A Comprehensive Text for Developing Writers: From Reading to Research, and Beyond

Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, Fall 2003 by Belolan, Camille

Textbooks, Etc.

A Comprehensive Text for Developing Writers: From Reading to Research, and Beyond Kirszner, L. G., & Mandell, S. R. Writing in Context, Paragraphs and_ Essays. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's. 2003.

Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell have written a meticulously detailed text, Writing in Context, Paragaphs and Essays (With Readings) - one that leaves no aspect of writing un-examined. Everything from active reading to paragraph writing to composing essays that vary in difficulty from example through argument is presented and reinforced. Along the way, students are immersed in refining sentence structure and writing mechanics. The chapter on the particular mechanical writing difficulties most often observed in ESL students is especially insightful. The section on professionally written essays includes some of the clearest examples of rhetorical modes for students to model. Research methods are covered extensively enough for students to compose a properly documented, plagiarism-free paper using the MLA format. The appendix, "Strategies for College Success," could ably serve as the basis for a freshman orientation course and extend to graduation day since ways for students to promote themselves in the job market are also provided. Because of the wide range of information presented and the wealth of reinforcement exercises provided, the text contains enough material for two semesters of study. This "worktext," as the authors describe it, is an ideal choice for instructors who teach two levels of developmental writing, especially if they teach them in succeeding semesters.

The text first emphasizes the importance of reading actively, along with a concise yet detailed explanation of the process (previewing, highlighting, annotating, outlining and summarizing). An example of a reading selection that has already been reviewed is followed by a similar assignment for the student to complete.

Unit I (two chapters), "Focus on Paragraphs," presents a general topic idea, which the student will develop as the chapter progresses. A presentation of the parts of a paragraph (topic sentence, support, concluding statement) is followed by strategies for beginning a writing assignment: invention or pre-writing, freewriting, brainstorming, clustering and journal writing. Examples and practice assignments relative to each skill are included. The next assignment is to write a paragraph on the initial topic, using material from previous practices. Students must devise a topic sentence and support it with relevant points. Editing and revision strategies are presented and practiced and the student is asked to keep the final draft of the paragraph for use in Chapter 2.

Chapter 2, "Fine Tuning Your Paragraph," begins with a discussion of the topic sentence and includes exercises on locating, rating, and writing effective ones. The student must evaluate the topic sentence in the paragraph from Chapter 1. Paragraph unity follows with several practice exercises, along with an assignment to check the Chapter 1 paragraph for supporting details, revising as needed. Coherence and transitional words and phrases are explained and reinforced through practice. Students must then revise and edit their paragraphs according to these principles. A chapter review reinforces each of the principles with a practice exercise and by making suggestions for collaborative projects.

The nine chapters in Unit Two, "Patterns of Paragraph Development," provide students with a basic grounding in rhetoric, setting the stage for writing full-length essays - from the relatively simple example pattern through the sophisticated argument. Chapter 3 introduces the exemplification paragraph, first by referring to two well-constructed examples. Emphasis is placed on identifying the topic sentence in each paragraph. The student's attention is then directed to the examples that were used to develop those topic sentences. Students gain practice in providing examples to support supplied topic sentences. These exercises are reinforced by an assignment to develop a paragraph based on one of the supplied topic sentences, along with the examples the student has provided. Students are reminded to use the invention, editing and revising skills they learned in the previous unit in creating their exemplification paragraphs. This method of building paragraphs is repeated throughout the unit for each of the rhetorical patterns. In each instance, the authors focus on the primary writing strategy or strategies that effectively develop the pattern under discussion: narration (sequence of events); description (dominant impression, objective and subjective description); process (steps); cause and effect (causal relationship); comparison and contrast (basis of comparison similarities and/or differences; subject-by-subject comparison, point-by-point comparison (including order of presentation); classification (categories, transitional phrases); definition (the multi-level structure of a definition, negation, choice of patterns for development); and argument (evidence - facts, examples, expert opinion), supporting points, objections).