Patterns for College Writing: High School Edition

Preface

Thematic Guide to the Contents

1 Reading to Write: How to Use This Book

Reading Critically

Reading Actively

Highlighting and Annotating

Reading the Essays in this Book

Henry Louis Gates Jr., "What's in a Name?"

Responding to an Essay

Part I: The Writing Process

2 Invention

Understanding the Assignment

Setting Limits

Moving from Subject to Topic

Finding Something to Say

Grouping Ideas

Understanding Thesis and Support

Developing A Thesis

3 Arrangement

Recognizing a Pattern

Understanding the Parts of the Essay

Constructing a Formal Outline

4 Drafting and Revising

Writing Your First Draft

Revising Your Essay

Points for Special Attention: First Draft

Points for Special Attention: Second Draft

5 Editing and Proofreading

Editing for Grammar

Editing for Punctuation

Editing for Sentence Style and Word Choice

Proofreading your Paper

Manuscript Format

Part II. Readings for Writers

6 Narration

What is Narration?

Using Narration

Planning a Narrative Essay

Structuring a Narrative Essay

Revising a Narrative Essay

Editing a Narrative Essay

*Visual Text: Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis 2

Sandra Cisneros, Only Daughter

*Gary Shteyngart, Sixty-Nine Cents

Maya Angelou, Finishing School

Bonnie Smith-Yackel, My Mother Never Worked

Martin Gansberg, Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police

George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant

Sherman Alexie, Indian Education (Fiction)

7 Description

What is Description?

Using Description

Planning a Descriptive Essay

Structuring a Descriptive Essay

Revising a Descriptive Essay

*Visual Text: C. M. Coolidge, Dogs Playing Poker

*Dorothy Allison, Panacea

Suzanne Berne, Ground Zero

Leah Hager Cohen, Words Left Unspoken

*Heather Rogers, The Hidden Life of Garbage

E. B. White, Once More to the Lake

Kate Chopin, The Storm (Fiction)

8 Exemplification

What is Exemplification?

Using Exemplification

Planning an Exemplification Essay

Structuring an Exemplification Essay

Revising an Exemplification Essay

Editing an Exemplification Essay

Visual Texts: Four Tattoos (Photos): Alex Williams, "Lisa Karen," Joel Gordon, "Rose," Bob Daemmrich, "Jiminy Cricket," Charles Gatewood, "Body Art"

Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, The Peter Principle

David J. Birnbaum, The Catbird Seat

*Maggie Gallagher, Why Marriage Is Good for You

Brent Staples, Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space

*Cullen Murphy, Fatwa City

Jonathan Kozol, The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society

Grace Paley, Samuel (Fiction)

9 Process

What is Process?

Using Process

Planning a Process Essay

Structuring a Process Essay

Revising a Process Essay

Editing a Process Essay

Visual Text: Nigel Holmes, How to Change a Tire (Illustration)

Malcolm X, My First Conk

*Stanley Fish, Getting Coffee Is Hard to Do

Joshua Piven, David Borgenicht, and Jennifer Worick, How to Escape from a Bad Date

Arthur Miller, Get it Right: Privatize Executions

Jessica Mitford, The Embalming of Mr. Jones

Shirley Jackson, The Lottery (Fiction)

10 Cause and Effect

What is Cause and Effect?

Using Cause and Effect

Planning a Cause-and-Effect Essay

Structuring a Cause-and-Effect Essay

Revising a Cause-and-Effect Essay

Editing a Cause-and-Effect Essay

Visual Text: Louis Requena, Major League Baseball Brawl (Photo)

Norman Cousins, Who Killed Benny Paret?

Lawrence Otis Graham, The "Black Table" Is Still There

*Lillian B. Rubin, Guns and Grief

Linda M. Hasselstrom, A Peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carries a Gun

Robin Lakoff, The Power of Words in Wartime

* Alan Weisman, Earth without People

Janice Mirikitani, Suicide Note (Poetry)

11 Comparison and Contrast

What is Comparison and Contrast?

Using Comparison and Contrast

Planning a Comparison-and-Contrast Essay

Structuring a Comparison-and-Contrast Essay

Revising a Comparison-and-Contrast Essay

Editing a Comparison-and-Contrast Essay

Visual Texts: Auguste Rodin, The Kiss and Robert Indiana, LOVE (Sculptures)

Bruce Catton, Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts

Bharati Mukherjee, Two Ways to Belong in America

*Ellen Laird, I’m Your Teacher, Not Your Internet Service Provider

John De Graaf, David Wann and Thomas H. Naylor, Swollen Expectations

*Alex Wright, Friending, Ancient or Otherwise

Deborah Tannen, Sex, Lies, and Conversation

Gwendolyn Brooks, Sadie and Maud (Poetry)

12 Classification and Division

What is Classification and Division?

Using Classification and Division

Planning a Classification-and-Division Essay

Structuring a Classification-and-Division Essay

Revising a Classification-and-Division Essay

Editing a Classification-and-Division Essay

Visual Texts: Ellis Island Immigration Museum/NPS, Key to Chalk Marks Designating Medical Conditions of Immigrants, Ellis Island (Chart)

William Zinsser, College Pressures

Carolyn Foster Segal, The Dog Ate my Disk, and Other Tales of Woe

Amy Tan, Mother Tongue

Stephanie Ericsson, The Ways We Lie

*Jonathan Koppell, On the Internet There’s No Place to Hide

Edwin Brock, Five Ways to Kill a Man (Poetry)

13 Definition

What is Definition?

Using Definition

Planning a Definition Essay

Structuring a Definition Essay

Revising a Definition Essay

Editing a Definition Essay

Visual Text: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Census form (Questionnaire)

José Antonio Burciaga, Tortillas

*Meghan Daum, Fame-iness

Judy Brady, Why I Want a Wife

Gayle Rosenwald Smith, The Wife-Beater

*Roberto Santiago, Black and Latino

Phillip Levine, What Work Is (Poetry)

14 Argumentation

What is Argumentation?

Understanding Argumentation and Persuasion

Planning an Argumentative Essay

Using Deductive and Inductive Arguments

Structuring an Argumentative Essay

Revising an Argumentative Essay

Editing an Argumentative Essay

Visual Text: American Civil Liberties Union, Thanks to Modern Science (Ad)

Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions

Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail

*Debate: What Is a Hate Crime?

*George Curry, Calling Nooses What They Are--Terrorism

*Ellis Cose, Ignore the Noose Makers

*Debate: How Big a Threat Is Global Warming?

*Al Gore, The Time to Act Is Now

*Daniel Botkin, Global Warming Delusion

Debate: Is Wal-Mart good for America?

Karen De Coster and Brad Edmonds, The Case for Wal-Mart

Liza Featherstone, Down and Out in Discount America

*Casebook: How Open Should Our Borders Be?

*Linda Chavez, American Dreams, Foreign Flags

*Dianne Feinstein, Statement in Support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform

* Herbert Meyer, Why Americans Hate This "Immigration" Debate

* Patrick Buchanan, To Reunite a Nation

*Casebook: Is There a Case for Torture?

* Michael Levin, The Case for Torture

* Alan M. Dershowitz, The Case for Torture Warrants

* Cathy Young, How Much Torture Is OK?

* John McCain, Torture’s Terrible Toll

15 Combining the Patterns

Structuring an Essay by Combining the Patterns

Combining the Patterns: Revising and Editing

Lars Eighner, On Dumpster Diving

*Judith Ortiz Cofer, The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria

*David Kirby, Inked Well

Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal

Appendix: Using Research in your writing

Step 1: Choosing A Topic

Step 2: Testing Your Topic

Step 3: Doing Research

Step 4: Taking Notes

Step 5: Watching Out for Plagiarism

Step 6: Drafting a Thesis Statement

Step 7: Making an Outline

Step 8: Writing Your Paper

Step 9: Documenting Your Sources

Sample Student Research Essay in MLA Style:

Phillip Lau, The Limitations of Wikipedia

Glossary

Index