Genres Topic, Angle, Purpose Readers, Contexts, and Rhetorical Situations Reading Critically, Thinking Analytically Reflecting Critically, Starting Your Portfolio PART 2: USING GENRES TO EXPRESS IDEAS Memoirs Profiles Reviews Literary Analyses Rhetorical Analyses Commentaries (Argument) Arguments (Argument) Proposals (Argument) Formal Reports Research Papers PART 3: DEVELOPING A WRITING PROCESS Inventing Ideas and Prewriting Organizing and Drafting Choosing a Style Designing Revising and Editing PART 4: STRATEGIES FOR SHAPING IDEAS Developing Paragraphs and Sections Using Basic Rhetorical Patterns Using Argumentative Strategies (Argument) Collaborating and Peer Response PART 5: DOING RESEARCH Starting Your Research Finding Sources and Collecting Evidence Citing, Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing Sources Using MLA Style Using APA Style PART 6: GETTING YOUR IDEAS OUT THERE Writing with Social Networking Succeeding on Written Exams and Assessments Presenting Your Work PART 7: THEMATIC ANTHOLOGY OF READINGS College and a New Life Identity and Human Nature Culture and Entertainment Place and Environment Health and Safety Science and Technology PART 8: HANDBOOK Sentences Verbs Pronouns Style Punctuation, Mechanics, and Spelling Appendix: Readings Arranged by Theme The Edge for Writing Today Workshop 1: Getting Your Edge 1.0 Why Do People Succeed in College (And Some Don't)? 1.1 Managing Your Time 1.2 Reading Smarter for Classes 1.3 Taking Good Notes in Class 1.4 Coping with Stress in College 1.5 Starting a Study Group 1.6 Talking to Your Instructors 1.7 Getting Help on Campus 1.8 Succeeding in Online and Hybrid Writing Courses Workshop 2: Reading to Strengthen Your Writing 2.0 What is Different About College Reading? 2.1 Previewing a Text 2.2 Reading 2.3 Highlighting and Annotating 2.4 Playing the Believing and Doubting Game 2.5 Analyzing the Reliability of an Author's Evidence 2.6 Evaluating the Validity of an Author's Reasoning 2.7 Responding to a Text by Reflecting on Your Reading Process Workshop 3: Inventing Ideas Before You Write 3.0 What's Your Writing Process? 3.1 Analyzing Your Rhetorical Situation 3.2 Using Prewriting to Get Ideas Out of Your Head 3.3 Concept Mapping (or Mind Mapping) 3.4 Freewriting 3.5 Brainstorming Lists of Ideas 3.6 Using the "Five-W and How" Questions Workshop 4: Writing a College Paper 4.0 How Should You Put Your Paper Together? 4.1 Writing Your Introduction (Tell Them What You're Going to Tell Them!) 4.2 Writing Your Thesis Statement 4.3 Organizing the Body of Your Paper (Tell Them) 4.4 Writing Your Conclusion Paragraph (Tell Them What You Told Them) 4.5 Using Effective Headings in Your Papers Workshop 5: Writing Stronger Sentences 5.0 Why is This Sentence So Hard to Read? 5.1 Finding the Doer and the Main Action of the Sentence 5.2 Putting the Doer of the Main Action in the Subject of the Sentence 5.3 Stating the Main Action of the Sentence as a Verb 5.4 Turning Passive Sentences into Active Sentences 5.5 Making Sentences Breathing Length 5.6 Combining Sentences Workshop 6: Revising Paragraphs 6.0 What Do Paragraphs Do? 6.1 Identifying the Topic Sentence of a Paragraph 6.2 Using Support Sentences in Paragraphs 6.3 Using Transitional Words and Phrases to Bridge Sentences 6.4 Bridging Two Paragraphs with Transitions 6.5 Types of Paragraphs Workshop 7: Doing Research and Citing It 7.0 Why Do Research? 7.1 Is This Real News or Fake News? 7.2 Focusing a Research Question 7.3 Turning a Research Question into a Working Thesis or Hypothesis 7.4 Triangulating Sources 7.5 Using an In-Text Citation 7.6 Creating a List of Works Cited or References Workshop 8: Fixing the Dirty Dozen Grammar Errors 8.0 Why is Grammar Important Anyway? 8.1 Comma Splice 8.2 Fused Sentence 8.3 Sentence Fragment 8.4 Subject-Verb Disagreement 8.5 Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement 8.6 Apostrophe Errors 8.7 Misused Commas 8.8 Dangling Modifiers 8.9 Faulty Parallelism 8.10 Pronoun-Case Error 8.11 Shifted Tense 8.12 Vague Pronouns Workshop 9: Punctuating Correctly 9.0 What Does Punctuation Do, and Why Is It Important? 9.1 The Period, Question Mark, Exclamation Mark 9.2 The Comma 9.3 The Apostrophe 9.4 The Semicolon and Colon 9.5 Quotation Marks and Italics 9.6 Dashes and Hyphens 9.7 Parentheses, Brackets, and Ellipsis Dots