It covers everything I would need to teach in a first year college composition writing class. The book is extremely comprehensive, beginning with the concept of college writing, moving on to writing basics such as sentence structure, punctuation, and paragraph structure. Each chapter is stand-alone and easy to read on-line or to print and read off-line. Reviewed by Katie McCurdie, Instructor, Portland State University on 1/7/16, The comprehensiveness of this text is very impressive. One glaring omission is fragment and run-on work. The content in this book is consistent with the goals of most Reading/Writing/Study Skills/College Success courses I have encountered. Everything is intended for a beginner writer. Writing for Success is a thorough text encompassing all aspects of the writing process. I read the text in iBook, and the formatting did not always functioned properly. Serves both students and instructors. For example, there is a sample exercise that talks about gay marriage being legal in six states. The Building Blocks of Writing "I would argue that the paragraph, not the sentence, is the basic unit of writingthe place where coherence begins and words stand a chance of becoming more than mere words . The table of contents is fairly detailed, however. The visual design is crisp; it makes use of white space and a consistent color palette to improve readability. Seeing as it's a grammar and writing textbook, the grammatical errors are minimal. Not only is marriage equality a more inclusive term, but the exercise itself is outdated and does not reflect the fact that marriage equality is now recognized on the federal level. read more. Super useful framework. I tend to disagree with the following suggestions or omissions offered in this text: suggestion (through models that indicate 3 points to support a thesis) that a 5-paragraph essay is still the go-to formula for college writing in (Chapter 9); suggestion that a thesis is always one sentence; suggestion that it's a good idea to search for a random quote for your introduction online (p. 361); omitting any reference to intentional sentence fragments; omitting idea that contractions can be used in academic writing (in certain instances); omitting clear attribution and documentation in the summary on p. 220 apart from the opening signal phrase--not the best summary sample; the suggestion that a topic sentence begins an essay or article (p. 233), which seems misleading. Also, their example sentences/questions seem conspicuously politically-charged (e.g. The content is up-to-date and relevant. The links in the PDF did not seem to work. read more. It is probably best used as a supplementary text. These pages were not enabled with hyperlinks and failed to have page numbers associated with them. This is quite dated. I plan on using segments of this text in future writing courses, and I am grateful for the availability of OER texts like this one. For example, it opens by framing writing as a challenge, and I was prepared for it to address several of the complexities of college writing. I actually like the double spacing, which most publishers don't use because of space/cost issues. Example: Why won't that dog sit? The text was not culturally insensitive. 9.1 Developing a Strong, Clear Thesis Statement Chapter 9 is covering developing a thesis, but chapter 8 looks at writing the draft. Some chapters may be less useful for some classes depending on the purpose of the class. Very clear. Though I appreciated the comprehensive coverage of grammar/sentence structure/mechanics, I would have liked to have seen the text incorporate writing assignments earlier in the text. I also appreciate the way the is designed to work with other classes that a student might be taking. This is a super resource for that type of class. The book uses similar language throughout and references previous and upcoming chapters frequently. Much of this text's early chapters would serve as much needed review and guided practice for students, since more so than other texts I have used, this one provides in-depth coverage of basic writing skills. Overall I am very pleased with this text, and excited that I can offer my students a book of this quality completely for free! The book strikes me as accurate, thorough, and generally without bias. It includes chapters on paragraph structure, the writing process, rhetorical modes, research, MLA and APA documentation, sentence structure, punctuation, mechanics, revision, and even designing presentations. The main area in need of updating is MLA, but linking to an outside website could quickly remedy this problem. The paragraph on p. 38 that lists all chapters seems unnecessary and overwhelming. Chapter 8: The Writing Process: How Do I Begin? Would probably be more clear if the book was split into two books -- one on grammar/usage and one on the writing process and the elements of an essay. From page 521: "byperiods." It's designed in such a way that it's easy to pick and choose what you need. They all start by stating objectives, explain the main concepts, review the concepts, and provide exercises. The text is clear and accessible for upper-level remedial students and still works for 100-level courses. I found the content to be accurate, error-free, and unbiased. Despite the examples, while reading the text, it often feels like theres a little too much telling students how to write rather than showing. For me, this lack of inclusiveness marks the main weakness of this text. I think students will appreciate it as a resource that they can use throughout their academic life. read more. The exercises are especially useful for working with groups of students, which is how I organize workshops and discussions in my classes. The topics are arranged in a clear structure throughout the text. The book can easily be used as stand-alone chapters, entire sections, or the book as a whole. The text also effectively walks the student through the process of writing an essay in chapter 9 and discusses the rhetorical modes in depth in chapter 10. Particularly impressive is the amount of detail given to the sentence, paragraph, punctuation, and the particulars of the writing process. It raises the bar by adding chapters directed to novices transitioning into college, to English Language Learners, and to making oral presentations. It is designed to support process- or modes-based courses, but it can also be easily used in smaller chunks to support other approaches to first-year writing. This text is organized in such a way that makes it easy to assign small readings to students without having to jump back and forth between chapters or different parts of the book in general. It would be helpful for the authors to more clearly define the audience for the book. The comprehensiveness of this text is very impressive. One can expect to always find the same headings/subheadings in each chapter such as Learning Objectives, Exercises, Tips, Writing at Work, Key Takeaways, etc. Likewise, the chapters on APA and MLA style are too condensed to provide more than an overview and will need to be supplemented with other material. However, this organization is what makes the text more appropriate for developmental writing courses than first year composition courses. It can be taught in a different order though which can be helpful. Basics to writing are adherence to the 'writing mechanics', including writing form, spelling, punctuation, and writing conventions. Probably good material for the group using this book, but not essential. I could see how instructors could use Pg 319: "Generally speaking, write your introduction and conclusion last, after you have fleshed out the body paragraphs. Instructors should be able to readily assign portions of the text to meet their course learning outcomes and objectives. Maybe a bit simple for freshman writing, but I would consider using it in a comp 101 course and supplementing with my own materials. They should be separated. This book presents traditional aspect of writing: grammar, sentence construction, paragraph development, essays, research. Most of the topics are standard examples: How to grow tomatoes from a Seedling, Effects of Video Game Addiction and Comparing and Contrasting London and Washington D.C. I would like to see more creative and engaging course readings in the text, readings that address the interests and backgrounds of culturally- and linguistically-diverse students. Uses sources that we use in my writing-intensive classes, so the book is addressing real needs in the classroom. The main points are summarized at the end. 359, in strengthening a working thesis about teenage girls becoming too sexualized, the authors take some editorial liberties asserting that "It is true that some young women in today's society are more sexualized"; it seems distracting for them to comment on this topic at all, at least without any providing any couched language, like "While the writer of this thesis may feel this way, he or she should also consider X, Y, and Z"; for example, the authors suggest this 'student' should ask themselves the following questions, including "What constitutes 'too sexualized?'" This is greatly appreciated. It covers strategies for success in college, reading, grammar, spelling, drafting, revising, thesis statements, and various rhetorical modes. The content is accurate and all of the exercises that I tried, that are provided to test student understanding, were written correctly as well. Overall, the book is mainly error-free, but for a good grammar and writing textbook, it really should be 100% accurate. The author clearly has experience with first-year writing students because it is written in a clear, accessible way. WRITING FOR SUCCESS draws from examples and recommends additional readings across several cultural contexts, so it earns some kudos for that. It covers everything from sentence structure to the writing process. The instructional matter of this textbook seems consistent with basic composition courses. I was surprised by how much useful content the book has. I allow my students to leave themselves open to the idea that their working thesis could change in significant ways as they write. 10). These learning tools are provided in predictable ways, so students are not caught off-guard by new content. The end of the book includes not only a full-text example of each type of essay, but also provides links to additional examples written by often well-known and well-regarded authors. I had initially downloaded the pdf version of the text, thinking that was the one and only interface for accessing, reading and utilizing the text. This is an excellent book that can be used as a stand-alone text or as a supplemental reference in any course that has major writing assignments. Several of the exercises require students to revisit and revise a previous exercise, as new skills and knowledge are acquired. The outline checklist on 301 and 302 is good info. . At the same time, it also did not address issues of language that relate to culture or gender. It must be said that the included student examples are pretty generic; Ive never used them. The book begins with a broad overview of writing and student success strategies. The use of flow charts to help students understand grammar concepts is helpful. This textbook is formatted and coherently layered in a way that is easy to visualize and process, with properly sectioned-off section introductions, lesson 'tips,' examples, and exercises. 0 ratings 0% found this . For example, why are signal phrases and verbs discussed in the section on formatting as opposed to the section on integrating material into texts? In the "Exercise" sections, the book does refer the studen to other parts of the chapters. The organization of the book easily lends itself to easy navigation, chapters are divided into logical sections (e.g. I think this is an excellent book for a college composition course. This should send the message to students that the skills they are learning will be applied to all areas of their lives. I like the discussion of thesis statements on page 341. The display seems fine: I read it online rather than downloading. And I think that the teaching done by it is very relevant. There are some issues with headers/interface, depending on the version of the text used, addressed in interface section.The text did not seem self-referential. However, the text generally treats grammar as rules rather than conventions. These are small issues that don't significantly affect the readability or usability. " This is dangerous advice. So, in the writing-intensive course I teach about human relations in a multicultural society, I emphasize how student writing in college must be qualitatively different than writing in secondary schools. Chapter 5: Help for English Language Learners, Chapter 6: Writing Paragraphs: Separating Ideas and Shaping Content. Then it moves from sentences, to paragraphs, to essays, to research papers. In those cases, students need some kind of explanation of why the information presented is important and relevant. While very brief, the sub-divided units on punctuation could be more developed. The tone is unbiased and in fact is encouraging and fair. For instance, it does not deal with issues of language and gender, and in the chapter on pronouns it does not examine the increasingly common use of the singular they. "Tips: Succeeding in Timed Writings," p. 34). Each chapter has multiple subchapters. Instructors could easily select the chapters most relevant to individual reading and writing courses at all levels. I didn't find anything insensitive or offensive. Its also great to have the additional chapter at the end with example essays. Some I could also do the whole book in reverse (sometimes I like to start big, then move to smaller concerns)or present only the Research section for a Reading class. web pages Reviewed by Bradley Hartsell, Adjunct English Instructor, Emory & Henry College on 3/13/19, With 600+ pages, this textbook really builds college writing from the ground up, starting with 'sentence writing' and 'subject-verb agreement' all the way up to writing a research paper and examples of 10 different kinds of essay. I did not find any factual errors or inconsistencies. Reviewed by Timothy VanSlyke, Instructor, Chemeketa Community College on 2/8/17, Although there is no index or glossary, I feel that the text is very comprehensive in its coverage of developmental writing. While I do not see anything I consider offensive, I do believe few of my students would "see themselves" in this text. Provides a range of discussion ideas, examples, and exercises. The book contains all sentence, grammar and mechanics concepts that are My main concern-the lack of cultural relevance- can be balanced by providing supplementary materials reflective of the learners' cultures and backgrounds. Perhaps the readings included can be updated to include more relevant and timely topics. Yes: overview > grammar > process > writing modes > research > citation. This textbook does a good job of putting grammatical jargon, like independent clauses, in plain terms so that anyone can understand it. 436 uses. read more. Provides instruction in steps and sections; builds writing, reading, and critical thinking; and combines comprehensive grammar review with paragraph writing and composition. Since it is a writing textbook, I was gratified to find that the grammatical structure and use was very accurate. The content is extremely accurate and well-articulated. 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