UPDATED SUMMER 2024
How to Write Anything with Readings
Fifth Edition ©2022 John Ruszkiewicz; Jay Dolmage Formats: Achieve, E-book, Print
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Authors
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John J. Ruszkiewicz
John J. Ruszkiewicz is a professor emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin where he taught literature, rhetoric, and writing for forty years. A winner of the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award, he was instrumental in creating the Department of Rhetoric and Writing in 1993 and directed the unit from 2001-05. He has also served as president of the Conference of College Teachers of English (CCTE) of Texas, which gave him its Frances Hernández Teacher—Scholar Award in 2012. For Bedford/St. Martins, he is coauthor, with Andrea Lunsford, of Everything’s an Argument and the author of How to Write Anything. In retirement, he writes the mystery novels under the pen name J.J. Rusz; the most recent, The Lost Mine Trail, published in 2020 on Amazon.
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Jay T. Dolmage
Jay Dolmage is a professor of English at the University of Waterloo. He is the author of Instructors Manual for How to Write Anything and the coauthor of How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference with Readings (with John J. Ruszkiewicz) and Disability and the Teaching of Writing (with Cynthia Lewiecki-Wilson and Brenda Jo Brueggemann). He is the coeditor, with Nedra Reynolds, of the Bedford Bibliography for Teachers of Writing. He teaches graduate classes in rhetoric and composition pedagogy and has published widely on rhetorical theory and accessible teaching, including the books Disability Rhetoric, Academic Ableism, and Disabled Upon Arrival.
Table of Contents
New selections are indicated with an asterisk (*).
Part 1: Concepts of College Writing
1 Academic Goals and Expectations
Know that writing is more than avoiding grammar errors
Don’t make writing harder than it is
Take advantage of your instructor’s office hour
Use the writing center
Think of writing as a process
Think of yourself as a writer
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Use the Writing Center
2 Defining Genres and Purposes
Appreciate what genres are
Understand why writers rely on genres
Using genres to meet assignments
Understand subgenres
Genres and subgenres in How to Write Anything
3 Imagining Audiences
Consider what your audiences expect
Consider who else your readers might be
Make adjustments for your readers
Define who your readers should be
4 Understanding Style and Design
Appreciate the choices you have
Strive for clarity in academic writing
Use language that respects audiences
Appreciate that design is part of style
Part 2: Key Academic Genres
5 Narratives
Defining the genre
Make a point — usually
Tell a story
Offer details
Focus on people
LITERACY NARRATIVE: Laura Grisham, Literacy Narrative
Claiming a topic
Brainstorm
Choose a manageable subject
Choose a consequential subject
Choose a puzzling subject
Imagining your audience
Gathering materials
Talk to the people involved
Trust your experiences
Consult personal documents
Organizing ideas
Consider a conventional structure
Build toward a climax
Give your readers directions
Use headings and transitions
Choosing a style and design
Don’t hesitate to use first person
Use figures of speech, such as similes, metaphors, and analogies, to make memorable comparisons
In choosing verbs, favor active rather than passive voice
Keep the language simple
Examining models
ARGUMENTATIVE NARRATIVE: Leah Vann, Bald Is NOT Beautiful
PERSONAL STATEMENT: Michael Villaverde, Application Essay for Academic Service Partnership Foundation Internship
Assignments
6 Reports
Defining the genre
Present information
Find reliable sources
Aim for objectivity
Present information clearly
FEATURE STORY: Cat Vasko, Grocery Store Economics: Why Are Rotisserie Chickens So Cheap?
Claiming a topic
Answer questions
Review what is already known about a subject
Report new knowledge
Imagining your audience
Suppose you are the expert
Suppose you are the novice
Suppose you are the peer
Gathering materials
Base reports on the best available sources
Base reports on diverse sources
Fact-check your report
Organizing ideas
Organize by date, time, or sequence
Organize by magnitude or order of importance
Organize by division
Organize by classification
Organize by position, location, or space
Organize by definition
Organize by comparison/contrast
Organize by thesis statement
Choosing style and design
Present the facts cleanly
Keep out of it
Avoid connotative language
Pay attention to elements of design
Examining models
ACADEMIC RESEARCH REPORT: Susan Wilcox, Marathons for Women
*INFOGRAPHIC: Australian Academy of Science, Noise Pollution and Animals
Assignments
7 Explanations
Defining the genre
Don’t jump to conclusions
Appreciate your limits
Offer sufficient evidence for claims
*CAUSAL ANALYSIS: Kendall Powell, What Electronic Games Can Teach Us
Claiming a topic
Look again at a subject you know well
Look for an issue new to you
Examine a local issue
Choose a challenging subject
Tackle an issue that seems settled
Imagining your audience
Create an audience
Write to an existing audience
Gathering materials
Understand necessary causes
Understand sufficient causes
Understand precipitating causes
Understand proximate causes
Understand remote causes
Understand reciprocal causes
Organizing ideas
Explain why something happened
Explain the consequences of a phenomenon
Suggest an alternative explanation
Explain a chain of causes
Choosing style and design
Consider a middle style
Use appropriate supporting media
Examining models
RESEARCH STUDY: Alysha Behn, Where Have All the Women Gone?
*FLOW DIAGRAM: U.S. Department of Transportation, Connected Vehicles
Assignments
8 Arguments
Defining the genre
Offer levelheaded and disputable claims
Offer good reasons to support a claim
Understand opposing claims and points of view
Frame arguments powerfully—and not in words only
*ARGUMENT TO ADVANCE A THESIS: Seth Templeton, An Open Letter to a Protester from a Baltimore County Police Officer
Claiming a topic
State a preliminary claim, if only for yourself
Qualify your claim to make it reasonable
Examine your core assumptions
Imagining your audience
Consider and control your ethos
Consider self-imposed limits
Consider the worlds of your readers
Gathering materials
List your reasons
Assemble your hard evidence
Cull the best quotations
Find counterarguments
Consider emotional appeals
Organizing ideas
Make a point or build toward one
Spell out what’s at stake
Address counterpoints when necessary, not in a separate section
Save your best arguments for the end
Choosing style and design
Invite readers with a strong opening
Write vibrant sentences
Ask rhetorical questions
Use images and design to make a point
Examining a model
REFUTATION ARGUMENT: Ryan Young, Self-Driving Cars: A Reality Check
Assignments
9 Evaluations
Defining the genre
Explain your mission
Establish and defend criteria
Offer convincing evidence
Offer worthwhile advice
CRITICAL ASSESSMENT: Megan McArdle, Serena Williams Is Not the Best Tennis Player
Claiming a topic
Evaluate a subject you know well
Evaluate a subject you need to investigate
Evaluate a subject you’d like to know more about
Evaluate a subject that’s been on your mind
Imagining your audience
Write for experts
Write for a general audience
Write for novices
Gathering materials
Decide on your criteria
Look for hard criteria
Argue for criteria that can’t be measured
Stand by your values
Gather your evidence
Organizing ideas
Choose a simple structure when your criteria and categories are predictable
Choose a focal point
Compare and contrast
Choosing a style and design
Use a high or formal style
Use a middle style
Use a low style
Present evaluations visually
Examining models
*MOVIE REVIEW: Roger Ebert, Review of Do The Right Thing
SOCIAL SATIRE/VISUAL ARGUMENT: Andy Singer, Intravenous Smartphones
Assignments
10 Proposals
Defining the genre
Define a problem
Make specific recommendations
Target the proposal
Consider plausible alternatives
Make realistic recommendations
TRIAL BALLOON: Glenn Harlan Reynolds, To Reduce Inequality, Abolish Ivy League
Claiming a topic
Look for a genuine issue
Look for a challenging problem
Look for a soluble problem
Look for a local issue
Understanding your audience
Appeal to people who can make a difference
Rally people who represent public opinion
Gathering materials
Define the problem
Examine prior solutions
Outline a proposal
Defend the proposal
Figure out how to implement the proposal
Organizing ideas
Choosing style and design
Use a formal style
Use a middle style, when appropriate
Pay attention to elements of design
Examining models
MANIFESTO: Ellen Airhart, Join the Revolution: Eat More Bugs
VISUAL PROPOSAL: Jen Sorensen, Pod People
Assignments
11 Literary Analyses
Defining the genre
Begin with a close reading
Make a claim or an observation
Use texts for evidence
Present literature in context
Draw on previous research
CULTURAL REFLECTION: Dana Gioia, Why Literature Matters: Good Books Help Make a Civil Society
Claiming a topic
Choose a text, genre, or literary/cultural perspective you connect with
Choose a topic you want to learn more about
Choose a text or topic you don’t understand
Imagining your audience
Clearly identify the author and works you are analyzing
Define key terms
Don’t aim to please professional critics
Gathering materials
Examine the “text” closely
Focus on the text itself
Focus on meanings, themes, and interpretations
Focus on authorship and history
Focus on genre
Focus on influences
Focus on social connections
Find good sources
Organizing ideas
Imagine a structure
Work on your opening
Choosing style and design
Use a formal style for most assignments
Use a middle style for informal or literacy narratives
Follow the conventions of academic literary analysis
Cite plays correctly
Explore alternative media
Examining a model
CLOSE READING: Kanaka Sathasivan, Insanity: Two Women
ARTS/CULTURE ANALYSIS: Soup Martinez, Review of Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Assignments
12 Rhetorical Analyses
Defining the genre
Take words and images seriously
Spend time with texts
Pay attention to audiences
Mine texts and rhetorical occasions for evidence
*RHETORICAL ANALYSIS: Danielle Kurtzleben, When Republicans Attack “Cancel Culture,” What Does It Mean?
Claiming a topic
Make a difference
Choose a text you can work with
Choose a text you can learn more about
Choose a text with handles
Choose a text you know how to analyze
Imagining your audience
Gathering materials
Consider the ethos of the author
Consider how a writer plays to emotions
Consider how well reasoned a text is
Organizing ideas
Choosing style and design
Consider a high style
Consider a middle style
Make the text accessible to readers
Examining models
*DISCOURSE/CRITICAL ANALYSIS: Bari Weiss, Resignation Letter
ANALYSIS OF AN ARGUMENT: Matthew James Nance, A Mockery of Justice
Assignments
Part 3: Special College and Workplace Genres
13 Essay Examinations
Understanding essay exams
Anticipate the types of questions to be asked
Read exam questions carefully
Sketch out a plan for your essay(s)
Organize your answers strategically
Offer strong evidence for your claims
Come to a conclusion
Keep the tone serious
Keep your eye on the clock
Getting the details right
Use topic sentences and transitions
Do a quick check of grammar, mechanics, and spelling
Write legibly or print
Examining a model
ESSAY EXAMINATION: Wade Lamb, Essay for Classical Modern Rhetoric
14 Annotated Bibliographies
Understanding bibliographies
Begin with an accurate record of research materials
Record every detail you will need to create an accurate citation
Use annotations to assess the significance or quality of the work
Use annotations to explain the role a work plays in your research
Follow a single documentation style
Record the information on your sources accurately
Keep summaries and assessments brief
Follow the directions carefully
Examining a model
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: Annotated Bibliography from a Topic Proposal (Excerpt)
15 Syntheses
Understanding synthesis papers
Pay close attention to the actual assignment
Identify reputable sources on your subject
Summarize and paraphrase the works you have identified
Look for connections between your sources
Provide a context for your topic
Tell a story
Acknowledge disagreements and rebuttals
Cite materials that both support and challenge your own thesis
Pay attention to language
Be sure to document your sources
Examining a model
SYNTHESIS PAPER: Lauren Chiu, Time to Adapt?
16 Oral Presentations
Understanding oral reports
Choose your subject well
Know your stuff
Highlight arresting details
Organize your presentation
Keep your audience on track
Stay connected to your listeners
Use your voice and body
Adapt your material to the time available
Practice your talk
Prep for the occasion
Getting the details right
Be certain you need presentation software
Use slides to introduce points, not cover them
Use a simple and consistent design
Consider alternatives to slide-based presentations
Learn the rhetoric of poster sessions
Examining a model
ORAL PRESENTATION: PowerPoint Presentation on Giving an Oral Report
17 Résumés
Understanding résumés
Gather the necessary information
Decide on appropriate categories
Arrange the information within categories strategically
Design pages that are easy to read
Getting the details right
Proofread every line in the résumé several times
Don’t leave unexplained gaps in your education or work career
Be consistent and efficient
Protect your personal data
Look for help
Examining a model
RÉSUMÉ: Taylor Rowane
18 Emails and Business Letters
Understanding email
Assess the situation
Explain your purpose clearly and logically
Tell readers what you want or expect from them
Write for intended audiences
Write for unintended audiences too
Keep messages brief
Distribute your messages sensibly
Getting the details right: email
Use informative subject lines
Arrange your text sensibly
Include an appropriate signature
Use standard grammar
Check the recipient list before you hit send
Don’t be a pain
Getting the details right: conventional business letters
Use consistent margins and spacing for print documents
Finesse the greeting
Distribute paper copies of a letter, if necessary
Photocopy any paper letter as a record
Don’t forget any promised enclosures
Fold a paper business letter correctly and send it in a suitable
Examining models
EMAIL: Typical e-mail query
COVER LETTER: Typical cover letter
19 Writing Portfolios
Understanding writing portfolios
Take charge of the portfolio assignment
Appreciate the audiences for a portfolio
Present authentic materials
Take reflections seriously
Getting the details right
Polish your portfolio
Understand the portfolio activities
Give honest feedback to classmates
Examining a model
WRITING PORTFOLIO: Desiree Lopez, Midterm Reflection on an Internship Course
Part 4: A Writer’s Routines
20 Smart Reading
Recall the basics
Read to deepen what you already know
Read above your level of knowledge
Read what makes you uncomfortable
Read against the grain
Read slowly
Annotate what you read
21 Critical Thinking
Think in terms of claims and reasons
Think in terms of premises and assumptions
Think in terms of evidence
Anticipate objections
Avoid logical fallacies
22 Claiming Topics
Follow routines that support invention
Browse course materials
Search online
Build from lists
Map your ideas
Try freewriting
Use memory prompts
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Browse for Ideas
23 Gathering Materials
Gather information from reputable and appropriate sources
Use the research tools your school provides
Look for diverse sources representing a respected range of opinion
Pay attention to dates
Use an adequate number of sources
Be sure to collect and document your sources systematically
24 Shaping a Thesis
Compose a complete sentence
Make a significant claim or assertion
Write a declarative sentence, not a question
Expect your thesis to mature
Introduce a thesis early in a project
Or state a thesis late in a project
Write a thesis to fit your audience and purpose
25 Developing Ideas
Use description to set a scene
Use division to divide a subject
Use classification to sort objects or ideas by consistent principles
Use definition to clarify meaning
Use comparison and contrast to show similarity and difference
26 Organizing Ideas
Examine model documents
Sketch out a plan or sequence
Try reverse outlining
Provide cues or signals for readers
Deliver on your commitments
Appreciate the value in varying structure
27 Outlining
Begin with a scratch outline
Look for relationships
Subordinate ideas
Prepare a complete outline if required
28 Revising, Editing, and Proofreading
Revise to see the big picture
Edit to make the paper flow
Proofread to get the details right
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Revise Your Work
29 Peer Reviewing
Peer edit the same way you revise your own work
Be specific in identifying problems or opportunities
Offer suggestions for improvement
Praise what is genuinely good in the paper
Use proofreading symbols
Keep comments tactful and confidential
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Insert a Comment in a Word Document
30 Overcoming Writer’s Block
Break the project into parts
Set manageable goals
Create a calendar
Limit distractions
Do the parts you like first
Write a zero draft
Reward yourself
Part 5: Style
31 Levels of Style
Use high style for formal, scientific, and scholarly writing
Use middle style for personal, argumentative, and some academic writing
Use a low style for personal, informal, and even playful writing
32 Clear and Vigorous Writing
Build sentences around specific and tangible subjects and objects
Look for opportunities to use specific nouns and noun phrases rather than general ones
Avoid sprawling phrases
Avoid sentences with long windups
Favor simple, active verbs
Avoid strings of prepositional phrases
Don’t repeat key words close together
Avoid doublings
Turn clauses into more direct modifiers
Cut introductory expressions such as it is and there is/are when you can
Vary your sentence lengths and structures
Read aloud what you have written
Cut a first draft by 25 percent—or more
33 Inclusive Writing
Avoid expressions that stereotype genders or sexual orientation
Avoid expressions that stereotype races, ethnic groups, or religious groups
Handle pronouns appropriately
Treat all people with respect
Avoid sensational language
34 Purposeful Paragraphs
Make sure paragraphs lead somewhere
Develop ideas adequately
Organize paragraphs logically
Use paragraphs to manage transitions
Design paragraphs for readability
35 Strategic Transitions
Use appropriate transitional words and phrases
Use the right word or phrase to show time or sequence
Use sentence structure to connect ideas
Pay attention to nouns and pronouns
Use synonyms
Use physical devices for transitions
Read a draft aloud to locate weak transitions
36 Memorable Openings and Closings
Shape an introduction
Draw a conclusion
37 Informative Titles
Use titles to focus documents
Create searchable titles
Avoid whimsical or suggestive titles
Capitalize and punctuate titles carefully
Part 6: Design and Digital Media
38 Understanding Digital Media
Choose a media format based on what you hope to accomplish
Use social networks and blogs to create communities
Create websites to share information
Use wikis to collaborate with others
Make videos and podcasts to share information
Use maps to position ideas
Use appropriate digital formats
Edit and save digital elements
Respect copyrights
39 Tables, Graphs, and Infographics
Use tables to present statistical data
Use line graphs to display changes or trends
Use bar and column graphs to plot relationships within sets of data
Use pie charts to display proportions
Explore the possibilities of infographics
40 Designing Print and Online Documents
Understand the power of images
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Insert an Image into a Word Document
Keep page designs simple and uncluttered
Keep the design logical and consistent
Keep the design balanced
Use templates sensibly
Coordinate your colors
Use headings if needed
Choose appropriate fonts
Part 7: Academic Research and Sources
41 Beginning Research
Know your assignment
Come up with a plan
Find a manageable topic
Ask for help
Distinguish between primary and secondary sources
Record every source you examine
Prepare a topic proposal
42 Consulting Experts
Talk with your instructor
Take your ideas to the writing center
Find local experts
Check with librarians
Chat with peers
43 Finding Print and Online Sources
Search libraries strategically
Explore library reference tools
Use professional databases
Explore the Internet
44 Evaluating Sources
Preview source materials for their key features and strategies
Check who published or produced the source
Check who wrote the work
Consider the audience for a source
Establish how current a source is
Check the source’s documentation
Avoid the echo chamber and fake news
45 Doing Field Research
Interview people with unique knowledge of your subject
Make careful research observations
Learn more about fieldwork
46 Annotating Sources
Annotate sources to understand them
Read sources to identify claims
Read sources to understand assumptions
Read sources to find evidence
Record your personal reactions to source material
47 Summarizing Sources
Prepare a summary for every item you examine
Use a summary to recap what a writer has said
Be sure your summary is accurate and complete
Use a summary to record your take on a source
Use summaries to prepare an annotated bibliography
48 Paraphrasing Sources
Identify the major claims and the structure of the source
Track the source faithfully
Record key pieces of evidence
Be certain your notes are entirely in your own words
Avoid misleading or inaccurate paraphrasing
Use your paraphrases to synthesize works
49 Incorporating Sources into Your Work
Cue the reader in some way whenever you introduce borrowed materials
Select and appropriate “verb of attribution” to frame borrowed material
Use ellipsis marks [ . . . ] to shorten a lengthy quotation
Use brackets [ ] to insert explanatory material into a quotation
Use ellipsis marks, brackets, and other devices to make quoted material fit the grammar of your sentences
Use [sic] to signal an obvious error in quoted material
50 Documenting Sources
Understand the point of documentation
Understand what you accomplish through documentation
Part 8: Handbook
51 MLA Documentation and Format
Document sources according to convention
MLA in-text citation
MLA works cited entries
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Cite from a Book (MLA)
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Cite from a Magazine (MLA)
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Cite from a Website (MLA)
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Cite from a Database (MLA)
Format an MLA paper correctly
Sample MLA paper
52 APA Documentation and Format
Document sources according to convention
APA in-text citation
APA reference entries
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Cite from a Website (APA)
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Cite from a Database (APA)
Format an APA paper correctly
Sample APA pages
53 Grammar
Verb Tense and Voice
Subject/Verb Agreement
Irregular Verbs
Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
Pronoun Reference
Pronoun Case
54 Mechanics
Capitalization
Apostrophes
Commas
End punctuation
Semicolons and colons
Hyphens, Dashes, Ellipses, Parenthesis, and Brackets
Quotation Marks and Quotations
Italics and Boldface
55 Sentence Issues
Comma Splices and Run-Ons
Sentence Fragments
Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
Maintaining Parallelism
56 Troublesome Pairs
Part 9: Readings
57 Narratives
Genre Moves, LITERACY NARRATIVE: Amy Tan, From Mother Tongue
NARRATIVE: Patton Oswalt, Zombie Spaceship Wasteland
GRAPHIC NARRATIVE: Lynda Barry, Lost and Found
*REFLECTION: Jean Guerrero, Believing in the Animorphs Taught Me I Could Cope with Anything
*GRAPHIC MEMOIR: Mira Jacob, From Good Talk
58 Reports
Genre Moves, DESCRIPTIVE REPORT: N. Scott Momaday, From The Way to Rainy Mountain
INFORMATIONAL REPORT: Lewis Dartnell, Why Would Aliens Even Bother With Earth? The Pros And Cons of A Trip To The Planet We Call Home
*DEFINITIONAL REPORT: Zhenyu Yuan, YoungAh Park, The Psychological Toll of Rude Emails
*MULTIMODAL REPORT: World Cancer Foundation International, from Curbing Global Sugar Consumption
RESOURCE REPORT: CyeKeia Lee and Sara Goldrick-Rab, from Navigating College: Resource Guide for Homeless and Low Income Students
59 Explanations
*Genre Moves, CAUSAL ANALYSIS: Ta-Nehisi Coates, From The Case for Reparations
CAUSAL ANALYSIS: Rita J. King, How Twitter Is Reshaping the Future of Storytelling
*CAUSAL ANALYSIS: Sarah E. Seo, What Cars Can Teach Us about New Policing Technologies
*VISUAL EXPLANATION: Robert K. Nelson, Mapping Inequality: Redlining and Racial Bias
*CULTURAL EXPLANATION: Josh Neufeld, The Story of Why Humans Are So Careless with Their Phones
60 Arguments
Genre Moves, ARGUMENTATIVE SPEECH: Sojourner Truth, From Ain’t I a Woman?
*ANALYSIS OF CULTURAL VALUES: Kirsten Menger-Anderson, On Gender, Visibility, and Wikipedia
*ARGUMENTATIVE REPORT: Nicole Froio, Teens on TikTok Make the Case for a Living Wage
*ARGUMENT FOR CHANGE: Jane Goodall, The Covid-19 Pandemic
POLICY ARGUMENT: Daniel Engber, Glutton Intolerance
61 Evaluations
Genre Moves, EVALUATION: Naomi Klein, From No Logo
*VIDEO GAME EVALUATION: Jess Morrissette, Dark as a Dungeon: Fallout 76 and the Coal Mining Industry
*EVALUATION: Ellen C. Caldwell, Ta-Nehisi Coates and the Legacy of James Baldwin
REVIEW: Marcel O’Gorman, The Case for Locking Up Your Smartphone
*REVIEW: Megan Marz, Look Whos Talking
62 Proposals
Genre Moves, PROPOSAL: Rachel Carson, from The Obligation to Endure
*PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE: Viet Thanh Nguyen, College Admissions are Corrupt Because Universities Are. Heres How to Fix Them
PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE: Jane McGonigal, Video Games: An Hour a Day Is Key to Success in Life
PROPOSAL: Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Cosmic Perspective
*PROPOSAL: Larissa Parker, Make a Healthy Climate a Legal Right that Extends to Future Generations
63 Literary Analyses
*Genre Moves, LITERARY ANALYSIS: Toni Morrison, From The Site of Memory
*FILM ANALYSIS: Jane Hu, The Specificity of Minari
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: Roxane Gay, Not Here to Make Friends
FILM ANALYSIS: Hunter Harris, Beyoncé’s Lemonade Is a Celebration of Black Identity (student essay)
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: Anna F. Peppard, On Marvel’s First Female Superhero Written by a Woman
64 Rhetorical Analyses
Genre Moves, RHETORICAL ANALYSIS: Susan Sontag, From Notes on “Camp”
*CULTURAL ANALYSIS: Chi Luu, The Sorry State of Apologies
*ANALYSIS OF AN EVENT: Emma Healey, The Game Inside the Game
*CULTURAL ANALYSIS: Terese Mailhot, Native American Lives Are Tragic, But Probably Not in the Way You Think
*CULTURAL ANALYSIS: Syreeta McFadden, Teaching the Camera to See My Skin
Product Updates
Achieve with How to Write Anything puts student writing at the center of your course and keeps revision at the core, with a dedicated composition space that guides students through drafting, peer review, source check, reflection, and revision. Developed to increase student engagement and support best practices in commenting on student drafts, Achieve is a flexible, integrated suite of tools for designing and facilitating writing assignments, paired with actionable insights that make students’ progress towards outcomes clear and measurable—all in a single powerful, easy-to-use platform that works for face-to-face, remote, and hybrid learning scenarios. Achieve with How to Write Anything includes the complete e-book, eight fully editable pre-built writing assignments, low-stakes Writing about Writing practice activities, and reading comprehension quizzes for all selections in the Reader.
A streamlined Guide provides scaffolding for writing across genres. Based on reviewer feedback, this edition of How to Write Anything gives students just what they need up front. Part 1 of the Guide, “Concepts of College Writing,” consists of four chapters that establish the foundational elements of the rhetorical situation, including purpose, genre, audience, style, and design. Once students are grounded in these essentials, they can tackle the eight major genres in Part 2, “Key Academic Genres,” which has been reorganized to begin with “Narratives.” Part 3, “Special College and Workplace Genres,” now concentrates on just the academic and professional subgenres that students encounter most often: essay exams, annotated bibliographies, syntheses, oral presentations, resumes, emails and business letters, and writing portfolios. Throughout these Guide chapters, handy cross-references direct students to relevant chapters in the Reference, so they can delve into practical writing and research strategies when they are ready.
A fresh, diverse, and culturally inclusive Reader, with almost half the selections new to this edition, was compiled with today’s diverse student body in mind. More than forty percent of the authors in the Reader are people of color, and more than sixty percent are women. From an exploration of how teens on TikTok chronicle their poor working conditions to an evaluation of a video game set in the Appalachian coal mining region, selections address issues that matter to students. Highlights include:
- An excerpt from Mira Jacob’s graphic memoir Good Talk, exploring raising a biracial son in post-9/11 America
- Noted primatologist Jane Goodall’s argument about the Covid-19 pandemic as an environmental wake-up call
- Pulitzer Prize-winner Viet Thanh Nguyen’s proposal for weeding out corruption from the college admission process
Thoroughly revised MLA and APA documentation chapters offer up-to-date guidance on documenting sources in both styles. Reorganized to reflect the kinds of research students actually perform, these chapters feature dozens of citation models for a variety of print, digital, and field research sources, all in accordance with the MLA Handbook, 9th edition (2021), and the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition (2020). Full-page visual tutorials show students exactly what information to cite and where to find it.
A redesigned Genre Moves feature in each Reader chapter skillfully illustrates the tactics writers use to make their point. Instead of lengthy paragraphs of explanation, this feature now uses annotations and highlighting to point out the effective moves veteran authors make in each genre. By parsing brief excerpts from exemplars such as Toni Morrison and N. Scott Momaday, this feature gives students models to learn from and emulate in their own writing.
Authors
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John J. Ruszkiewicz
John J. Ruszkiewicz is a professor emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin where he taught literature, rhetoric, and writing for forty years. A winner of the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award, he was instrumental in creating the Department of Rhetoric and Writing in 1993 and directed the unit from 2001-05. He has also served as president of the Conference of College Teachers of English (CCTE) of Texas, which gave him its Frances Hernández Teacher—Scholar Award in 2012. For Bedford/St. Martins, he is coauthor, with Andrea Lunsford, of Everything’s an Argument and the author of How to Write Anything. In retirement, he writes the mystery novels under the pen name J.J. Rusz; the most recent, The Lost Mine Trail, published in 2020 on Amazon.
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Jay T. Dolmage
Jay Dolmage is a professor of English at the University of Waterloo. He is the author of Instructors Manual for How to Write Anything and the coauthor of How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference with Readings (with John J. Ruszkiewicz) and Disability and the Teaching of Writing (with Cynthia Lewiecki-Wilson and Brenda Jo Brueggemann). He is the coeditor, with Nedra Reynolds, of the Bedford Bibliography for Teachers of Writing. He teaches graduate classes in rhetoric and composition pedagogy and has published widely on rhetorical theory and accessible teaching, including the books Disability Rhetoric, Academic Ableism, and Disabled Upon Arrival.
Table of Contents
New selections are indicated with an asterisk (*).
Part 1: Concepts of College Writing
1 Academic Goals and Expectations
Know that writing is more than avoiding grammar errors
Don’t make writing harder than it is
Take advantage of your instructor’s office hour
Use the writing center
Think of writing as a process
Think of yourself as a writer
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Use the Writing Center
2 Defining Genres and Purposes
Appreciate what genres are
Understand why writers rely on genres
Using genres to meet assignments
Understand subgenres
Genres and subgenres in How to Write Anything
3 Imagining Audiences
Consider what your audiences expect
Consider who else your readers might be
Make adjustments for your readers
Define who your readers should be
4 Understanding Style and Design
Appreciate the choices you have
Strive for clarity in academic writing
Use language that respects audiences
Appreciate that design is part of style
Part 2: Key Academic Genres
5 Narratives
Defining the genre
Make a point — usually
Tell a story
Offer details
Focus on people
LITERACY NARRATIVE: Laura Grisham, Literacy Narrative
Claiming a topic
Brainstorm
Choose a manageable subject
Choose a consequential subject
Choose a puzzling subject
Imagining your audience
Gathering materials
Talk to the people involved
Trust your experiences
Consult personal documents
Organizing ideas
Consider a conventional structure
Build toward a climax
Give your readers directions
Use headings and transitions
Choosing a style and design
Don’t hesitate to use first person
Use figures of speech, such as similes, metaphors, and analogies, to make memorable comparisons
In choosing verbs, favor active rather than passive voice
Keep the language simple
Examining models
ARGUMENTATIVE NARRATIVE: Leah Vann, Bald Is NOT Beautiful
PERSONAL STATEMENT: Michael Villaverde, Application Essay for Academic Service Partnership Foundation Internship
Assignments
6 Reports
Defining the genre
Present information
Find reliable sources
Aim for objectivity
Present information clearly
FEATURE STORY: Cat Vasko, Grocery Store Economics: Why Are Rotisserie Chickens So Cheap?
Claiming a topic
Answer questions
Review what is already known about a subject
Report new knowledge
Imagining your audience
Suppose you are the expert
Suppose you are the novice
Suppose you are the peer
Gathering materials
Base reports on the best available sources
Base reports on diverse sources
Fact-check your report
Organizing ideas
Organize by date, time, or sequence
Organize by magnitude or order of importance
Organize by division
Organize by classification
Organize by position, location, or space
Organize by definition
Organize by comparison/contrast
Organize by thesis statement
Choosing style and design
Present the facts cleanly
Keep out of it
Avoid connotative language
Pay attention to elements of design
Examining models
ACADEMIC RESEARCH REPORT: Susan Wilcox, Marathons for Women
*INFOGRAPHIC: Australian Academy of Science, Noise Pollution and Animals
Assignments
7 Explanations
Defining the genre
Don’t jump to conclusions
Appreciate your limits
Offer sufficient evidence for claims
*CAUSAL ANALYSIS: Kendall Powell, What Electronic Games Can Teach Us
Claiming a topic
Look again at a subject you know well
Look for an issue new to you
Examine a local issue
Choose a challenging subject
Tackle an issue that seems settled
Imagining your audience
Create an audience
Write to an existing audience
Gathering materials
Understand necessary causes
Understand sufficient causes
Understand precipitating causes
Understand proximate causes
Understand remote causes
Understand reciprocal causes
Organizing ideas
Explain why something happened
Explain the consequences of a phenomenon
Suggest an alternative explanation
Explain a chain of causes
Choosing style and design
Consider a middle style
Use appropriate supporting media
Examining models
RESEARCH STUDY: Alysha Behn, Where Have All the Women Gone?
*FLOW DIAGRAM: U.S. Department of Transportation, Connected Vehicles
Assignments
8 Arguments
Defining the genre
Offer levelheaded and disputable claims
Offer good reasons to support a claim
Understand opposing claims and points of view
Frame arguments powerfully—and not in words only
*ARGUMENT TO ADVANCE A THESIS: Seth Templeton, An Open Letter to a Protester from a Baltimore County Police Officer
Claiming a topic
State a preliminary claim, if only for yourself
Qualify your claim to make it reasonable
Examine your core assumptions
Imagining your audience
Consider and control your ethos
Consider self-imposed limits
Consider the worlds of your readers
Gathering materials
List your reasons
Assemble your hard evidence
Cull the best quotations
Find counterarguments
Consider emotional appeals
Organizing ideas
Make a point or build toward one
Spell out what’s at stake
Address counterpoints when necessary, not in a separate section
Save your best arguments for the end
Choosing style and design
Invite readers with a strong opening
Write vibrant sentences
Ask rhetorical questions
Use images and design to make a point
Examining a model
REFUTATION ARGUMENT: Ryan Young, Self-Driving Cars: A Reality Check
Assignments
9 Evaluations
Defining the genre
Explain your mission
Establish and defend criteria
Offer convincing evidence
Offer worthwhile advice
CRITICAL ASSESSMENT: Megan McArdle, Serena Williams Is Not the Best Tennis Player
Claiming a topic
Evaluate a subject you know well
Evaluate a subject you need to investigate
Evaluate a subject you’d like to know more about
Evaluate a subject that’s been on your mind
Imagining your audience
Write for experts
Write for a general audience
Write for novices
Gathering materials
Decide on your criteria
Look for hard criteria
Argue for criteria that can’t be measured
Stand by your values
Gather your evidence
Organizing ideas
Choose a simple structure when your criteria and categories are predictable
Choose a focal point
Compare and contrast
Choosing a style and design
Use a high or formal style
Use a middle style
Use a low style
Present evaluations visually
Examining models
*MOVIE REVIEW: Roger Ebert, Review of Do The Right Thing
SOCIAL SATIRE/VISUAL ARGUMENT: Andy Singer, Intravenous Smartphones
Assignments
10 Proposals
Defining the genre
Define a problem
Make specific recommendations
Target the proposal
Consider plausible alternatives
Make realistic recommendations
TRIAL BALLOON: Glenn Harlan Reynolds, To Reduce Inequality, Abolish Ivy League
Claiming a topic
Look for a genuine issue
Look for a challenging problem
Look for a soluble problem
Look for a local issue
Understanding your audience
Appeal to people who can make a difference
Rally people who represent public opinion
Gathering materials
Define the problem
Examine prior solutions
Outline a proposal
Defend the proposal
Figure out how to implement the proposal
Organizing ideas
Choosing style and design
Use a formal style
Use a middle style, when appropriate
Pay attention to elements of design
Examining models
MANIFESTO: Ellen Airhart, Join the Revolution: Eat More Bugs
VISUAL PROPOSAL: Jen Sorensen, Pod People
Assignments
11 Literary Analyses
Defining the genre
Begin with a close reading
Make a claim or an observation
Use texts for evidence
Present literature in context
Draw on previous research
CULTURAL REFLECTION: Dana Gioia, Why Literature Matters: Good Books Help Make a Civil Society
Claiming a topic
Choose a text, genre, or literary/cultural perspective you connect with
Choose a topic you want to learn more about
Choose a text or topic you don’t understand
Imagining your audience
Clearly identify the author and works you are analyzing
Define key terms
Don’t aim to please professional critics
Gathering materials
Examine the “text” closely
Focus on the text itself
Focus on meanings, themes, and interpretations
Focus on authorship and history
Focus on genre
Focus on influences
Focus on social connections
Find good sources
Organizing ideas
Imagine a structure
Work on your opening
Choosing style and design
Use a formal style for most assignments
Use a middle style for informal or literacy narratives
Follow the conventions of academic literary analysis
Cite plays correctly
Explore alternative media
Examining a model
CLOSE READING: Kanaka Sathasivan, Insanity: Two Women
ARTS/CULTURE ANALYSIS: Soup Martinez, Review of Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Assignments
12 Rhetorical Analyses
Defining the genre
Take words and images seriously
Spend time with texts
Pay attention to audiences
Mine texts and rhetorical occasions for evidence
*RHETORICAL ANALYSIS: Danielle Kurtzleben, When Republicans Attack “Cancel Culture,” What Does It Mean?
Claiming a topic
Make a difference
Choose a text you can work with
Choose a text you can learn more about
Choose a text with handles
Choose a text you know how to analyze
Imagining your audience
Gathering materials
Consider the ethos of the author
Consider how a writer plays to emotions
Consider how well reasoned a text is
Organizing ideas
Choosing style and design
Consider a high style
Consider a middle style
Make the text accessible to readers
Examining models
*DISCOURSE/CRITICAL ANALYSIS: Bari Weiss, Resignation Letter
ANALYSIS OF AN ARGUMENT: Matthew James Nance, A Mockery of Justice
Assignments
Part 3: Special College and Workplace Genres
13 Essay Examinations
Understanding essay exams
Anticipate the types of questions to be asked
Read exam questions carefully
Sketch out a plan for your essay(s)
Organize your answers strategically
Offer strong evidence for your claims
Come to a conclusion
Keep the tone serious
Keep your eye on the clock
Getting the details right
Use topic sentences and transitions
Do a quick check of grammar, mechanics, and spelling
Write legibly or print
Examining a model
ESSAY EXAMINATION: Wade Lamb, Essay for Classical Modern Rhetoric
14 Annotated Bibliographies
Understanding bibliographies
Begin with an accurate record of research materials
Record every detail you will need to create an accurate citation
Use annotations to assess the significance or quality of the work
Use annotations to explain the role a work plays in your research
Follow a single documentation style
Record the information on your sources accurately
Keep summaries and assessments brief
Follow the directions carefully
Examining a model
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: Annotated Bibliography from a Topic Proposal (Excerpt)
15 Syntheses
Understanding synthesis papers
Pay close attention to the actual assignment
Identify reputable sources on your subject
Summarize and paraphrase the works you have identified
Look for connections between your sources
Provide a context for your topic
Tell a story
Acknowledge disagreements and rebuttals
Cite materials that both support and challenge your own thesis
Pay attention to language
Be sure to document your sources
Examining a model
SYNTHESIS PAPER: Lauren Chiu, Time to Adapt?
16 Oral Presentations
Understanding oral reports
Choose your subject well
Know your stuff
Highlight arresting details
Organize your presentation
Keep your audience on track
Stay connected to your listeners
Use your voice and body
Adapt your material to the time available
Practice your talk
Prep for the occasion
Getting the details right
Be certain you need presentation software
Use slides to introduce points, not cover them
Use a simple and consistent design
Consider alternatives to slide-based presentations
Learn the rhetoric of poster sessions
Examining a model
ORAL PRESENTATION: PowerPoint Presentation on Giving an Oral Report
17 Résumés
Understanding résumés
Gather the necessary information
Decide on appropriate categories
Arrange the information within categories strategically
Design pages that are easy to read
Getting the details right
Proofread every line in the résumé several times
Don’t leave unexplained gaps in your education or work career
Be consistent and efficient
Protect your personal data
Look for help
Examining a model
RÉSUMÉ: Taylor Rowane
18 Emails and Business Letters
Understanding email
Assess the situation
Explain your purpose clearly and logically
Tell readers what you want or expect from them
Write for intended audiences
Write for unintended audiences too
Keep messages brief
Distribute your messages sensibly
Getting the details right: email
Use informative subject lines
Arrange your text sensibly
Include an appropriate signature
Use standard grammar
Check the recipient list before you hit send
Don’t be a pain
Getting the details right: conventional business letters
Use consistent margins and spacing for print documents
Finesse the greeting
Distribute paper copies of a letter, if necessary
Photocopy any paper letter as a record
Don’t forget any promised enclosures
Fold a paper business letter correctly and send it in a suitable
Examining models
EMAIL: Typical e-mail query
COVER LETTER: Typical cover letter
19 Writing Portfolios
Understanding writing portfolios
Take charge of the portfolio assignment
Appreciate the audiences for a portfolio
Present authentic materials
Take reflections seriously
Getting the details right
Polish your portfolio
Understand the portfolio activities
Give honest feedback to classmates
Examining a model
WRITING PORTFOLIO: Desiree Lopez, Midterm Reflection on an Internship Course
Part 4: A Writer’s Routines
20 Smart Reading
Recall the basics
Read to deepen what you already know
Read above your level of knowledge
Read what makes you uncomfortable
Read against the grain
Read slowly
Annotate what you read
21 Critical Thinking
Think in terms of claims and reasons
Think in terms of premises and assumptions
Think in terms of evidence
Anticipate objections
Avoid logical fallacies
22 Claiming Topics
Follow routines that support invention
Browse course materials
Search online
Build from lists
Map your ideas
Try freewriting
Use memory prompts
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Browse for Ideas
23 Gathering Materials
Gather information from reputable and appropriate sources
Use the research tools your school provides
Look for diverse sources representing a respected range of opinion
Pay attention to dates
Use an adequate number of sources
Be sure to collect and document your sources systematically
24 Shaping a Thesis
Compose a complete sentence
Make a significant claim or assertion
Write a declarative sentence, not a question
Expect your thesis to mature
Introduce a thesis early in a project
Or state a thesis late in a project
Write a thesis to fit your audience and purpose
25 Developing Ideas
Use description to set a scene
Use division to divide a subject
Use classification to sort objects or ideas by consistent principles
Use definition to clarify meaning
Use comparison and contrast to show similarity and difference
26 Organizing Ideas
Examine model documents
Sketch out a plan or sequence
Try reverse outlining
Provide cues or signals for readers
Deliver on your commitments
Appreciate the value in varying structure
27 Outlining
Begin with a scratch outline
Look for relationships
Subordinate ideas
Prepare a complete outline if required
28 Revising, Editing, and Proofreading
Revise to see the big picture
Edit to make the paper flow
Proofread to get the details right
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Revise Your Work
29 Peer Reviewing
Peer edit the same way you revise your own work
Be specific in identifying problems or opportunities
Offer suggestions for improvement
Praise what is genuinely good in the paper
Use proofreading symbols
Keep comments tactful and confidential
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Insert a Comment in a Word Document
30 Overcoming Writer’s Block
Break the project into parts
Set manageable goals
Create a calendar
Limit distractions
Do the parts you like first
Write a zero draft
Reward yourself
Part 5: Style
31 Levels of Style
Use high style for formal, scientific, and scholarly writing
Use middle style for personal, argumentative, and some academic writing
Use a low style for personal, informal, and even playful writing
32 Clear and Vigorous Writing
Build sentences around specific and tangible subjects and objects
Look for opportunities to use specific nouns and noun phrases rather than general ones
Avoid sprawling phrases
Avoid sentences with long windups
Favor simple, active verbs
Avoid strings of prepositional phrases
Don’t repeat key words close together
Avoid doublings
Turn clauses into more direct modifiers
Cut introductory expressions such as it is and there is/are when you can
Vary your sentence lengths and structures
Read aloud what you have written
Cut a first draft by 25 percent—or more
33 Inclusive Writing
Avoid expressions that stereotype genders or sexual orientation
Avoid expressions that stereotype races, ethnic groups, or religious groups
Handle pronouns appropriately
Treat all people with respect
Avoid sensational language
34 Purposeful Paragraphs
Make sure paragraphs lead somewhere
Develop ideas adequately
Organize paragraphs logically
Use paragraphs to manage transitions
Design paragraphs for readability
35 Strategic Transitions
Use appropriate transitional words and phrases
Use the right word or phrase to show time or sequence
Use sentence structure to connect ideas
Pay attention to nouns and pronouns
Use synonyms
Use physical devices for transitions
Read a draft aloud to locate weak transitions
36 Memorable Openings and Closings
Shape an introduction
Draw a conclusion
37 Informative Titles
Use titles to focus documents
Create searchable titles
Avoid whimsical or suggestive titles
Capitalize and punctuate titles carefully
Part 6: Design and Digital Media
38 Understanding Digital Media
Choose a media format based on what you hope to accomplish
Use social networks and blogs to create communities
Create websites to share information
Use wikis to collaborate with others
Make videos and podcasts to share information
Use maps to position ideas
Use appropriate digital formats
Edit and save digital elements
Respect copyrights
39 Tables, Graphs, and Infographics
Use tables to present statistical data
Use line graphs to display changes or trends
Use bar and column graphs to plot relationships within sets of data
Use pie charts to display proportions
Explore the possibilities of infographics
40 Designing Print and Online Documents
Understand the power of images
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Insert an Image into a Word Document
Keep page designs simple and uncluttered
Keep the design logical and consistent
Keep the design balanced
Use templates sensibly
Coordinate your colors
Use headings if needed
Choose appropriate fonts
Part 7: Academic Research and Sources
41 Beginning Research
Know your assignment
Come up with a plan
Find a manageable topic
Ask for help
Distinguish between primary and secondary sources
Record every source you examine
Prepare a topic proposal
42 Consulting Experts
Talk with your instructor
Take your ideas to the writing center
Find local experts
Check with librarians
Chat with peers
43 Finding Print and Online Sources
Search libraries strategically
Explore library reference tools
Use professional databases
Explore the Internet
44 Evaluating Sources
Preview source materials for their key features and strategies
Check who published or produced the source
Check who wrote the work
Consider the audience for a source
Establish how current a source is
Check the source’s documentation
Avoid the echo chamber and fake news
45 Doing Field Research
Interview people with unique knowledge of your subject
Make careful research observations
Learn more about fieldwork
46 Annotating Sources
Annotate sources to understand them
Read sources to identify claims
Read sources to understand assumptions
Read sources to find evidence
Record your personal reactions to source material
47 Summarizing Sources
Prepare a summary for every item you examine
Use a summary to recap what a writer has said
Be sure your summary is accurate and complete
Use a summary to record your take on a source
Use summaries to prepare an annotated bibliography
48 Paraphrasing Sources
Identify the major claims and the structure of the source
Track the source faithfully
Record key pieces of evidence
Be certain your notes are entirely in your own words
Avoid misleading or inaccurate paraphrasing
Use your paraphrases to synthesize works
49 Incorporating Sources into Your Work
Cue the reader in some way whenever you introduce borrowed materials
Select and appropriate “verb of attribution” to frame borrowed material
Use ellipsis marks [ . . . ] to shorten a lengthy quotation
Use brackets [ ] to insert explanatory material into a quotation
Use ellipsis marks, brackets, and other devices to make quoted material fit the grammar of your sentences
Use [sic] to signal an obvious error in quoted material
50 Documenting Sources
Understand the point of documentation
Understand what you accomplish through documentation
Part 8: Handbook
51 MLA Documentation and Format
Document sources according to convention
MLA in-text citation
MLA works cited entries
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Cite from a Book (MLA)
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Cite from a Magazine (MLA)
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Cite from a Website (MLA)
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Cite from a Database (MLA)
Format an MLA paper correctly
Sample MLA paper
52 APA Documentation and Format
Document sources according to convention
APA in-text citation
APA reference entries
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Cite from a Website (APA)
VISUAL TUTORIAL: How to Cite from a Database (APA)
Format an APA paper correctly
Sample APA pages
53 Grammar
Verb Tense and Voice
Subject/Verb Agreement
Irregular Verbs
Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
Pronoun Reference
Pronoun Case
54 Mechanics
Capitalization
Apostrophes
Commas
End punctuation
Semicolons and colons
Hyphens, Dashes, Ellipses, Parenthesis, and Brackets
Quotation Marks and Quotations
Italics and Boldface
55 Sentence Issues
Comma Splices and Run-Ons
Sentence Fragments
Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
Maintaining Parallelism
56 Troublesome Pairs
Part 9: Readings
57 Narratives
Genre Moves, LITERACY NARRATIVE: Amy Tan, From Mother Tongue
NARRATIVE: Patton Oswalt, Zombie Spaceship Wasteland
GRAPHIC NARRATIVE: Lynda Barry, Lost and Found
*REFLECTION: Jean Guerrero, Believing in the Animorphs Taught Me I Could Cope with Anything
*GRAPHIC MEMOIR: Mira Jacob, From Good Talk
58 Reports
Genre Moves, DESCRIPTIVE REPORT: N. Scott Momaday, From The Way to Rainy Mountain
INFORMATIONAL REPORT: Lewis Dartnell, Why Would Aliens Even Bother With Earth? The Pros And Cons of A Trip To The Planet We Call Home
*DEFINITIONAL REPORT: Zhenyu Yuan, YoungAh Park, The Psychological Toll of Rude Emails
*MULTIMODAL REPORT: World Cancer Foundation International, from Curbing Global Sugar Consumption
RESOURCE REPORT: CyeKeia Lee and Sara Goldrick-Rab, from Navigating College: Resource Guide for Homeless and Low Income Students
59 Explanations
*Genre Moves, CAUSAL ANALYSIS: Ta-Nehisi Coates, From The Case for Reparations
CAUSAL ANALYSIS: Rita J. King, How Twitter Is Reshaping the Future of Storytelling
*CAUSAL ANALYSIS: Sarah E. Seo, What Cars Can Teach Us about New Policing Technologies
*VISUAL EXPLANATION: Robert K. Nelson, Mapping Inequality: Redlining and Racial Bias
*CULTURAL EXPLANATION: Josh Neufeld, The Story of Why Humans Are So Careless with Their Phones
60 Arguments
Genre Moves, ARGUMENTATIVE SPEECH: Sojourner Truth, From Ain’t I a Woman?
*ANALYSIS OF CULTURAL VALUES: Kirsten Menger-Anderson, On Gender, Visibility, and Wikipedia
*ARGUMENTATIVE REPORT: Nicole Froio, Teens on TikTok Make the Case for a Living Wage
*ARGUMENT FOR CHANGE: Jane Goodall, The Covid-19 Pandemic
POLICY ARGUMENT: Daniel Engber, Glutton Intolerance
61 Evaluations
Genre Moves, EVALUATION: Naomi Klein, From No Logo
*VIDEO GAME EVALUATION: Jess Morrissette, Dark as a Dungeon: Fallout 76 and the Coal Mining Industry
*EVALUATION: Ellen C. Caldwell, Ta-Nehisi Coates and the Legacy of James Baldwin
REVIEW: Marcel O’Gorman, The Case for Locking Up Your Smartphone
*REVIEW: Megan Marz, Look Whos Talking
62 Proposals
Genre Moves, PROPOSAL: Rachel Carson, from The Obligation to Endure
*PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE: Viet Thanh Nguyen, College Admissions are Corrupt Because Universities Are. Heres How to Fix Them
PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE: Jane McGonigal, Video Games: An Hour a Day Is Key to Success in Life
PROPOSAL: Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Cosmic Perspective
*PROPOSAL: Larissa Parker, Make a Healthy Climate a Legal Right that Extends to Future Generations
63 Literary Analyses
*Genre Moves, LITERARY ANALYSIS: Toni Morrison, From The Site of Memory
*FILM ANALYSIS: Jane Hu, The Specificity of Minari
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: Roxane Gay, Not Here to Make Friends
FILM ANALYSIS: Hunter Harris, Beyoncé’s Lemonade Is a Celebration of Black Identity (student essay)
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: Anna F. Peppard, On Marvel’s First Female Superhero Written by a Woman
64 Rhetorical Analyses
Genre Moves, RHETORICAL ANALYSIS: Susan Sontag, From Notes on “Camp”
*CULTURAL ANALYSIS: Chi Luu, The Sorry State of Apologies
*ANALYSIS OF AN EVENT: Emma Healey, The Game Inside the Game
*CULTURAL ANALYSIS: Terese Mailhot, Native American Lives Are Tragic, But Probably Not in the Way You Think
*CULTURAL ANALYSIS: Syreeta McFadden, Teaching the Camera to See My Skin
Product Updates
Achieve with How to Write Anything puts student writing at the center of your course and keeps revision at the core, with a dedicated composition space that guides students through drafting, peer review, source check, reflection, and revision. Developed to increase student engagement and support best practices in commenting on student drafts, Achieve is a flexible, integrated suite of tools for designing and facilitating writing assignments, paired with actionable insights that make students’ progress towards outcomes clear and measurable—all in a single powerful, easy-to-use platform that works for face-to-face, remote, and hybrid learning scenarios. Achieve with How to Write Anything includes the complete e-book, eight fully editable pre-built writing assignments, low-stakes Writing about Writing practice activities, and reading comprehension quizzes for all selections in the Reader.
A streamlined Guide provides scaffolding for writing across genres. Based on reviewer feedback, this edition of How to Write Anything gives students just what they need up front. Part 1 of the Guide, “Concepts of College Writing,” consists of four chapters that establish the foundational elements of the rhetorical situation, including purpose, genre, audience, style, and design. Once students are grounded in these essentials, they can tackle the eight major genres in Part 2, “Key Academic Genres,” which has been reorganized to begin with “Narratives.” Part 3, “Special College and Workplace Genres,” now concentrates on just the academic and professional subgenres that students encounter most often: essay exams, annotated bibliographies, syntheses, oral presentations, resumes, emails and business letters, and writing portfolios. Throughout these Guide chapters, handy cross-references direct students to relevant chapters in the Reference, so they can delve into practical writing and research strategies when they are ready.
A fresh, diverse, and culturally inclusive Reader, with almost half the selections new to this edition, was compiled with today’s diverse student body in mind. More than forty percent of the authors in the Reader are people of color, and more than sixty percent are women. From an exploration of how teens on TikTok chronicle their poor working conditions to an evaluation of a video game set in the Appalachian coal mining region, selections address issues that matter to students. Highlights include:
- An excerpt from Mira Jacob’s graphic memoir Good Talk, exploring raising a biracial son in post-9/11 America
- Noted primatologist Jane Goodall’s argument about the Covid-19 pandemic as an environmental wake-up call
- Pulitzer Prize-winner Viet Thanh Nguyen’s proposal for weeding out corruption from the college admission process
Thoroughly revised MLA and APA documentation chapters offer up-to-date guidance on documenting sources in both styles. Reorganized to reflect the kinds of research students actually perform, these chapters feature dozens of citation models for a variety of print, digital, and field research sources, all in accordance with the MLA Handbook, 9th edition (2021), and the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition (2020). Full-page visual tutorials show students exactly what information to cite and where to find it.
A redesigned Genre Moves feature in each Reader chapter skillfully illustrates the tactics writers use to make their point. Instead of lengthy paragraphs of explanation, this feature now uses annotations and highlighting to point out the effective moves veteran authors make in each genre. By parsing brief excerpts from exemplars such as Toni Morrison and N. Scott Momaday, this feature gives students models to learn from and emulate in their own writing.
Unlock the skills for writing in any genre.
How to Write Anything supports students with accessible advice for all kinds of writing. “How to Start” questions give students options for getting started and “How To” visual tutorials offer guidance on challenging topics, such as how to create a citation. The easy-to-follow rhetorical sequence, plentiful examples, and snappy, straight-talking tone empower students to write in any genre, both in class and in the workplace. Forty additional selections in the Reader offer relevant and timely models for writing. Paired with Achieve, an engaging and powerful digital platform, How to Write Anything encourages students to analyze their own situations and processes.
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If you’re a verified instructor, you can request a free sample of our courseware, e-book, or print textbook to consider for use in your courses. Only registered and verified instructors can receive free print and digital samples, and they should not be sold to bookstores or book resellers. If you don't yet have an existing account with Macmillan Learning, it can take up to two business days to verify your status as an instructor. You can request a free sample from the right side of this product page by clicking on the "Request Instructor Sample" button or by contacting your rep. Learn more.
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Sometimes also referred to as a spiral-bound or binder-ready textbook, loose-leaf textbooks are available to purchase. This three-hole punched, unbound version of the book costs less than a hardcover or paperback book.
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Achieve (full course) includes our complete e-book, as well as online quizzing tools, multimedia assets, and iClicker active classroom manager.
Most Achieve Essentials courses do not include our e-books and adaptive quizzing.
Visit our comparison table for details: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/digital/achieve/compare
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Achieve (full course) includes our complete e-book, as well as online quizzing tools, multimedia assets, and iClicker active classroom manager.
Achieve Read & Practice only includes our e-book and adaptive quizzing, and does not include instructor resources and assignable assessments. Read & Practice does integrate with LMS.
Visit our comparison table for details: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/digital/achieve/compare
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We can help! Contact your representative to discuss your specific needs for your course. If our off-the-shelf course materials don’t quite hit the mark, we also offer custom solutions made to fit your needs.
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ISBN:9781319509811
Access all your course tools in one place!
ISBN:9781319412661
Take notes, add highlights, and download our mobile-friendly e-books.
ISBN:9781319412609
Save money with our hole-punched, loose-leaf textbook.
ISBN:9781319245030
Read and study old-school with our bound texts.
ISBN:9781319521523
This package includes Achieve and Paperback.
ISBN:9781319521530
This package includes Achieve and Loose-Leaf.
ISBN:9781319475826
This package includes Loose-Leaf and Paperback.
ISBN:9781319475673
This package includes Paperback and Paperback.
ISBN:9781319423513
Read and study old-school with our bound texts.
ISBN:9781319439736
Take notes, add highlights, and download our mobile-friendly e-books.
FAQs
-
-
Are you a campus bookstore looking for ordering information?
MPS Order Search Tool (MOST) is a web-based purchase order tracking program that allows customers to view and track their purchases. No registration or special codes needed! Just enter your BILL-TO ACCT # and your ZIP CODE to track orders.
Canadian Stores: Please use only the first five digits/letters in your zip code on MOST.
Visit MOST, our online ordering system for booksellers: https://tracking.mpsvirginia.com/Login.aspx
Learn more about our Bookstore programs here: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/contact-us/booksellers
-
-
-
Our courses currently integrate with Canvas, Blackboard (Learn and Ultra), Brightspace, D2L, and Moodle. Click on the support documentation below to find out more details about the integration with each LMS.
Integrate Macmillan courses with Blackboard
Integrate Macmillan courses with Canvas
-
-
-
If you’re a verified instructor, you can request a free sample of our courseware, e-book, or print textbook to consider for use in your courses. Only registered and verified instructors can receive free print and digital samples, and they should not be sold to bookstores or book resellers. If you don't yet have an existing account with Macmillan Learning, it can take up to two business days to verify your status as an instructor. You can request a free sample from the right side of this product page by clicking on the "Request Instructor Sample" button or by contacting your rep. Learn more.
-
-
-
Sometimes also referred to as a spiral-bound or binder-ready textbook, loose-leaf textbooks are available to purchase. This three-hole punched, unbound version of the book costs less than a hardcover or paperback book.
-
-
-
Achieve (full course) includes our complete e-book, as well as online quizzing tools, multimedia assets, and iClicker active classroom manager.
Most Achieve Essentials courses do not include our e-books and adaptive quizzing.
Visit our comparison table for details: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/digital/achieve/compare
-
-
-
Achieve (full course) includes our complete e-book, as well as online quizzing tools, multimedia assets, and iClicker active classroom manager.
Achieve Read & Practice only includes our e-book and adaptive quizzing, and does not include instructor resources and assignable assessments. Read & Practice does integrate with LMS.
Visit our comparison table for details: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/digital/achieve/compare
-
-
-
We can help! Contact your representative to discuss your specific needs for your course. If our off-the-shelf course materials don’t quite hit the mark, we also offer custom solutions made to fit your needs.
-
How to Write Anything with Readings
How to Write Anything supports students with accessible advice for all kinds of writing. “How to Start” questions give students options for getting started and “How To” visual tutorials offer guidance on challenging topics, such as how to create a citation. The easy-to-follow rhetorical sequence, plentiful examples, and snappy, straight-talking tone empower students to write in any genre, both in class and in the workplace. Forty additional selections in the Reader offer relevant and timely models for writing. Paired with Achieve, an engaging and powerful digital platform, How to Write Anything encourages students to analyze their own situations and processes.
Select a demo to view: