The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing--Brief Edition

by John D. Ramage, John C. Bean, June Johnson

The most successful rhetoric published in over a decade, The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing offers the most progressive and teachable introduction now available to academic and personal writing. The guide offers engaging instruction in rhetoric and composition, a flexible sequence of comprehensive writing assignments, numerous examples of student and professional writing, and thorough guides to research and editing. Solidly grounded in current theory and research, yet eminently practical and teachable, The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing has set the new standard for freshman composition courses in writing, reading, and critical thinking and inquiry. Part One, A Rhetoric for College Writer, provides a conceptual framework by showing how inquiring writers pose problems, pursue them through discussion and exploratory writing, and solve them as they compose and revise. Part Two, Writing Projects, contains twelve self-contained assignment chapters arranged according to the purposes for writing. Each chapter guides the reader through the process of generating and exploring ideas, composing and drafting, revising and editing. Part Three, A Guide to Composing and Revising, comprises five self-contained chapters of nuts-and-bolts strategies for composing and revising. A Guide to Research, Part Four, instructs how to conduct research and incorporate sources into their own writing, and includes a state-of-the-art chapter on electronic writing and research. Part Five, A Guide to Special Writing Occasions, gives helpful advice on writing reflective self-evaluations and on writing essay exams. Part Six, A Guide to Editing, is a concise handbook of grammar, usage, mechanics, punctuation, style, andediting.

Genres: School

800 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Pavan Aaryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

there is an issue with the organization of examples, theory, important instructions that need to be followed during citations.

[Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a pretty good textbook for teaching beginning college writers about composition. I liked the frequent writing exercises and the peer review questions.

The readings were also fairly interesting and useful (if slanted heavily toward the left).

My main problem was the student examples. I felt like the examples were poor, and did not meet the assignment requirements. So, I have had to come up with my own examples from past student papers to show what I expect.

It would also be nice to have the teaching tips integrated in a single teacher copy, but that is a minor point.

[J.I.]

This is my second time teaching this book and the third time reading it, and I can say that it is perfectly adequate for introductory writers. That's about it, however.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I infinitely prefer the textbook I use for my intermediate writing class, but I found the writing exercises in this to be useful for beginning students.