Wordsmith: A Guide to College Writing

Helping readers to craft direct, clear, and engaging writing, Wordsmith: A Guide to College Writing is the antidote to dry, overwrought, and overly expansive writing guides. It is briefer and more readable than full-length texts, engages readers, serves multiple skill levels, and teaches enduring writing techniques in a way that is actionable, contemporary, hands-on, and fun. The Writing Process; Preparing to Write; Writing Paragraphs: Direction; Writing Paragraphs: Support; Writing Paragraphs: Unity and Coherence; Revising, Proofreading, and Formatting; Showing and Telling: Description, Narration, and Example; Limiting and Ordering: Definition, Classification, and Process; Examining Logical Connections: Comparison-Contrast, Cause-Effect, and Argument; Writing an Essay; Writing Summary Reports; Verbs and Subjects; Subject-Verb Agreement; Verb Shifts; Coordination and Subordination; Run-on Sentences; Sentence Fragments; Pronoun Case; Pronoun Agreement, Reference, and Point of View; Adjectives, Adverbs, and Articles; Parallel Structure; Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers; Capital Letters; Words Commonly Confused; Word Choice; Commas; Other Punctuation; Apostrophes; Quotation Marks, Underlining, and Italics; Five Editing Exercises; Readings. A comprehensive guide for readers who wish to improve their writing skills.