Successful college writing : skills, strategies, learning styles / Kathleen T. McWhorter.

Includes index.

Keys to academic success -- pt. one: Academic quick start -- 1. Starting with an advantage -- Why strive to improve your writing skills? -- Developing strategies for writing -- Assessing your learning style -- Learning style inventory -- Applying your learning style to your writing -- 2. Reading and writing about text -- changing some misconceptions about reading -- A guide to active reading -- Understanding difficult text and visuals -- Responding to text -- A guide to responding to text -- Using your learning style -- How to approach the student essays in this book -- Students write -- Reading: The games we play: inequality in the pro-sports workplace / Tracey Aquino (student essay).

pt. two: Strategies for writing essays -- 3. Prewriting: how to find and focus ideas -- Choosing and narrowing a topic -- Thinking about your purpose, audience, and point of view -- Discovering ideas to write about -- Freewriting -- Mapping -- Brainstorming -- Group brainstorming -- Questioning -- Writing assertions -- Interviewing -- Using the patterns of development -- visualizing or sketching -- Researching your topic -- Students write -- Christine Lee's prewriting strategies -- 4. Developing and supporting a thesis -- What is a thesis statement? -- Developing your thesis statement -- Supporting your thesis statement with evidence -- Students write -- Working with text -- Reading: Pet therapy for heart and soul / Kerry Pechter -- 5. Drafting an essay -- The structure of an essay -- Organizing your supporting details -- Writing effective paragraphs -- Writing well-focused topic sentences -- Reading: The value of volunteering / Robin Ferguson (student essay) -- Writing your introduction, conclusion, and title -- Drafting with a computer -- Students write -- Reading: The reality of Real TV / Christine Lee (student essay) -- Working with text -- Reading: Black men and public space / Brent Staples -- 6. Revising content and organization -- Why revise? -- Useful techniques for revision -- Key questions for revision -- Analyzing your purpose and audience -- Analyzing your thesis, topic sentences, and evidence -- Analyzing your organization -- Analyzing your paragraph development -- working with classmates to revise your essay -- Using your instructor's comments -- Considering your learning style -- Students write -- Reading: A trend take too far: the reality of Real TV / Christine Lee (student essay) -- 7. Editing sentences and words -- Analyzing your sentences -- Analyzing your word choice -- Suggestions for proofreading -- Students write -- Excerpt from Christine Lee's edited second draft.

pt. three: Patterns of development -- 8. Narration: recounting events -- Writing a narrative -- Reading: Right place, wrong face / Alton Fitzgerald White -- Integrating a narrative into an essay -- A guided writing assignment -- Organizing and drafting -- Analyzing and revising -- Editing and proofreading -- Students write -- Reading: You can count on miracles / Aphonetip Vasavong (student essay) -- Reading a narrative -- Working with text: reading narratives -- Thinking critically about narration -- Reading: Selling in Minnesota / Barbara Ehrenreich -- Reading: Another mother's child: a letter to a murdered son / Norma Molen (patterns combined) -- Applying your skills: additional essay assignments -- 9. Description: portraying people, places, and things -- Writing a description -- Reading: Eating chilli peppers / Jeremy MacClancy -- Characteristics of descriptive writing -- Visualizing a description: a graphic organizer -- Reading: The sweat bath ritual / Mary Brave Bird -- Integrating description into an essay -- A guided writing assignment -- The assignment -- Generating ideas and details -- Evaluating your details -- Creating a dominant impression -- Organizing and drafting -- Analyzing and revising -- Editing and proofreading -- Students write -- Reading: Health clubs--only for the beautiful and the fit / Maria Rodriguez (student essay) -- Reading a description -- Working with text: reading descriptive essays -- Thinking critically about description -- Reading: Inferior decorating / Amy Tan -- Reading: Sunday! / Clay Risen (patterns combined) -- Applying your skills: additional essay assignments -- 10. Illustration: explaining with examples -- Writing an illustration essay -- What is an illustration? -- Reading: Rambos of the road / Martin Gottfried -- Reading: A dash of comma sense / George F. Will -- Integrating illustration into an essay -- A guided writing assignment -- Students write -- Reading: The harmony of life / Michael Jacobsohn (student essay) -- Reading an illustration essay -- Working with text: reading illustration essays -- Thinking critically about illustration -- Reading: Goin' gangsta, choosin' cholita: claiming identity / Nell Bernstein -- Reading: Words that wound / Kathleen Vail (patterns combined) -- Applying your skills: additional essay assignments -- 11. Process analysis: explaining how something works or is done -- Writing a process analysis -- Reading: Fender benders: legal do's and don'ts / Armond D. Budish -- Reading: How the Oscars work / Melissa Russel-Ausley and Tom Harris -- Integrating process analysis into an essay -- A guided writing assignment -- Students write -- Reading: Creating you own Web site / Kyle Mares (student essay) -- Reading a process analysis -- Reading: Remote control: how to raise a media skeptic / Susan Douglas -- Reading: For man and beast, language of love shares many traits / Daniel Goleman (patterns combines) -- 12. Comparison and contrast: showing similarities and differences -- Writing a comparison or contrast essay -- Reading: An amazing journey: 100 years in America / Roger Simon and Angie Cannon -- Reading: Dearly disconnected / Ian Frazier -- Reading: Who's eating what, and why, in the United States and Europe? / Thomas Kinner, Kenneth Bernhardt, and Kathleen Krentler -- Reading: Border Bites / Heather Gianakos (student essay) -- Reading comparison and contrast -- Thinking critically about comparison and contrast -- Reading: His marriage and hers: childhood roots / Daniel Goleman -- Reading: Defining a doctor, with a tear, a shrug, and a schedule / Abigail Zuger (patterns combined) -- 13. Classification and division: explaining categories and parts -- Writing a classification essay -- Reading: Bringing out your child's gifts / Paula M. White -- Reading: A brush with reality: surprises in the tube / David Bodanis -- Integrating classification or division into an essay -- Reading: Motor heads / Ryan Porter (student essay) -- Reading: Territoriality / Joseph A. DeVito -- Reading: The men we carry in our minds / Scott Russell Sanders (patterns combined) --14. Definition: explaining what you mean -- Writing a definition -- Reading: Cracking Cascarones / Ylean Martinez -- Reading: Spanglish / Janice Castro, Dan Cook, and Christina Garcia -- Integrating definitions into an essay -- Reading: Leveling the playing field: the NFL salary cap / David Harris (student essay) -- Reading: dud, do you know what you just said? / Mike Crissey -- Reading: Life without Father / David Blankenhorn (patterns combined) -- 15. Cause and effect: using reasons and results to explain -- Reading: Bad conduct, by the numbers / Jennifer Jacobson -- Reading: Too immature for the death penalty? / Paul Raeburn -- Reading: An early start / Harley Tong (student essay) -- Working with text: reading causal analyses -- thinking critically about cause and effect -- Reading: Part-time employment undermines students' commitment to school / Laurence Steinberg -- Reading: Hitting the "granite wall" / Gary M. Stern (patterns combined).

pt. four: Reading and writing arguments -- 16. Reading arguments -- The basic parts of an argument -- reading: When volunteerism isn't noble / Lynn Steirer -- The issue -- The claim -- The support -- The refutation -- General strategies for reading arguments -- Before you read -- Reading: Economic affirmative action? Ted Koerth -- While you read -- Strategies for following the structure of an argument -- Using a graphic organizer -- Writing a summary -- Strategies for analyzing and evaluating an argument -- Analyzing the elements of and reasoning in an argument -- thinking critically about argument -- Reading: How much is that kidney in the window? / Bruce Gottlieb -- Reading: "Strip mining" the dead: when human organs are for sale / Gilbert Meilaender -- 17. Writing arguments -- What is an argument? -- Reading: Abolish the penny / William Safire -- Reading: Not white, just right / Rachel Jones -- Reading: AIDS and you: a world crisis and its local effects / Stanford DeWinter (student essay) -- Working with text: responding to arguments -- Reading: would you buy a car that looked like this? / Andrew Simms -- Reading: why consumers have been choosing SUVs / John Merline.

pt. five: Writing with sources -- Planning a paper with sources -- When should you use sources -- Planning your paper -- Defining the assignment -- Choosing an interesting and workable topic -- Narrowing and discovering ideas about your topic -- Writing a working thesis and listing research questions -- Choosing and evaluating useful sources -- Choosing between print and electronic sources -- Choosing relevant sources -- Choosing reliable sources -- Evaluating Internet sources -- Analyzing and thinking critically about sources -- Separating facts from opinions -- Identifying bias or viewpoint -- Recognizing generalizations -- Identifying assumptions -- Working with text: reading sources -- Scanning a source -- Skimming a source -- Reading a source closely -- Improving your reading of electronic sources -- 19. Finding sources and taking notes -- An overview of library sources -- Research and the Internet -- Extracting information from sources -- Gathering necessary citation information -- Constructing an annotated bibliography -- Systems of note-taking -- Writing summary notes-- Writing paraphrases -- Recording quotations -- Avoiding plagiarism -- What counts as plagiarism -- Cyberplagiarism -- Conducting field research -- Interviewing -- Using a survey -- Conducting observations -- Finding sources for you own topic -- 20. Writing a paper using sources -- Organizing and writing your first draft -- Integrating information from sources -- Revising your research paper -- Preparing your final draft -- Documenting your sources: MLA style -- documenting your sources: APA style -- Reading: Do animals have emotions? / Nicholas Destino (student essay).

pt. six: Reading and writing about literature -- Reading: The bean eaters / Gwendolyn Brooks -- A general approach to reading literature -- The language of literature -- Similes, metaphors, and personification -- Symbols -- Irony -- Analyzing short stories