The main reason engineers, technicians, and programmers write poor technical documents is because they have had little training or experience in that area. This article addresses some of the basics that students can use to master technical writing tasks. The article covers the most common problems writers make and offers suggestions for improving…

Presents a compilation of classroom writing strategies designed for students and selected from readings and classroom experiences. (RS)

Like the previous editions of this bestselling text, "Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process, Third Edition" offers readers guidance that other dissertation guides often miss, from ways to improve one's writing, to identifying one's learning preferences, to dealing with emotional blocks. Using examples from a…

Substantially updated for today's world, this second edition offers chapters on 12 different categories of writing, each of which is briefly introduced with a definition, notes on appropriate writing strategies, and suggestions for using the book to locate topics. Types of writing covered include description, comparison/contrast, process,…

The goal of persuasive writing is to move the reader to action or to get the reader to refrain from action, and most of the secrets of persuasion can work either way. To get readers to take action, a writer has to appeal to the emotions as much as possible. To get readers to refrain from action, a writer must appeal to the intellect. The secrets…

This book explains how to work with ideas to hone them into words, providing techniques and exercises for brainstorming, choosing the right approach, working with an unknown or boring assigned topic, and selecting the best point of view. It presents 10 steps, noting related problems: (1) "Decide on Size" (no specific length is assigned);…

Strategies for effective writing include having clear expectations, developing a focused set of points, building straightforward sentences, providing specific information, making revisions, and recognizing factors that are conducive to good writing. Stresses the importance of improving writing skills through practice and includes a worksheet for…

Intended for college students, this book of readings, exercises, and advice focuses on issues of special relevance to college students and the general tasks of writing in college. The book is divided into eight sections, each of which contains a "classic" essay, a student essay, and a how-to essay, as well as 8 to 10 other essays on the…

This book is aimed at those who want to record personal stories, or for family and friends, or for fulfillment of higher literary standards. It is a book to open up conversations about memoir and a practical guide to the craft, the personal challenges, and the ethical dilemmas of writing true stories. The chapters deal with getting started,…

Using this workbook, elementary students can learn to write sentences like their favorite authors. Using sentences from more than 100 popular stories and novels as models, the workbook offers extensive practice in four sentence-manipulating techniques: sentence unscrambling, sentence imitating, sentence combining, and sentence expanding. It shows…

Designed as a practical reference book that can be useful to readers in any writing situation, this handbook offers guidance for writing assignments across the curriculum as well as help in writing resumes, letters, and scholarship, college, and job applications. The handbook describes the 10 common methods for developing any kind of writing and…

This book provides students with the kind of extra help they will need to meet the demands of their first-year writing course as well as their other courses. Through its highly visual, student-centered approach, the book teaches basic skills and engages students immediately in the thinking-writing process, guiding them through the writing…

This book provides important information and advice that students need in order to learn more and receive higher grades offers strategies for test and note taking, studying, writing papers, and making class schedules. This book also gives an insider's guide to the academic semester, in-class behavior, and how and when to approach professors.…

Offering developmental students comprehensive, step-by-step instruction for writing expressive, informative, and persuasive essays, this book showcases the writing process and presents a wide variety of engaging assignments. It strengthens students' reading, thinking, and writing skills; validates their diverse and unique cultural experiences; and…

Many freshmen come to English courses thinking that they generally dislike poetry and that in particular they dislike writing critical essays about poetry. Two strategies which are effective in helping students overcome their own negative perceptions are to allow students to: (1) engage in transactional reader response; and (2) explore poetry…