English Skills with Readings

John Langan has taught reading and writing at Atlantic Cape Community College for more than 25 years. The author of a popular series of college textbooks on both writing and reading, John enjoys the challenge of developing instructive materials that are clear and lively. Before teaching, he earned advanced degrees in writing at Rutgers University and in reading at Rowan University. He also spent a year writing fiction that is now at the back of a drawer waiting to be discovered and acclaimed posthumously. While in school, he supported himself by working as a truck driver, a machinist, a battery assembler, a hospital attendant, and an apple packer. In addition to his wife and Philly sports teams, his passions include reading and conveying to nonreaders the pleasure and power of books. Through Townsend Press, his educational publishing company, he has developed the nonprofit Townsend Librarya collection of more than 100 new and classic stories that appeal to readers of any age.

To the Instructor

PART ONE: Basic Principles of Effective Writing

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Writing

Understanding Point and Support

An Overview: How the Book is Organized

Benefits of Paragraph Writing

Writing as a Skill

Writing as a Process of Discovery

Keeping a Journal

Using This Text

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

COnsidering Purpose and Audience

Prewriting

Writing a First Draft

Revising

Editing

Review Activities

Chapter 3: The First and Second Steps in Writing

Step 1: Begin With a Point

Step 2: Support the Point with Specific Evidence

Reinforcing Point and Support

The Importance of specific Details

The Importance of adequate Details

Practice in Making and Supporting a Point

Chapter 4: The Third Step in Writing

Step 3: Organize and Connect the Specific Evidence

Practice in Organizing and Connecting Specific Evidence

Chapter 5: The Fourth Step in Writing

Step 4: Write Clear, Error-Free Sentences

Revising Sentences

Editing Sentences

Practice in Revising Sentences

Chapter 6: Four Bases for Revising Writing

Base 1: Unity

Base 2: Support

Base 3: Coherence

Base 4: Sentence Skills

Practice in Using the Four Bases

PART TWO: Paragraph Development

Chapter 7: Introduction to Paragraph Development

Nine Patterns of Paragraph Development

Important Considerations in Paragraph Development

Using a Computer

Using Peer Review

Doing a Personal Review

Chapter 8: Exemplification

Chapter 9: Process

Chapter 10: Cause and Effect

Chapter 11: Comparison and Contrast

Chapter 12: Definition

Chapter 13: Division and Classification

Chapter 14: Description

Chapter 15: Narration

Chapter 16: Argument

Chapter 17: Additional Paragraph Assignments

PART THREE: Essay Development

Chapter 18: Writing the Essay

What Is an Essay?

Important Points About the Essay

Essays to Consider

Planning the Essay

Practice in Writing the Essay

Essay Writing Assignments

PART FOUR: Research Skills

Chapter 19: Using the Library and the Internet

Chapter 20: Writing a Research Paper

PART FIVE: Handbook of Sentence Skills

Preview

Sentence-Skills Diagnostic Test

Section I: GRAMMAR

Chapter 21: Subjects and Verbs

Chapter 22: Sentence Sense

Chapter 23: Fragments

Chapter 24: Run-Ons

Chapter 25: Standard English Verbs

Chapter 26: Irregular Verbs

Chapter 27: Subject-Verb Agreement

Chapter 28: Pronoun Agreement and Reference