Exploring Writing - Sentences & Paragraphs John Langan ppt

EXPLORING
SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS
JOHN LANGAN
WRITING
2E
LANGAN
Exploring
2E
WRITING
SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS
www.mhhe.com
EAN
ISBN
MHID
Foundation by Langan, Inspiration by You.
COHERENCE
Organize and connect supporting
evidence so that paragraphs and
essays transition smoothly from
one bit of supporting information
to the next.
UNITY
Discover a clearly stated point,
or topic sentence, and make sure
all the other information in the
paragraph or essay is in support
of that point.
SENTENCE SKILLS
Revise and edit so that sentences
are error-free for clearer and
more effective communication.

SUPPORT
Support points with specifi c evi-
dence, and plenty of it.
Tatiana
TTaa tt ii aa nn aa
Connect Writing teaches you to be a more effective
writer in the kinds of writing that are crucial to your
success—business letters, memos, college essays,
and more!
The writing
you do every day.
Accessible
to you anytime.
Always online when you need it, Connect Writing
fi ts your schedule.
The help
you need right now.
Once you complete the initial diagnostics,
Connect Writing adapts so that you get support
that is customized to your unique needs.
The daughter of Filipino immigrants, Tatiana is
in her early 20s. She is nervous about college
and eager to do well. She works part time at
a veterinarian’s offi ce as a receptionist and is
enrolled in college to study marketing. She’s
skilled at communicating orally but is less so in
writing. She knows that she’ll need strong writ-
ing skills if she wants to do well in college and
in her future career.
[

[
MD DALIM #1047724 9/8/09 CYAN MAG YELO BLK
Exploring Writing
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Exploring Writing
Sentences and Paragraphs
SECOND EDITION
John Langan
Atlantic Cape Community College
T
M
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Published by McGraw-Hill, an imprint of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas,
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ISBN 978-0-07-337186-3 (student edition)
MHID 0-07-337186-6 (student edition)
ISBN 978-0-07-730317-4 (instructor’s edition)
MHID 0-07-730317-2 (instructor’s edition)
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Credits: The credits section for this book begins on page 637 and is considered an extension of the
copyright page.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Langan, John
Exploring writing : sentences and paragraphs / John Langan. — 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-07-337186-3 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-07-337186-6 (alk. paper)
1. English language—Sentences—Problems, exercises, etc. 2. English language—Paragraphs—Problems,
exercises, etc. 3. English language—Rhetoric—Problems, exercises, etc. 4. Report writing—Problems,
exercises, etc. I. Title.
PE1441.L34 2009
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2009004597
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does not indicate an endorsement by the authors or McGraw-Hill, and McGraw-Hill does not guarantee
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John Langan has taught reading and writing at Atlantic
Cape Community College near Atlantic City, New Jersey,
for more than twenty-five years. The author of a popular
series of college textbooks on both writing and reading, John
enjoys the challenge of developing materials that teach skills in
an especially clear and lively way. Before teaching, he earned
advanced degrees in writing at Rutgers University and in read-
ing at Rowan University. He also spent a year writing fiction
that, he says, “is now at the back of a drawer waiting to be dis-
covered and acclaimed posthumously.” While in school, he sup-
ported himself by working as a truck driver, a machinist, a battery
assembler, a hospital attendant, and apple packer. John now lives
with his wife, Judith Nadell, near Philadelphia. In addition to his wife
and Philly sports teams, his passions include reading and turning on
nonreaders to the pleasure and power of books. Through Townsend
Press, his educational publishing company, he has developed the non-
profit “Townsend Library”—a collection of more than fifty new and
classic stories that appeal to readers of any age.
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vi
Preface xxi
PART 1 Writing: Skills and Process 2
1. An Introduction to Writing 4
2. The Writing Process 16
PART 2 Writing Effective Paragraphs 44
3. Four Steps for Writing, Four Bases for Revising 46
4. Nine Patterns of Paragraph Development 85
5. Moving from Paragraph to Essay 126
PART 3 Sentence Skills 150
SECTION I Sentences 152
6. Subjects and Verbs 153
7. Fragments 162
8. Run-Ons 179
9. Sentence Variety I 195
SECTION II Verbs, Pronouns, and Agreement 209
10. Standard English Verbs 210
11. Irregular Verbs 220
12. Subject-Verb Agreement 231
13. Consistent Verb Tense 241
14. Additional Information about Verbs 245
15. Pronoun Reference, Agreement, and Point of View 252
16. Pronoun Types 263
SECTION III Modifiers and Parallelism 275
17. Adjectives and Adverbs 276
18. Misplaced Modifiers 283
19. Dangling Modifiers 289
20. Faulty Parallelism 295
21. Sentence Variety II 304
SECTION IV Punctuation and Mechanics 318

22. Paper Format 319
23. Capital Letters 324
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BRIEF CONTENTS vii
24. Numbers and Abbreviations 334
25. End Marks 339
26. Apostrophes 342
27. Quotation Marks 354
28. Commas 365
29. Other Punctuation Marks 379
SECTION V Word Use 385
30. Dictionary Use 386
31. Spelling Improvement 395
32. Omitted Words and Letters 402
33. Commonly Confused Words 407
34. Effective Word Choice 423
PART 4 Readings for Writers 436
INTRODUCTION TO THE READINGS 438
GOALS AND VALUES 442
EDUCATION AND SELF-IMPROVEMENT 483
HUMAN GROUPS AND SOCIETY 537
APPENDIXES 585
A. Parts of Speech 586
B. ESL Pointers 597
C. Sentence-Skills Diagnostic Test 609
D. Sentence-Skills Achievement Test 614
E. Answers to Activities in Part 3 619
Credits 637
Index 639
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Preface xxi
PART 1 Writing: Skills and Process 2
1. An Introduction to Writing 4
Understanding Point and Support 5
An Important Difference between Writing and Talking 5
Point and Support in Two Cartoons 6
Point and Support in a Paragraph 8
Writing as a Skill 10
Why Does Your Attitude toward Writing Matter? 10
Writing as a Process of Discovery 12
Keeping a Journal 13
2. The Writing Process 16
How Do You Reach the Goals of Effective Writing? 17
Prewriting 17
Technique 1: Freewriting 17
Technique 2: Questioning 20
Technique 3: Making a List 21
Technique 4: Clustering 22
Technique 5: Preparing a Scratch Outline 23
Writing the First Draft 25
Writing a First Draft: A Student Model 25
Revising 27
Revising: A Student Model 28
Editing and Proofreading 29
Editing Tips 30
Proofreading Tips 30
Editing and Proofreading: A Student Model 31
Tips on Using a Computer 32
Using a Computer at Each Stage of the Writing Process 33
Using Peer Review 35

1. Identification 35
2. Scratch Outline 35
3. Comments 36
Review Activities 36
Prewriting 37
ix
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x CONTENTS
Outlining, Drafting, and Revising 37
Taking a Writing Inventory 39
Chapter Review 40
PART 2 Writing Effective Paragraphs 44
3. Four Steps for Writing, Four Bases for Revising 46
What Are the Steps to Writing Effective Paragraphs? 47
Step 1: Make a Point 47
Step 2: Back Up Your Point 50
Step 3: Organize the Support 67
Step 4: Write Clear, Error-Free Sentences 73
Four Bases for Revising Writing 73
Base 1: Unity 74
Base 2: Support 75
Base 3: Coherence 76
Base 4: Sentence Skills 77
4. Nine Patterns of Paragraph Development 85
Important Considerations in Paragraph
Development 86
Knowing Your Subject 86
Knowing Your Purpose and Audience 86
Patterns of Development 87
1. Exemplification 88

A Paragraph to Consider 89
Writing an Exemplification Paragraph 89
2. Description 92
A Paragraph to Consider 92
Writing a Descriptive Paragraph 93
3. Narration 97
A Paragraph to Consider 97
Writing a Narrative Paragraph 98
4. Process 100
A Paragraph to Consider 100
Writing a Process Paragraph 101
5. Cause and Effect 105
A Paragraph to Consider 105
Writing a Cause-and-Effect Paragraph 106
6. Comparison or Contrast 108
Two Paragraphs to Consider 109
Writing a Comparison or Contrast Paragraph 111
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CONTENTS xi
7. Definition 114
A Paragraph to Consider 114
Writing a Definition Paragraph 115
8. Division-Classification 117
Two Paragraphs to Consider 117
Writing a Division-Classification Paragraph 119
9. Argument 121
A Paragraph to Consider 121
Writing an Argument Paragraph 122
5. Moving from Paragraph to Essay 126
What Is an Essay? 127

Differences between an Essay and a Paragraph 127
The Form of an Essay 127
A Model Essay 128
Important Points about the Essay 129
Introductory Paragraph 129
Supporting Paragraphs 131
Transitional Sentences 131
Concluding Paragraph 132
Essays to Consider 132
Planning the Essay 135
Outlining the Essay 135
Form for Planning the Essay 136
Practice in Writing the Essay 136
Understanding the Two Parts of a Thesis Statement 136
Supporting the Thesis with Specific Evidence 137
Identifying Introductions 139
Revising an Essay for All Four Bases: Unity, Support, Coherence,
and Sentence Skills 140
Essay Assignments 142
PART 3 Sentence Skills 150
SECTION I Sentences 152
6. Subjects and Verbs 153
A Simple Way to Find a Subject 154
A Simple Way to Find a Verb 154
More about Subjects and Verbs 157
Distinguishing Subjects from Prepositional Phrases 157
Verbs of More Than One Word 158
Compound Subjects and Verbs 159
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xii CONTENTS

7. Fragments 162
What Fragments Are 163
Dependent-Word Fragments 163
How to Correct Dependent-Word Fragments 164
-ing and to Fragments 167
How to Correct -ing Fragments 167
How to Correct to Fragments 168
Added-Detail Fragments 170
How to Correct Added-Detail Fragments 170
Missing-Subject Fragments 172
How to Correct Missing-Subject Fragments 172
8. Run-Ons 179
What Are Run-Ons? 180
A Warning: Words That Can Lead to Run-Ons 180
Correcting Run-Ons 181
Method 1: Period and a Capital Letter 181
Method 2: Comma and a Joining Word 184
Method 3: Semicolon 186
Semicolon Alone 186
Semicolon with a Transition 186
Transitional Words 187
Method 4: Subordination 188
Dependent Words 188
9. Sentence Variety I 195
Four Traditional Sentence Patterns 195
The Simple Sentence 195
The Compound Sentence 196
The Complex Sentence 197
The Compound-Complex Sentence 201
Review of Subordination and Coordination 202

SECTION II Verbs, Pronouns, and Agreement 209
10. Standard English Verbs 210
Regular Verbs: Dialect and Standard Forms 210
Present Tense Endings 211
Past Tense Endings 213
Three Common Irregular Verbs: Dialect and Standard
Forms 214
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CONTENTS xiii
11. Irregular Verbs 220
A Brief Review of Regular Verbs 220
List of Irregular Verbs 221
Troublesome Irregular Verbs 226
12. Subject-Verb Agreement 231
Words between the Subject and the Verb 232
Verb before the Subject 233
Indefinite Pronouns 234
Compound Subjects 235
Who, Which, and That 236
13. Consistent Verb Tense 241
Keeping Tenses Consistent 241
14. Additional Information about Verbs 245
Verb Tense 245
Present Perfect (have or has + past participle) 246
Past Perfect (had + past participle) 246
Present Progressive (am, is, or are + the -ing form) 246
Past Progressive (was or were + the -ing form) 246
Verbals 247
Infinitive 247
Participle 248

Gerund 248
Active and Passive Verbs 249
15. Pronoun Reference, Agreement, and Point of View 252
Pronoun Reference 253
Pronoun Agreement 255
Indefinite Pronouns 256
Pronoun Point of View 258
16. Pronoun Types 263
Subject and Object Pronouns 263
Subject Pronouns 264
Object Pronouns 265
Relative Pronouns 267
Points to Remember about Relative Pronouns 268
Possessive Pronouns 269
Demonstrative Pronouns 270
Reflexive Pronouns 272
Points to Remember about Reflexive Pronouns 272
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xiv CONTENTS
SECTION III Modifiers and Parallelism 275
17. Adjectives and Adverbs 276
Adjectives 276
What Are Adjectives? 276
Using Adjectives to Compare 277
Points to Remember about Adjectives 277
Adverbs 279
What Are Adverbs? 279
A Common Mistake with Adjectives and Adverbs 279
Well and Good 280
18. Misplaced Modifiers 283

What Misplaced Modifiers Are and How to Correct Them 283
19. Dangling Modifiers 289
What Dangling Modifiers Are and How to Correct Them 289
20. Faulty Parallelism 295
Parallelism Explained 295
21. Sentence Variety II 304
-ing Word Groups 304
-ed Word Groups 305
-ly Openers 306
To Openers 308
Prepositional Phrase Openers 309
Series of Items 311
Adjectives in Series 311
Verbs in Series 313
SECTION IV Punctuation and Mechanics 318
22. Paper Format 319
Guidelines for Preparing a Paper 320
23. Capital Letters 324
Main Uses of Capital Letters 325
First Word in a Sentence or Direct Quotation 325
Names of Persons and the Word I 325
Names of Particular Places 325
Names of Days of the Week, Months, and Holidays 325
Names of Commercial Products 326
Titles of Books, Magazines, Articles, Films, Television Shows,
Songs, Poems, Stories, Papers That You Write, and the Like 326
Names of Companies, Associations, Unions, Clubs, Religious and
Political Groups, and Other Organizations 326
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CONTENTS xv

Other Uses of Capital Letters 327
Names That Show Family Relationships 328
Titles of Persons When Used with Their Names 328
Specific School Courses 328
Languages 328
Geographic Locations 328
Historic Periods and Events 328
Races, Nations, and Nationalities 329
Opening and Closing of a Letter 329
Unnecessary Use of Capitals 330
24. Numbers and Abbreviations 334
Numbers 334
Abbreviations 336
25. End Marks 339
Period (.) 339
Question Mark (?) 339
Exclamation Point (!) 340
26. Apostrophes 342
Apostrophes in Contractions 343
Four Contractions to Note Carefully 344
Apostrophes to Show Ownership or Possession 345
Points to Remember 346
Apostrophes versus Possessive Pronouns 348
Apostrophes versus Simple Plurals 348
Apostrophes with Plural Words Ending in -s 350
27. Quotation Marks 354
Quotation Marks to Set Off the Words of a Speaker
or Writer 355
Indirect Quotations 358
Quotation Marks to Set Off the Titles of Short Works 359

Other Uses of Quotation Marks 361
28. Commas 365
Six Main Uses of the Comma 366
Commas between Items in a Series 366
Commas after Introductory Material 367
Commas around Words Interrupting the
Flow of Thought 368
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xvi CONTENTS
Commas between Complete Thoughts Connected by Joining
Words 370
Commas with Direct Quotations 372
Commas with Everyday Material 373
Unnecessary Use of Commas 374
29. Other Punctuation Marks 379
Colons (:) 379
Semicolons (;) 380
Dashes (—) 381
Hyphens (-) 382
Parentheses ( ) 382
SECTION V Word Use 385
30. Dictionary Use 386
Spelling 387
Syllabication 387
Pronunciation 388
Vowel Sounds 388
The Schwa (
) 389
Accent Marks 389
Full Pronunciation 389

Other Information about Words 390
Parts of Speech 390
Principal Parts of Irregular Verbs 390
Plural Forms of Irregular Nouns 391
Meanings 391
Etymology 392
Usage Labels 392
Synonyms 393
31. Spelling Improvement 395
Step 1: Using the Dictionary 395
Step 2: Keeping a Personal Spelling List 396
Step 3: Mastering Commonly Confused Words 396
Step 4: Using a Computer’s Spell-Checker 396
Step 5: Understanding Basic Spelling Rules 396
Step 6: Understanding Plurals 397
Step 7: Mastering a Basic Word List 399
32. Omitted Words and Letters 402
Finding Omitted Words and Letters 402
Omitted Words 403
Omitted -s Endings 403
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CONTENTS xvii
33. Commonly Confused Words 407
Homonyms 407
Other Words Frequently Confused 414
Incorrect Word Forms 419
34. Effective Word Choice 423
Slang 424
Clichés 425
Inflated Words 426

Wordiness 428
PART 4 Readings for Writers 436
INTRODUCTION TO THE READINGS 438
The Format of Each Selection 438
How to Read Well: Four General Steps 439
1 Concentrate as You Read 439
2 Skim Material before You Read It 439
3 Read the Selection Straight through with a Pen Nearby 440
4 Work with the Material 440
How to Answer the Vocabulary in Context Questions 440
How to Answer the Reading Comprehension Questions 441
GOALS AND VALUES 442
Sister Helen Mrosla
All the Good Things 442
Paul Logan
Rowing the Bus 448
Rick Bragg
All She Has—$150,000—Is Going to a University 455
Mee Her
Bowling to Find a Lost Father 462
Rose Del Castillo Guilbault
The Conveyor-Belt Ladies 468
Firoozeh Dumas
The “F Word” 475
EDUCATION AND SELF-IMPROVEMENT 483
Ben Carson, M.D., with Cecil Murphey
Do It Better! 483
Janny Scott
How They Get You to Do That 492
Grant Berry

A Change of Attitude 501
Beth Johnson
Let’s Get Specific 511
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xviii CONTENTS
B. J. Penn
Stance 521
Natalie Goldberg
Baking a Cake 525
Robert S. Feldman
Why Go to College? 531
HUMAN GROUPS AND SOCIETY 537
Katherine Barrett
Old before Her Time 537
Amy Tan
The Most Hateful Words 546
Bill Wine
Rudeness at the Movies 551
Luis J. Rodriguez
Turning Youth Gangs Around 558
Maya Angelou
Reclaiming Our Home Place 566
Al Gore
Consume Less, Conserve More 572
Paul Boutin
A Grand Unified Theory of YouTube and MySpace 579
APPENDIXES 585
A. Parts of Speech 586
B. ESL Pointers 597
C. Sentence-Skills Diagnostic Test 609

D. Sentence-Skills Achievement Test 614
E. Answers to Activities in Part 3 619
Credits 637
Index 639
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Note: Some selections are listed more than once because they
illustrate more than one pattern of development.
EXEMPLIFICATION
All the Good Things, Sister Helen Mrosla 442
How They Get You to Do That, Janny Scott 492
Let’s Get Specific, Beth Johnson 511
The Most Hateful Words, Amy Tan 546
Rudeness at the Movies, Bill Wine 551
Stance, B. J. Penn 521
Why Go to College? Robert S. Feldman 531
Old before Her Time, Katherine Barrett 537
DESCRIPTION
Rowing the Bus, Paul Logan 448
The Conveyor-Belt Ladies, Rose Del Castillo Guilbault 468
Old before Her Time, Katherine Barrett 537
Rudeness at the Movies, Bill Wine 551
NARRATION
All the Good Things, Sister Helen Mrosla 442
Rowing the Bus, Paul Logan 448
All She Has—$150,000—Is Going to a University, Rick Bragg 455
Bowling to Find a Lost Father, Mee Her 462
The Conveyor-Belt Ladies, Rose Del Castillo Guilbault 468
The “F Word,” Firoozeh Dumas 475
Do It Better! Ben Carson (with Cecil Murphey) 483
Old before Her Time, Katherine Barrett 537

The Most Hateful Words, Amy Tan 546
A Change of Attitude, Grant Berry 501
Turning Youth Gangs Around, Luis J. Rodriguez 558
Reclaiming Our Home Place, Maya Angelou 566
PROCESS
Let’s Get Specific, Beth Johnson 511
Baking a Cake, Natalie Goldberg 525
Listed by Rhetorical Mode
xix
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xx READINGS
Consume Less, Conserve More, Al Gore 572
A Grand Unified Theory of YouTube and MySpace, Paul Boutin 579
CAUSE AND EFFECT
Do It Better! Ben Carson (with Cecil Murphey) 483
Old before Her Time, Katherine Barrett 537
How They Get You to Do That, Janny Scott 492
Why Go to College? Robert S. Feldman 531
The Most Hateful Words, Amy Tan 546
Rudeness at the Movies, Bill Wine 551
Turning Youth Gangs Around, Luis J. Rodriguez 558
COMPARISON OR CONTRAST
Rowing the Bus, Paul Logan 448
Old before Her Time, Katherine Barrett 537
The Most Hateful Words, Amy Tan 546
A Grand Unified Theory of YouTube and MySpace, Paul Boutin 579
DEFINITION
Rowing the Bus, Paul Logan 448
Baking a Cake, Natalie Goldberg 525
Reclaiming Our Home Place, Maya Angelou 566

A Grand Unified Theory of YouTube and MySpace, Paul Boutin 579
DIVISION-CLASSIFICATION
Rudeness at the Movies, Bill Wine 551
Let’s Get Specific, Beth Johnson 511
ARGUMENT
Rudeness at the Movies, Bill Wine 551
Turning Youth Gangs Around, Luis J. Rodriguez 558
Consume Less, Conserve More, Al Gore 572
A Grand Unified Theory of YouTube and MySpace, Paul Boutin 579
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Learning to write effective paragraphs and essays, master essential sentence
skills, and read critically are turning points for writers; these skills will pre-
pare them to tackle many types of writing in college and beyond. Along
the way, however, there are many other important skills to explore and
develop—using specific and concrete language to make a point and stick to it,
selecting good supporting details to back up that point and create a convinc-
ing argument, organizing a paragraph in a way that best fits its purpose, and
writing clear, error-free sentences to maximize the effectiveness of the writ-
ing. In Exploring Writing: Sentences and Paragraphs, I encourage new writers to
see writing as a skill that can be learned and a process that must be explored.
I refer to a set of four skills for effective writing as the four bases:
• Unity: Discover a clearly stated point, or topic sentence, and
make sure all the other information in the paragraph or essay is in
support of that point.
• Support: Support the points with specific evidence, and plenty of it.
• Coherence: Organize and connect supporting evidence so that
paragraphs and essays transition smoothly from one bit of
supporting information to the next.
• Sentence skills: Revise and edit so that sentences are error free for
clearer and more effective communication.

The four bases are essential to effective writing, whether it be a narrative

paragraph, a cover letter for a job application, or an essay assignment.
Highlights of the Second Edition
Real Students
Whether it is in the avatars (see the front cover foldout or jump online to
meet a few) or the Writer’s Template activities, Exploring Writing empha-
sizes meaningful writing across the curriculum and throughout life.
•Avatars: Throughout the margins of Exploring Writing, you will
meet more than thirty characters who are experiencing various
writing dilemmas. For instance, within the chapter on commas,
we meet Amy, who is having trouble using commas correctly
in her journal entries. Writers are prompted to visit these fellow
students online to learn more about their stories and to complete
the lessons that solve and correct each writing problem. NOTE:
The easiest way to locate a specific character online is to go to the
Connect Writing Web site at mhconnectwriting.com and enter the
topic/subject area you are working on (for instance, commas) in
the search box. This will bring up a link to the writing scenario for
that particular character.
xxi
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xxii PREFACE
• A Writer’s Template: The Templates showcase the writing of a
student from a different course across the disciplines. Writers
will read Quang’s geography paper and Desmond’s psychology
writing assignment and will be asked to evaluate and edit them in
terms of the four bases. My hope is that by allowing new writers
to see how writing plays a significant part in their other college
courses, it will help to validate the importance of learning how

to write, and write effectively. In addition, they will learn how
the four bases can be applied to the writing they do in their other
classes as well.
Real Situations
Just as the avatars work to improve their writing in class, at home, and in
the workplace, Exploring Writing offers Beyond the Classroom for students to
explore how certain professionals in the workforce may utilize a particular
mode of writing in their day-to-day tasks.
How Am I Improving?
Students often struggle to see their improvement as writers. To help,
Exploring Writing offers Reflective Activities that invite students to consider
what they’ve learned thus far, to note their progress as writers, and to
take some pride in their growth. Similarly, the personalized Learning Plan
online shows students the skills they have mastered and charts their prog-
ress toward new levels of attainment.
More Activities
With over 4,000 online activities and 350 more in print (50% of which are
new to Exploring Writing) students have ample opportunity to practice
their skills.
• Collaborative Activity: These activities give students a chance to
collaborate as they develop stronger writing skills.
• Introductory Activity: These provide hands-on introductions to
the topics covered in each chapter of Part 3.
• Exploring Writing Online: These writing prompts give students
a chance to apply a chapter’s lessons to a specific purpose—while
learning to make use of the Internet at all stages of the writing
process.
• Responding to Images: Throughout the text, images are used to
help students visualize concepts (such as comparison or contrast
and argument). Writing prompts are provided to get students

thinking and responding critically to each image.
• Writing Assignments: The text includes a variety of writing
assignments focusing on many new and interesting topics, such
as racial profiling, returning to school after age 30, and how
electronic devices enhance as well as interfere with our daily lives.
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PREFACE xxiii
Some assignments are highly structured with suggestions for
prewriting and revision; others are open-ended.
• Review Test: Chapter 2 and all chapters in Part 3 conclude with
tests that cover all the content in that chapter; answers to these are
available in the Instructor’s Manual and the Annotated Instructor’s
Edition, but not in the student text.
Goals
Exploring Writing’s diagnostics help students set individual learning
plans and goals for their writing skills. Similarly, each part of the print
text opens with a list of goals and an intriguing full-page visual accompa-
nied by a related writing prompt to get writers writing—and thinking—
immediately.
Readings for Writers
Part 4 has been carefully updated and expanded in the Second Edition. The
new readings were selected based on recommendations from our panel of
reviewers, and I am excited to include them in this edition. New selections
range from Rose Del Castillo Guilbault’s The Conveyor-Belt Ladies to Paul
Boutin’s A Grand Unified Theory of YouTube and MySpace, B. J. Penn’s Stance,
and Maya Angelou’s Reclaiming Our Home Place. I have retained the more
popular and thought provoking readings of the first edition, including
Ben Carson’s Do It Better! Katherine Barrett’s Old before Her Time, Let’s Get
Specific by Beth Johnson, and The Most Hateful Words by Amy Tan. I hope
you enjoy the new reading selections and that they prompt lively discus-

sions in your classroom or chatroom.
Flexibility
Since no two instructors teach in exactly the same way and no two students
have identical needs, I have designed Exploring Writing to be extremely
flexible. Online, the lessons adapt to the needs of each individual student,
while in print each of the book’s four parts is color-coded along the outside
margins so that instructors can turn quickly and easily to the skills they
want to present. A sample syllabus is provided in the Instructor’s Manual
(available in the Exploring Writing Online Learning Center at www.mhhe
.com/langan).
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to my McGraw-Hill editors, John Kindler and Alyson Watts,
without whom this edition would not be possible. Editorial/marketing
team members Jesse Hassenger, Dawn Groundwater, and Jaclyn Elkins
also made valuable contributions to this text. Many thanks to the skilled
production and design team—Karol Jurado, Laurie Entringer, Aaron
Downey, Maureen McCutcheon, Emily Tietz, and Tandra Jorgensen. I’d
also like to thank Paul Banks and Andrea Pasquarelli for their work on
Connect Writing.
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Finally, I’d like to express my thanks to the following professors of
developmental English for their invaluable contributions to this text:
Donna T. Matsumoto, Assistant Professor of English and the Writing
Discipline Coordinator at Leeward Community College in Hawaii
(Pearl City). Professor Matsumoto has taught writing, women’s
studies, and American studies for a number of years throughout the
University of Hawaii system.
Santi V. Buscemi, Professor of English and Chair of the Department
of English at Middlesex County College in Edison, New Jersey,
where he teaches reading and writing.

Maria Villar-Smith, Senior Associate Professor at Miami Dade
College (Wolfson).
Joyce Stern, Assistant Professor at Nassau Community College
and Assistant to the Chair in the Department of Reading and Basic
Education.
Special thanks to the following reviewers who have contributed to this edition of
the Exploring Writing series through their helpful comments:
xxiv PREFACE
Atlantic Cape Community College: Jay Peterson • Belmont Technical College: Cynthia Clarke, Karen Taylor •
Bergen Community College: Leigh Jonaitis • Broward College: Carolyn Barr, Linda McCloud • Bryant and Stratton
College: Christian Blum • Bunker Hill Community College: Patricia Colella • Camden County College: Elisabeth
Bass • Central Piedmont Community College: Steven Mullis • Century Community and Technical College: Xuewei
Wu • Chandler-Gilbert Community College: Caryl Terrell-Bamiro • Citrus College: Lisa Telesca • Clark College:
Dena DeCastro • College of the Desert: Steven R. Acree • Community College of Allegheny – South: Joseph
Scherer • Community College of Denver: Marta Brown • Community College of Rhode Island – Flanagan: Holly
Susi • Daytona Beach Community College – Daytona Beach: Elizabeth Barnes • Daytona State College: Debbie
Wilke • Delaware County Community College: Dawn Hayward • Dixie State College of Utah: Susan Ertel • El
Camino College: Michael Jaffe • El Paso Community College: Mary Joyce Whiteside • Elizabethtown Community
and Technical College: Beverly Dile • Essex County College: Rita Higgins, Paulette Longmore • Florence-
Darlington Technical College: Kathleen S. Britton • Germanna Community College: Alexandra C. Campbell-Forte
• Greenville Technical College: Lori Smalley, Ross Wagner • Gulf Coast Community College: Hank Smith •
Harper College: James M. Andres • Harrisburg Area Community College: Valerie Gray • Hawkeye Community
College: Crystal Stallman • Hillsborough Community College: Suzanne Lynch • Hudson County Community
College: Angela Hebert • Illinois Valley Community College: Jennifer Bubb, Kaushalya Jagasia, Jeanette Maurice
• Iowa Western Community College: Jim Fields • Jackson State Community College: Teri Maddox, Mark Walls
• Lonestar College – CyFair: Anna Schmidt • Longview Community College – Lees Summit: Zoe Albright •
Lorain County Community College: Heather Kichner • Marshall Community and Technical College: Susie Peyton
• McHenry County College: Cynthia VanSickle • McLennan Community College: Jennifer Black, Linda Austin
Crawford, Arthur Wellborn • Mesa Community College: Amy Lerman • Miami Dade College – Kendall: Billy
Jones • Miami Dade College – Wolfson: Jessica Carroll, Maria Villar-Smith • Milwaukee Area Technical College:

Helen Chester • Minneapolis Community and Technical College: Douglas Texter • Montgomery College: Ellen
Olmstead • Montgomery College – Takoma Park/Silver Spring: Stephanie Sabourin • Montgomery County
Community College – Blue Bell: Diane McDonald • Nassau Community College: Kristin Le Veness • Northern
Virginia Community College: Carrie Dorsey • Northwest Mississippi Community College: Anne Smith •
Northwestern State University: Sarah McFarland • Nova Southeastern University: Shanti Bruce • Okaloosa-
Walton College: Deborah Fontaine, Julie Nichols, James Suderman • Oklahoma City Community College: Lori
Farr • Onondaga Community College: Theresa Mohamed • Pellissippi State Technical Community College:
Alexander Fitzner, H. L. Ford • Pensacola Junior College: Tracy Peyton • Piedmont Technical College: Claudia
Edwards • Pikes Peak Community College: Jaquelyn Gaiters-Jordan • Pulaski Technical College: Leslie Johnston
• Queensborough Community College: Manette Berlinger • Quinsigamond Community College: Betsy Zuegg •
Richland Community College: Deborah Yaden • Rio Hondo College: Marie Eckstrom • Rochester Community and
Technical College: Nikka Harris • Rose State College: Dianne Krob, Lori Morrow • Sandhills Community College:
Donna-Marie Colonna • Santa Barbara City College: Sheila Wiley • Seminole Community College: Karen Feldman
• Sinclair Community College: Karen Fleming, Sharyn Hunter, Teresa Prosser • South Seattle Community College:
Laura Kingston • Southern University at Shreveport: Jennifer Green • St. Louis Community College: James Sodon
• St. Petersburg College: Marjorie-Anne Wikoff • State Fair Community College: Cathy Clements • Suffolk
County Community College: Shonda Wilson • Tallahassee Community College: Sharisse Turner • Tarrant County
College – South Campus: Catherine Higdon • Tyler Junior College: Patti Casey, Desha S. Hill, Lee Nell W. Hill •
University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville: Glenda Bell • University of Cincinnati: Amy England,
Connie Kendall Theado • University of South Alabama: William Young • University of Wisconsin – Parkside:
Christinie Tutlewski • Valdosta Technical College: Kelli Wilkes • Wake Technical Community College: Linda
Shief • Walters State Community College: Christopher Morelock
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Exploring Writing
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2
EXPLORING WRITING PROMPT:
Think about the kinds of things people write every day—grocery lists, e-mails to friends
and coworkers, notes to family members, and text messages, for example. Keep track
of the things you write for seven days. Each time you write something—even if it’s only

a few words—make a record of it in your journal or notebook. At the end of the week,
make a list of all these items.
CHAPTER 1
An Introduction
to Writing
CHAPTER 2
The Writing
Process
PART ONE WILL
• introduce you to the basic principles of effective writing
• present writing as both a skill and a process of discovery
• explain and illustrate the sequence of steps in writing an effective paragraph,
including
• prewriting
• revising
• editing
• ask you to write a paragraph
Writing:
Skills and Process
PART
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