Includes bibliographical references, index and appendices.

"Read, Think, Write: Strategies for Essay Writing is a fresh and authoritative book created for the essay-level composition course. Lifting the curtain on the key debates in academic writing, Almonte invites students to create sophisticated essays by bringing in outside sources, using traditional structures at their disposal, and writing accurately – and by thinking critically about how and why they must write. Based on research into the specific needs of Canadian composition instructors, Richard Almonte’s approach emphasizes the development of portable, generic skills related to critical reading and writing. Read, Think, Write: Strategies for Essay Writing amplifies the academic content of communication courses with increased coverage of such topics as explaining and persuading strategies, and the role of research in writing. It is uniquely designed to give students the tools to communicate effectively in their academic work, tools that they will carry with them in their professional work." (Publisher's Website)

CONTENTS:

Part 1 - A CONTEXT FOR WRITING

CHAPTER 1: Writing today and in the past

Do you know Sara or Ben?

Is there a writing crisis today? Reason 1: Demographic change

Reason 2: High school standards
Reason 3: Technological changes

What are colleges and universities doing about it?
Delivery of writing instruction

Content of writing instruction

Sara's friend asks a seemingly innocent question

Learning to write in the past, or rhetoric
Invention
Arrangement
Style

How rhetoric became composition in North America

Writing in the 20th Century and beyond
The genre/discipline model
The process model
The rhetorical model

Part 2 - EFFECTIVE WRITERS BRING THE OUTSIDE WORLD INTO THEIR WORK

CHAPTER 2: Researching topic

Ben Gets Some Help, and Sara Meets the College Librarian

The Reasons for Research
Extrinsic Reasons for Research
Intrinsic Reasons for Research

Reading Secondary Sources Critically
The Spectrum of Publications
Criteria for Judging Secondary Sources

Conducting Secondary Research
Exploring and Limiting Your Topic
Searching Databases
Searching the Internet
Taking Notes As You Go

Conducting Primary Research
Interviews

Surveys
Observation/Experimentation

CHAPTER 3: Integrating Your Research into Your Writing

Sara Experiences Academic Dishonesty

History of Intellectual Property
History of Intellectual Property
Types of Intellectual Property
Legislation and Legal Issues

Plagiarism Defined and Debated
Defining Plagiarism
Examples of Plagiarism
Debates about Plagiarism

How Not to Plagiarize Integrating Quotations and Paraphrases in the Body of Your Text

End-of-Text Citations

Documentation Styles
MLA Style
APA Style

Part 3 - EFFECTIVE WRITERS USE TRADITIONAL TOOLS AT THEIR DISPOSAL

CHAPTER 4: Organizing Structures

Sara Gets Down to Business

A Three-Part Structure
The Introduction
The Body
The Conclusion

This Is Not a Template: The Five-Paragraph Essay Debate

The Argument Against the Five-Paragraph Essay
The Argument in Favour of the Five-Paragraph Essay

Moving from Basic to Advanced Essay
Step 1: Analyze Evidence Instead of Listing Evidence
Step 2: Refuse to be Satisfied with Your Working Thesis
Step 3: Enliven Your Sources in the Final Draft

CHAPTER 5: Explaining Strategies

Sara Analyzes Her First Draft

Essays as Explanations

Explanation Strategy 1: Narrate

Explanation Strategy 2: Describe

Explanation Strategy 3: Define

Explanation Strategy 4: Classify

Explanation Strategy 5: Analyze Process

Explanation Strategy 6: Analyze Cause and Effect

Explanation Strategy 7: Compare and Contrast

Explanation Strategy 8: Use Figurative Language

CHAPTER 6: Persuading Strategies

Ben Submits an Important Assignment; Sara Produces a Second Draft

Essays as Persuasion

Persuasion Strategy 1: Argue a Position

Persuasion Strategy 2: Offer a Solution

Persuasion Strategy 3: Change Behaviour

Persuasion Strategy 4: Appeal to Logic

Persuasion Strategy 5: Appeal to Credibility

Persuasion Strategy 6: Appeal to Emotion

Persuasion Strategy 7: Recognize Faulty Reasoning

Persuasion Strategy 8: Deal with Audience Resistance

CHAPTER 7: Conclusion: The Story of Sara and Ben Ends Happily

Sara Chooses an Argument

A Brief Recap

Sara's Persuasive Essay Draft

Appendix A: Achieving Accuracy in Written English?

Appendix B: Two Early Canadian Books on Writing

Appendix C: Sample Peer-Reviewed Academic Essay

Index