ENG 300 Advanced Composition

Study Guide
Advanced
Composition
By
Robert G. Turner, Jr., Ph.D.
About the Author
Robert G. Turner, Jr., holds a B.S. in business and an M.S. and
a Ph.D. in sociology. He has more than 20 years of teaching
experience, mainly at the college level, and is currently serving
as an adjunct professor at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg. Dr. Turner
is primarily employed as a professional freelance writer. His literary
credits include two stage plays, two novels, and two nonfiction
works, along with an array of publications in academic and
educational venues.
INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS 1
LESSON ASSIGNMENTS 7
LESSON 1: PLANNING A PAPER WITH SOURCES 9
EXAMINATION—LESSON 1 27
LESSON 2: FINDING SOURCES AND TAKING NOTES 31
EXAMINATION—LESSON 2 49
LESSON 3: WRITING A PAPER USING SOURCES 53
EXAMINATION—LESSON 3 75
LESSON 4: REVIEWING WRITING BASICS
AND ANALYZING POETRY 79
EXAMINATION 99
LESSON 5: USING DEFINITION WITH
CLASSIFICATION 103
EXAMINATION 111
LESSON 6: USING COMPARISON AND CONTRAST 113
EXAMINATION 125
LESSON 7: WRITING AN ARGUMENT 129
EXAMINATION—COURSE FINAL 139
SELF-CHECK ANSWERS 141
APPENDIX 173
iii
C o n t e n t s C o n t e n t s
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to your course on advanced composition. This
course continues where English Composition left off and will
help you build your writing skills further. In this course,
you’ll practice research and writing skills by developing
papers that require you to use sources and correctly cite
them using MLA formatting. You’ll learn to look at writing
with a critical eye—a skill you can apply to your own work,
as well as to the reading you do for research or in your daily
activities. You’ll apply these skills to your own writing through
editing and revising.
COURSE SYLLABUS
Course name: Advanced Composition
Course number: ENG 300
Instructors: Multiple—see faculty listing in the
Student Handbook
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 A.M. to 7 P.M. Eastern
Standard Time
Contact information: After logging into your homepage at the
student Web site, click Contact us. If you call the telephone
number, choose the menu options for speaking to an instructor
and request extension 8564. For e-mail, choose Contact
Education. You must type your e-mail address correctly
to ensure a reply to your question and include your
student number in the message. You also must add
edserv@pennfoster.com to the list of approved or
accepted senders in your e-mail browser.
For the best instructional assistance, ask specific questions,
explaining what you don’t understand and the particular
page in the study materials or exam requirement that it
relates to.
Text: Kathleen T. McWhorter, Successful College Writing:
Brief Third Edition.
1
I n s t r u c t i o n s I n s t r u c t i o n s
2 Instructions to Students
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Primary objective: You’ll use research to plan, organize,
develop, and edit a variety of papers with clarity and precision
using standard MLA formatting.
When you complete this course, you’ll be able to
■ Properly narrow a thesis statement
■ Apply an appropriate writing style to a particular
audience and purpose
■ Use researched evidence and suitable patterns of
development to develop your thesis
■ Implement critical-reading strategies to analyze writing
in sources and while revising your own work
■ Properly paraphrase, summarize, and quote sources
■ Correctly apply the MLA format
■ Analyze literary elements and use correct terminology to
describe them
■ Build effective paragraphs, including powerful
introductions and effective conclusions
■ Apply conventions of standard written American English
to editing your work
A STUDY PLAN
This study guide contains your lesson assignments and the
exams for the seven lessons you’ll complete for this course.
The self-checks at the end of each assignment will help you
assess your understanding of the material so you’ll know
whether you should move on to the next assignment or do
further review to master the material before continuing.
Note: For Lesson 6, you’re required to read one novel that has been
turned into a movie and to watch that movie. The list of movies
made from books is extensive and includes To Kill a Mockingbird,
The Princess Bride, Girl with a Pearl Earring, and the Harry
Potter series. (A short story or children’s book isn’t an appropriate
selection. You must read a full-length novel.)
Instructions to Students 3
Study pace. Students have a study time limit for the semester but not one specific to Advanced Composition. You must
pace yourself wisely through the semester’s courses to meet
the expiration date, allowing sufficient time for reading,
prewriting, drafting, revising, and grading. Generally, you
should allot at least two weeks for each English lesson, with
some taking longer than that, and you must complete each
exam in the correct order. Since the course goal is to help
you grow as a writer by deliberately using your strengths and
improving weaknesses with each assignment, you shouldn’t
submit the essays for Lessons 4, 5, and 6 until you receive
the previous lesson’s evaluation. You should, however, move
ahead to work on the next lessons while waiting for an exam
evaluation. (If you have other courses available for study, you
may work on those materials while taking this English course
and submit any completed exams.)
Exam submissions. Use the following guidelines when submitting your exams:
■ For multiple-choice examinations (Lessons 1, 2, and 3),
you may submit your exam online, by phone using
TelTest, or by mail using Exam Express. (See the
Student Handbook for instructions.)
■ For written examinations (Lessons 4, 5, 6, and 7), unless
the individual exam instructions specify otherwise, papers
must be typed double-spaced using a standard, 12-point
font and left justification. Use 1-inch margins at the top
and bottom and 1.25-inch margins for the left and right
sides of the document. Each page must have a header in
the proper format, containing student name, student
number with exam number, page number, mailing
address, and e-mail address.
Jane Doe 23456789—50080300 5
987 Nice Street
My Town, AZ 34567
janedoe@yahoo.com
Name each document using your student number first,
then the six-digit lesson number, and finally your name
(e.g., 23456789_500803 Jane Doe). Save each as “File Type:
Rich Text Format” regardless of the word processing program
you use. Follow the instructions in the text on pages 712–715.
Use “Instructor,” rather than an instructor’s name. The course
is Advanced Composition ENG 300. Don’t use headings in the
body of your paper.
4 Instructions to Students
Exams can be submitted online from the student homepage
using the Take Exam button next to the lesson number on
the “My Courses” page. After keying in the full exam number,
you’ll complete the uploading process for submission. Check
to be sure that the document you’ve uploaded is the one containing your final work for evaluation. When your paper is
received into the exam system, it’s coded as RCD with the
date received.
To receive e-mailed evaluations for electronic submissions,
you must type your e-mail address accurately and add
edserv@pennfoster.com to the accepted senders list in
your e-mail browser.
Evaluation. Evaluation usually occurs within seven business
days of receipt (from the RCD date code). Exams are scored
according to the parameters of the exam assignment using
the Advance Composition Course Rubric, which is located in
the Appendix of this study guide with a complete explanation
of evaluation criteria and skill levels. Instructors may write
feedback on both the essay and the evaluation chart.
Retakes. Students are required to complete all assigned
work, including a retake for any first-time failing attempt on
an exam. The evaluation of any first-time failing exam will
include a Required Retake form. That form must then be
included with your retake exam submission to ensure proper
handling. If the assigned work isn’t provided, submissions
will be evaluated according to the criteria but additional
points will be deducted for not following the instructions. In
addition, please review school policy about retakes in the
Student Handbook (available online).
Plagiarism policy. Carefully review the plagiarism policy in
the Student Handbook (available online). The first submission
that departs from this policy earns a grade of 1 percent. If it’s
a first-time submission, you may retake the exam (per retake
procedures). A second such submission on any subsequent
exam means failure of the Advanced Composition course.
Organization. To keep your work for this course organized,
create clearly labeled files in your word processing program. We
recommend you create a primary file folder named “Advanced
Composition.” Within that folder, create separate files,
Instructions to Students 5
such as “Self-Checks” and “Course Notes.” Also create a
folder for each written exam (Lessons 4, 5, 6, and 7), where
you’ll keep files of your research notes, rough drafts, and
final draft. Establish a clear naming system for each file
so you don’t confuse early drafts with your final version of
an essay. When you reopen a rough draft, immediately use
“Save as” and add the date before further revision. That way
you won’t lose anything you may delete but then wish you
had kept.
6 Instructions to Students
NOTES
7
Lesson 1: Planning a Paper with Sources

Examination 50080000
Lesson 2: Finding Sources and Taking Notes

Examination 50080100
Lesson 3: Writing a Paper Using Sources

Examination 50080200
A s s i g n m e n t s A s s i g n m e n t s
8 Advanced Composition
Lesson 4: Reviewing Writing Basics and Analyzing Poetry

Examination 50080300
Lesson 5: Using Definition with Classification

Examination 50080400
Lesson 6: Using Comparison and Contrast

Examination 50080500
Lesson 7: Writing an Argument

Course Final Examination 50080600
9
Planning a Paper
with Sources
INTRODUCTION
The writer Isaac Asimov is said to have written many of his
popular-science books without doing any research. But Asimov
was a professor of biochemistry and vice president of Mensa
International, an organization for people with exceptionally
high intelligence. While most of us use the reservoir of knowledge and experience in our minds when we write, it’s unlikely
that the average person can write competently and extensively
using only that mental filing cabinet. Even if you think you
know something—for example, a quote you memorized long
ago—when you check it against the original, it may not be
precisely as you remembered it. That’s why we use sources
to check, and while we’re checking, we may find additional
information that’s relevant to our topics.
Research papers aren’t busy work. You’ll learn not only how
to think, write, and organize, but also how to pay attention
to detail, communicate your ideas to others, and find support
for your ideas. The skills used in developing a research paper
are all transferable to the job market.
OBJECTIVES
When you complete this lesson, you’ll be able to
■ Develop a feasible topic
■ Frame useful research questions
■ Establish a working thesis statement
■ Read actively and critically to analyze sources
■ Identify bias and recognize the difference between
fact and opinion
■ Explain the difference between primary and
secondary sources
L e s s o n 1 L e s s o n 1
10 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 1: USING SOURCES
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 639–642 in
your textbook. Be sure to complete the self-check to gauge
your progress.
INTRODUCTION
People in any society depend on each other for sustenance
of all kinds. That’s definitely true in the world of scholars.
Those who acquire and express ideas through the written
word rely on many resources, and they understand the need
to acknowledge the work of other thinkers and writers. Like
Isaac Asimov, they may have assimilated a lot of general
knowledge and made conclusions of their own; but any time a
writer borrows ideas and words directly from another person,
that person must be cited as the source for those ideas.
When you write a research paper, you develop your idea
by searching for similar ideas to back it up. As you locate
sources to support your thesis, you recognize that all the
ideas aren’t your own, so you make it clear which ones are
and which are not. This practice applies no matter the type
or date of the source.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Quick Starts. These opening exercises for each chapter
aren’t assigned activities, but pause to read each one before
beginning the chapter reading.
Pages 640–642. The sources you select for your research
will fall into two distinct categories. Primary sources come from
“the horse’s mouth.” That is, the information is available in a
first-person document or recording, rather than a quote or
interpretation by another person. Such sources are considered
extremely reliable. Primary sources include letters, speeches,
diaries, the writings of scientists and philosophers, and many
other types of text or records. It may be a personal account of
a battle or an interview with a celebrity.
Lesson 1 11
Here are some examples:
■ A letter from James Madison to his wife Dolley
■ Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address
■ A diary kept by a soldier during the Korean War
■ The poetry of Emily Dickinson
■ A radio broadcast from a reporter observing the
destruction of the Hindenburg
■ Albert Einstein’s published papers on the special theory
of relativity
Secondary sources either support or comment on primary
sources. They may serve your purpose better than primary
sources if you’re looking for authority to back up an argument.
If an original manuscript of a play is the primary source, then
a critical essay discussing the work is the secondary source. An
author interested in the life of Samuel Adams would consult as
many primary sources (actual writings by Adams himself) as he
or she could before writing a biography of Adams. If you used
the resulting biography as a source for your paper, that would
be a secondary source. The author may have quoted the primary
sources and collected facts from them, but he or she also went
on to interpret and draw conclusions from the material.
Even when using primary sources, you must be careful of
translations. For example, Plato’s dialogues have been translated differently by different scholars; Emily Dickinson’s poems
were arbitrarily edited in early editions. You may have to do
further research to determine the professional reputation of
the translator or editor. Also be careful with Web sites; it may
be much more difficult in that case to verify the credentials of
the author.
Examples of secondary sources include
■ Ken Burns’ documentary, The Civil War
■ An Encyclopedia Britannica article on Freud’s theories
■ Rome: The Biography of a City by Christopher Hibbert
12 Advanced Composition
Page 642. A research paper, like any other type of conventional writing, needs a structure. Facts, statistics, and other
details have to be fitted together so they flow logically and
create a meaningful article, narrative, or commentary. Using
the framework of your thesis, you must seek out information
to support your ideas, choosing evidence that best supports
each point in your thesis. Just as every line of dialogue in
a screenplay is designed to move or inform the plot, every
source you use must contribute to developing your thesis.
Your in-text citations also must fit into the flow, providing
the necessary information in the correct form. The MLA
style is the preferred approach to parenthetical in-text citations in English and the humanities, and it’s what you’ll use
in this course. Chapter 20 provides a guide. Take a few
moments to skim through the MLA section.
Review Figure 18.1 on page 643 for a visual of the systematic
way you need to approach using primary and secondary
sources. In particular, note all the ways information can be
extracted and used during the research and writing process.
Self-Check 1
At the end of each section of Advanced Composition, you’ll be asked to pause and check
your understanding of what you’ve just read by completing a “Self-Check” exercise. Keep
your answers in your self-check file or a separate notebook. Answering these questions
will help you review what you’ve studied so far. Please complete Self-Check 1 now.
1. Write a brief paragraph differentiating primary and secondary sources and give one
example of each. Then, in a second paragraph, compare the advantages and
disadvantages of secondary sources.
2. Using an example for each, describe how to acknowledge sources in an MLA-style
essay or research paper.
3. What element of a research paper determines its boundaries, guides its development,
and establishes its objective?
Check your answers with those on page 141.
Lesson 1 13
ASSIGNMENT 2: PLANNING
YOUR PAPER
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 642–648 of
Chapter 18 in your textbook. Be sure to complete the selfcheck to gauge your progress.
INTRODUCTION
Complete freedom to choose a topic might make the job of
planning a paper harder, not easier. Your assignment will
give you some limits to work within and some description of
what’s expected, so begin planning your paper by defining
the assignment. First, think about the objective of the paper.
A good place to start is with the verbs—what’s it asking you
to do? Verbs like describe, persuade or convince, or compare
and contrast tell you what you need to accomplish with the
paper, as well as what primary pattern of development to
apply. Once you have your objective clearly in mind, you’ll
be able to explore appropriate sources.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 642–647. Figure 18.2 on page 643 takes you through
the steps involved in writing a paper using sources. This
chapter’s skills are outlined in detail. The basic steps in
selecting, narrowing, and discovering ideas for a research
topic are similar to methods used in any other essay writing.
They include preliminary reading, prewriting, and viewing
your topic from different perspectives.
Pages 644–645. In this section, you’ll study five practical
guidelines for choosing an appealing and feasible topic.
Consider what these recommendations mean to you.
First, it makes sense to choose a topic that interests you.
However, in actual experience, some topics may seem interesting at first glance, but then seem less interesting as you
learn more. In other cases, a random idea or topic may catch
your attention while you’re exploring on the Internet or in an
14 Advanced Composition
online catalog at the library. That’s why seeking out an interesting topic requires an open mind, as the following scenario
shows. Think through it carefully, because it will reappear as
this lesson proceeds.
Your composition teacher requires you to develop a
paper with some connection to Central Africa, leaving
the details to your interests. You’re interested in what
motivated Joseph Conrad when he wrote The Heart
of Darkness. The novel contrasts the mentality of
Westerners to the apparently random savagery of
Central Africa, where nature seems to overwhelm
the order and reason of civilization. You do some
Internet searching, but, as you do, you find that
English graduate students and scholars of all kinds
have written mountains of material on this topic.
Not only would the topic be unmanageable, it’s
also unlikely that you could come up with a fresh
perspective on the topic.
However, you do find that the film Apocalypse Now
is based on Conrad’s book. Now you may be on to
something. But soon the same problem arises. You’ll
have to know Conrad literary criticism inside out to
write anything fresh and engaging about the film.
So your search continues.
Then, skimming a page on Central Africa, you
discover that civil war and mass murder in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) involve
international corporate interest in a mineral called
columbite-tantalite, popularly known as coltan. You’ve
never heard of coltan, but a quick Internet search
reveals that coltan is essential to the production of
cell phones and other electronic products. Quickly
searching some more, you find that the topic yields
sources, the topic is fresh and current (but not too
new, since there’s information available), and it
seems manageable.
Pages 645–647. As you know, a reasoned approach to
narrowing and discovering ideas about a topic is preliminary
reading, prewriting, and viewing your topic from different
perspectives. You’re interested in the coltan issue and so far,
Lesson 1 15
in your preliminary reading, you’ve unearthed the
following facts:
■ Coltan is a mineral that combines niobium and tantalum.
Tantalum is a rare metal that’s a crucial component of
the transistors used in cell phones and in some other
technological contexts.
■ As the demand for coltan has soared, so has its price in
international markets.
■ Roughly 80 percent of the global supply of coltan is
found in the far eastern highland regions of the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
■ The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the thirdlargest African nation. Its capital, Kinshasa, is near
the mouth of the Congo River, far to the west of the
highland region.
■ The government centered at Kinshasa oversees a land of
poverty and political corruption.
■ The coltan mining region borders Uganda, Rwanda,
and Burundi.
■ A brutal civil war, characterized by rape, torture,
and random murder, disrupts the entire coltan
mining region.
■ The violence is strongly related to the smuggling of
coltan from the DRC.
■ International interests, out of Belgium and other nations,
will buy the coltan wherever they can get it.
■ Efforts by the United Nations and other nations to
contain the violence have had little or no success.
■ The mining is creating extensive environmental destruction.
■ The habitat of the endangered Eastern Lowland Gorilla is
being destroyed by the mining operations.
16 Advanced Composition
At this point, you can think about different perspectives on
the general topic of coltan mining. Different points of view
and, therefore, different narrowed topics can be explored by
using research questions. For example,
■ What’s the history of Western colonialism in this region?
■ What are the uses of coltan?
■ What cultural and sociological impacts does coltan
mining bring about?
■ What’s the economic importance of coltan locally
and globally?
■ Who benefits from the use of coltan?
■ What’s the environmental impact of coltan mining?
■ What parties are responsible for the smuggling and how
are they involved in the civil war (to what advantage)?
Pages 647–648. Clearly, addressing all of those aspects of
the coltan issue would be unmanageable within the limits of a
relatively brief research paper. You’ll need to create a working
thesis that helps you narrow your topic. Reviewing all of your
questions, you decide to concentrate on the environmental
issue. You write, “Regional conflicts in Africa are threatening
the last habitat of the rare Eastern Lowland Gorilla.”
To develop this thesis, you have to confine yourself to summarizing the coltan issue while focusing on the Eastern
Lowland Gorilla and its threatened habitat. Now you need
new research questions for your narrowed topic. They
might include
■ What’s the Eastern Lowland Gorilla’s habitat like?
■ How is the mining affecting it?
■ How long has the habitat destruction been going on?
■ Can the damage be reversed?
■ How else can the gorillas be protected?
Lesson 1 17
Self-Check 2
Use this background material to complete the self-check. Keep your answers in your
self-check file or a separate notebook.
■ According to Queensland’s Environmental Protection Agency, more than 90 percent of the
species that have existed on Earth are now extinct.
■ Natural habitats and particular species have been affected by human activity, sometimes
leading to the extinction of a species (bison, mountain lions, and gray wolves are nearly
wiped out).
■ Over millions of years, many species died out when they couldn’t adapt to an environment
altered by climate change.
■ Natural selection is the process by which species develop traits favorable to survival within
a particular habitat.
1. Review the material under “View Your Topic from Different Perspectives” on pages 645–647.
Use Exercise 18.1 on page 646 for reference. To address the topic “extinction of animal
species,” list one or more questions each from the perspective of biology, geology, history,
and economy.
2. After reviewing the material on pages 647–648, create a working thesis and at least three
research questions to address one of the perspectives futher.
Check your answers with those on page 141.
18 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 3: SELECTING AND
EVALUATING USEFUL SOURCES
Read the following assignment. Then study pages 648–653 in
Chapter 18 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the selfcheck to gauge your progress.
INTRODUCTION
Before you begin your search for sources, make sure you
have a copy of your working thesis and your research questions
in front of you. Refer to it each time you locate a potential
source, and make sure they’re relevant to your topic before
you print or copy any articles or borrow any books. While you
may not want to take time to thoroughly read each piece, at
least look in a book’s index to see if your topic is covered and
scan any item you believe you need. The information you find
might be a repetition of something you already have, it may
be out of date, or it may be too general for your needs. Select
only those sources that you’re likely to use before closely
reading the source.
An Internet search engine may be your favorite place to find
information quickly, but don’t depend too heavily on the
articles you find there. A lot of the best, in-depth information
for a research paper is found only in print sources. Make
sure you consult your library’s “search engine”—the reference
librarian. He or she can show you where to find excellent
sources online as well as in print. Make a point of choosing
at least a few print sources, particularly when you need
primary sources.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 648–649. When is a source relevant? Use common
sense. If the source helps you answer one of your research
questions, it’s relevant. But remember to consider your audience, your thesis, and the timeliness of your source.
The school’s library
provides access to
many print sources
online through the
EdSeek Periodical
Database. Use the
library link from your
homepage at the
school’s Web site.
Lesson 1 19
Your audience and your purpose—the way you intend to
develop your thesis—will affect the sources and information
you choose to review and to include in your paper. Suppose
you’re looking at the pros and cons of DNA testing in crime
investigations. A scientific work in population genetics might
be too technical for your audience. A mainstream magazine
article on how DNA testing is used in novels or television
programs may be biased and misleading. Your most relevant
sources will be articles from law enforcement agencies or civil
rights organizations that focus on this issue.
Also remember that the world changes quickly, particularly
in respect to technology. When evaluating a source, you may
find that it’s simply out of date. On the other hand, older
sources may be helpful if you’re researching the historical
background of an issue.
Pages 649–650. How can you decide if a source is reliable?
Your text offers you four guidelines. In general, scholarly
sources are more factual and balanced than general-interest
sources. Some news sources are considered reliable—The
New York Times has a better reputation than a supermarket
tabloid, and a Web site that ends in .edu is more reliable
than a blog. A good source names the author, so you can
check his or her credentials. But even among scientists and
scholars, judgments and opinions differ. You may have to
check facts and other opinions to tell whether an article is
biased, but be aware of your own biases, too.
Pages 650–653. The techniques for evaluating Internet
sources aren’t much different from those used for evaluating
print sources. The main difference is that the accuracy, purpose, and timeliness of Internet sources can be somewhat
difficult to evaluate. If you can’t verify a fact or a site’s credibility, it’s best not to use it.
Note: Study Tables 18.1 and 18.2 on page 651. Notice the
different kinds and purposes of Web sites, as well as questions
to guide your evaluation of the site before you use the information you find there. Sometimes a commercial URL site
seems to be offering a factual report when it’s actually just a
public-relations piece.
20 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 4: ANALYZING
SOURCES AND WORKING
WITH TEXT
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 653–660 in
Chapter 18 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the self-check
to gauge your progress.
Most of this section is devoted to detecting bias. You’ll review
your concept of identifying bias and determine when an idea
presented as a fact is actually an opinion. You’ll also search out
underlying assumptions, many of which are implied rather than
explicit, and review the skills needed for reading sources.
Self-Check 3
In your self-check file or notebook, complete the following exercises.
1. In a paragraph, explain the difference between relevant and reliable sources to support the
thesis of a research paper or essay. Use examples to support your ideas.
2. Complete Exercise 18.3 on page 650.
3. List three questions you could use to evaluate the accuracy of an Internet source.
4. Which of the following will probably contain the most objective data?
a. A report with charts documenting hourly wage rates by occupational group
b. A memoir about working in a coal mine
c. An editorial in The Washington Post
d. A letter rebutting an article in a medical journal
5. You may consider an article from an Internet source reliable if the article
a. first appeared in a print source or publication.
b. contains the author’s name and the publication date.
c. provides documented information.
d. is published by a national association.
Check your answers with those on page 142.
Lesson 1 21
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 653–658. There are opinions and there are facts, but
there’s no definitive line between the two. For instance, the
distance from Earth to our Moon is 238,855 miles—sometimes.
When its orbit is closest to Earth, it’s only 225,780 miles
away. Statistical facts are always off by a mathematically
determined margin of error. But if the sample is correctly
taken, a statistic can be called a fact—even though that fact
may change next week. Very few facts are incontrovertible.
You may say that men are physically stronger than women,
and that may be true on the average, but there will be many
exceptions among individuals. Not all opinions have equal
weight, either. An opinion based on empirical evidence matters
more than an opinion based on an unsupported belief. For
example, if an agronomist who is also a meteorologist states
that the Iowa corn harvest will be down 10 to 12 percent this
year, her expert opinion is more significant than that of a
man next to you in the grocery line. Be sure to read the
boxed example of facts and opinions at the top of page 654.
Pages 655–656. People naturally have opinions and favored
points of view. But are all viewpoints biased? Well, yes, but
there are degrees of bias. It may be possible to determine that
viewpoint X is better supported than viewpoint Y, and a balanced journalistic comparison of X and Y could be relatively
free of bias. Regardless, there are three things to remember
about opinions. First, recognize that you have biases of your
own, and try to keep an open mind. Second, a clear argument
in favor of a viewpoint can still be a reliable and relevant
source. Third, when in doubt, seek out alternative viewpoints
supported by logical, reasoned, and substantial evidence.
Pages 656–658. Generalizations and assumptions are
related, but you need to understand how they’re different.
A generalization is an interpretation of a set of facts. Therefore, a generalization can be valid. For example, the assertion
that children who grow up in poverty are more likely to be
malnourished is probably a valid generalization, at least in
statistical terms—if it’s based on factual data that’s been
22 Advanced Composition
correctly gathered and analyzed. But now consider two other
versions of this assertion:
Children who grow up in poverty are always malnourished.
This isn’t a generalization because “always” makes it a
categorical statement—there are no exceptions. Clearly, there
are instances of poor children who aren’t malnourished.
Therefore, the generalization is invalid.
Young people who grow up in poverty are delinquent more
often than middle-class children. Reread this sentence. Does
it appeal to your intuition? If it does, you may have been
misled. Actual sociological data suggests that the likelihood of
being labeled delinquent is higher among the poor. However,
the frequency of delinquent acts is similar for both middleclass and poor children.
Now imagine an article or research paper with this thesis:
“Rates of delinquency can be reduced by reducing poverty.”
If the author doesn’t supply sociological studies that define
the issues, the whole argument will be based on a false
assumption. Keep in mind that assumptions like these
often establish the foundation for a thesis, so you should
be prepared to evaluate an author’s assumptions, as well as
your own.
Pages 658–660. When you read a textbook, you’re seeking
knowledge about specific concepts. By contrast, you’ll read
sources to find information that will answer your research
questions. That’s why you should read sources selectively,
skipping over material that isn’t relevant to your working
thesis. By skimming for keywords or phrases, you’ll pick out
what you need more quickly. You read the title, an introductory paragraph, the headings, the graphics, and key terms or
phrases. Make sure you read the last paragraph—it will often
be a summary of the article. Later you can carefully read the
articles you chose and take notes. Make sure you mark any
copies or printouts with the information you’ll need for your
in-text citations and Works Cited page.
Page 660. As sources, Web sites offer some unique challenges,
particularly in the way they’re laid out. You’ll have to scroll
through the homepage to see what links and features are
offered. While you do, try to avoid the temptation to get too
absorbed in browsing. Keep your mind focused on your topic
and stay alert for information related to your working thesis.
Lesson 1 23
Self-Check 4
Label each of the following statements as fact (F), opinion (O), or expert opinion (EO).
______ 1. A Gallup poll indicated that 60 percent of respondents agree that it’s better to marry
someone who shares similar interests.
______ 2. According to Dr. Howard Gardner of Harvard University, there are at least eight different kinds of intelligence.
______ 3. The Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee offer unsurpassed opportunities for
landscape photography.
______ 4. The attention span of adults is about 20 minutes.
______ 5. Mexico City is one the world’s most populous cities.
______ 6. Denver, the so-called Mile-High City, is the site of a U.S. government mint.
______ 7. It’s understood that, on average, women are more familiar with cooking than men.
______ 8. In 1852, since President Franklin Pierce was greedy to expand U.S. influence, he
offered to buy the island of Cuba.
______ 9. Although Mozart died in poverty, his music remains immortal.
Label each of the following as fact (F) or generalization (G). Indicate what kind of support
or documentation would be necessary for you to evaluate each statement’s accuracy.
______ 10. Most people who live in San Francisco hold far-left political views.
______ 11. Jupiter’s atmosphere is rich in methane.
______ 12. People in many nations opposed the invasion of Iraq.
______ 13. Africa has a bright future because it’s rich in natural resources.
______ 14. The average summer temperature in Seattle is 72 degrees Fahrenheit.
(Continued)
24 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 5: ACTIVEREADING REVIEW
Read the following assignment. Then study pages 23–50 in
Chapter 2 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the self-check
to gauge your progress.
As you may recall, there are two parts to the reading process.
First, you must comprehend what the author says, and second,
you must figure out what the author means. Interpreting the
author’s use of words and their connotations or symbolism
isn’t always as straightforward as it may seem. No matter
how scholarly an article seems, you must approach it with a
critical eye. Sorting out facts and opinions or generalizations
and valid conclusions comes easier with practice. You’ll
become more skillful in active reading the more you use it.
Self-Check 4
15. In one or two short paragraphs, identify and explain what assumption or assumptions you find
in the following paragraph.
I love man as my fellow; but his scepter, real or usurped, extends not to me, unless
the reason of an individual demands my homage; and even then the submission is
to reason, and not to man. In fact, the conduct of an accountable being must be
regulated by the operations of its own reason; or on what foundation rests the
throne of God?
—Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797),
excerpt from A Vindication of the Rights of Women
(Second Revised Edition, 1792)
Check your answers with those on page 143.
Lesson 1 25
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Page 23. Take note of the four common misperceptions
about active reading. Remember that not everything you see
in print is true. Approach what you read with a good sense
of what you’re looking for. When in doubt, read difficult paragraphs more than once. Keep alert to material that’s relevant
to your purpose.
Pages 23–34. Active readers preview material with a
purpose in mind, turn headings into questions that need
answers, and are careful to review what needs reviewing.
Make sure you review Figure 2.1 on page 24. It gives you an
overview of the active-reading process. Notice its application
to the previous discussion on locating and using research
material. Also, read the feature box at the top of page 25 to
compare the attitudes of passive and active readers.
Pages 26–27. The essay “Purse Snatching” permits you
to clearly understand the parts of an essay that should be
scanned in the previewing process. Which paragraphs are
read completely? What part of other paragraphs is read?
Pages 28–33. Read with a purpose. Remember to form
questions to guide your reading and to search for key elements.
A repeat of the “Purse Snatching” article, on pages 30–31,
walks you through the search for key elements, naming them
in the margin comments. The thesis statement is highlighted.
Practice looking for key elements in a short opinion piece
from the newspaper.
Pages 34–41. Not all texts or all graphics are “user
friendly.” Table 2.1 on page 35 offers you a list of useful
approaches to difficult text. Remember that creating a
graphic organizer—a visual graph that breaks down the
content of a difficult text into key elements—is one of your
options. Review Figure 2.3 on page 37 and Figure 2.4 on
page 38.
Page 40. The “Responding to Text” discussion on page 40
points out that a companion of active reading is responding to
the text. The essence of responding to a source in the researchwriting process is evaluating its relevance or usefulness in
developing your thesis. For this course, you’ll develop a
special kind of response paper called a research paper.
Reminder: For
Lesson 6, you must
read a book that
was later made
into a movie. You
also need to watch
the movie. If you
haven’t yet made a
choice and begun
reading, do so
before you begin
Lesson 2.
26 Advanced Composition
Pages 41–50. Review the section “A Guide to Responding to
Text.” It’s summarized in Figure 2.5 on page 41. The rest of the
section is a guide to summarizing a text, linking it to your own
experience, and employing four steps for analyzing a text.
These techniques can be applied as you take notes from your
sources. Link the reading to your thesis and to your audience;
you may want to use a modified worksheet like Figure 2.9 on
page 51 when you begin skimming your selected sources.
Self-Check 5
In your self-check file or notebook, complete the following exercises.
1. Exercise 2.4 on page 44: Write a summary of the material under the heading, “Changing
Some Misconceptions about Reading.” Be sure what you write is a summary in your own
words, not a reiteration of the material.
Read the following paragraph and respond to the questions that follow.
Prior to 1600, Japan was generally divided into regions ruled by warlords. However,
from 1600 on, and for several centuries, Japan was united under a dynasty of
shoguns of the Tokugawa clan. Having adopted the musket by way of Portuguese
traders, the Tokugawa shoguns organized armies that succeeded in maintaining
political unity. However, for a time, Tokugawa hegemony was threatened. In
particular, Western missionaries had succeeded in converting large numbers of
Japanese to Christianity. In response to this threat, the shoguns took steps. First,
they established Confucianism as the state religion. As they did this, they also got
busy persecuting native Christians and Western traders. By 1650, it was illegal to
build seagoing ships and Japanese were effectively forbidden from traveling abroad.
2. Were shoguns warlords? If not, what Western equivalent title or function could you assign to
the term shogun?
3. What does the term dynasty imply?
4. By what means did the Tokugawa shoguns enforce political unity?
5. In terms of long-term historical or social patterns, what implications might you infer from the
last sentence of the paragraph?
Check your answers with those on page 145.
27
1. The most effective way to scan material for information is to
A. closely scrutinize every sentence.
B. follow a pattern to systematically cover the page.
C. read only the first two words of every sentence.
D. read every other page.
2. Thelma’s working thesis is “Children raised permissively are
more likely to be dependent, impulse driven, and socially
immature.” Her next step will probably be to
A. define several different styles of parenting.
B. offer a dictionary definition of permissiveness.
C. write an outline for her essay.
D. list research questions on her topic.
3. An Internet or print source that supports a strong opinion
with distorted facts and incomplete information is presenting
a/an _______ viewpoint.
A. relevant C. biased
B. scholarly D. dishonest
E x a m i n a t i o n E x a m i n a t i o n
Lesson 1
Planning a Paper with Sources
When you feel confident that you have mastered the material in
Lesson 1, go to http://www.takeexamsonline.com and submit
your answers online. If you don’t have access to the Internet,
you can phone in or mail in your exam. Submit your answers for
this examination as soon as you complete it. Do not wait until
another examination is ready.
Questions 1–20: Select the one best answer to each question.
EXAMINATION NUMBER
50080000
Whichever method you use in submitting your exam
answers to the school, you must use the number above.
For the quickest test results, go to
http://www.takeexamsonline.com
28 Examination, Lesson 1
4. Jake is interested in writing on “children of divorce” for his research paper. However,
he’s correctly concerned that the topic is probably too _______ to be workable.
A. narrow C. controversial
B. ordinary D. creative
5. Joleen is searching for the Web site of a nonprofit advocacy group whose purpose
supports her thesis. Which of the following is most likely the correct site for her needs?
A. http://www.scansky.org C. http://www.scansky.com
B. http://www.scansky.edu D. http://www.scansky.gov
6. In an article you’re considering as a source, one key to finding bias is to examine
A. the absence or presence of connotative language.
B. how broadly its topic is covered.
C. its reliability.
D. whether ideas are expressed as opinions.
7. If you’re writing a response to a text, which of the following describes the key-word
method for generating ideas?
A. Thinking of related articles and experiences
B. Jotting down any ideas that come to mind
C. Listing ideas similar to the article’s main point
D. Listing words describing your initial reaction
8. An ancient king once asked three blind sages to identify a creature he called a
pachyderm by examining it with their hands. The first sage described the creature as a
thick, wrinkled hose, possibly some kind of serpent. The second sage said the creature
was wide and flat, almost like a wall. The third sage reported that it was like a tree
trunk with rough, wrinkled bark. What aspect of determining an idea for an essay topic
does this fable illustrate?
A. Thinking outside the box
B. Viewing a topic from different perspectives
C. Gathering sources for research
D. Narrowing a topic to manageable proportions
9. To strengthen your thesis, use sources to provide
A. connotative meaning. C. specific details.
B. denotative meaning. D. preliminary conclusions.
Examination, Lesson 1 29
10. Which of the following statements is most accurate concerning key elements
of an essay?
A. The opening paragraph indicates the subject.
B. The title conveys the author’s point of view.
C. Details provide a fair and balanced viewpoint.
D. The thesis is stated indirectly.
11. You know a potential source is relevant if it
A. provides both historical and current information.
B. is both persuasive and fair.
C. is reliable and unbiased.
D. answers one of your research questions.
12. Which of the following works could serve as a secondary source for a research paper?
A. Gertrude Stein, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
B. Martin Luther King, Letters from Birmingham Jail
C. Clarence Livermore, Isaac Newton: His Life and Times
D. William Butler Yeats, A Vision
13. All or most of the ideas presented in an essay will be questionable if they’re based on
A. a generalization. C. a reliable opinion.
B. biased sources. D. a false assumption.
14. When you write a summary, begin with
A. your opposing ideas. C. the least important point.
B. the author’s thesis. D. a quote from the author.
15. In assessing the credibility and reliability of an Internet site, the primary concern is the
A. accuracy of its information.
B. identity of the author.
C. source of its sponsorship.
D. integrity of its purpose.
16. An example of a primary source is a/an
A. biography. C. blog.
B. newspaper story. D. encyclopedia article.
17. Another word for skimming is
A. scanning. C. perusing.
B. previewing. D. prereading.
30 Examination, Lesson 1
18. The acronym MIP is a device for selecting a workable topic for a research paper. The
letters stand for
A. manageable, interesting, practical.
B. manageable, interesting, possible.
C. meaningful, insightful, practical.
D. meaningful, insightful, pragmatic.
19. An important step in defining your assignment is
A. selecting an argument. C. listing your sources.
B. preparing a rebuttal. D. identifying its purpose.
20. Which of the following statements is most likely to be a fact rather than an opinion?
A. The American Civil War created our modern state.
B. Social scientists agree that life satisfaction is highest during adolescence.
C. Earthworms are instrumental in the production of topsoil.
D. It seems likely that variations in solar radiation have an effect on the ionosphere.
Finding Sources and
Taking Notes
INTRODUCTION
Many students have been trained to think that the first thing
they need to do when they have a research assignment is to
visit libraries, log onto the Internet, or interview other people
in search of information. But you yourself are an important
source of information—in fact, you should be the first source
of ideas for your research project. No matter what subject or
topic you’re researching, you probably have some knowledge
or ideas about it. That’s why we covered the various ways to
generate ideas, consider different perspectives from which to
view topics, and develop research questions—all before you
looked for any source material.
This lesson guides you through the next phase of the process—
locating, choosing, and using sources to develop and support
your narrowed topic (your working thesis). We begin at the
library, a resource often neglected because Google searches are
so easy. For an academic research paper, however, the library
is your most essential tool and should act as the starting point
for your search process. Use your local library (and, in particular, the reference librarian) as well as virtual libraries, such
as the college’s library (click the School Library link on your
student page) or ones like these:

31
L e s s o n 2 L e s s o n 2
32 Advanced Composition
OBJECTIVES
When you complete this lesson, you’ll be able to
■ Use keywords, library catalogs, databases, and periodical
indexes to locate sources in the library
■ Locate and evaluate sources on the Internet
■ Describe techniques for choosing and narrowing a topic
■ Take effective notes from sources
■ Explain techniques for gathering citation information
■ Correctly paraphrase information taken from sources
■ Properly record direct quotations
■ Explain plagiarism and how to use sources ethically
■ Prepare an annotated bibliography
ASSIGNMENT 6: USING
LIBRARY SOURCES
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 663–673 in
Chapter 19 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the selfcheck to gauge your progress.
Carefully study the material under “Locating Useful Library
Sources.” Refer to it often as you learn to locate useful
library sources.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 663–665. The best way to learn your way around a
library is to tour a library. Ask for a map or floor plan at the
circulation desk. Take some time to look around. Locate the
stacks, the periodical section, and the microfiche and microfilm resources. Talk to the reference librarians about the types
of resources they offer. Ask about the library’s Web site and
how to link to the library catalog or databases to which the
library subscribes.
Lesson 2 33
Page 665. Study Figure 19.1 on page 665, which will guide
you through the steps involved in researching your topic.
Pages 666–667. Quite often, library resources such as
catalogs and journals are located on databases. To search
efficiently, remember to use keywords to access information
in a database of any kind. Suppose you enter the word
“Napoleon” into a computer linked to a database and press
Go or Search. The keyword will bring up a list of resources
that contain the word “Napoleon”—probably hundreds or
thousands of them. If you’ve already narrowed your topic,
add the area of your focus, such as “unification” or
“Napoleonic Code” to limit the number of sources to those
most likely to be useful. Each database links keywords to
subject matter in different ways; your reading will help you
understand some of those differences.
The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) is a major
reference work listing standard subject headings used by the
Library of Congress. It’s a good source for locating keywords,
getting ideas for a topic, or narrowing down a topic.
Exercise. On the Internet, go to http://www.loc.gov/
catdir/cpso/lcco/. Click on a class and follow the breakdown
all the way to specific topics within a subclass category. You’ll
notice the listings are different from the layout given in the
sample entry from the LCSH at the bottom of page 667. You
would have to purchase the LCSH for the information given
in the sample. Nonetheless, the Web site’s classes and subclasses do provide keywords to use in your searches. Also
visit http://catalog.loc.gov/webvoy.htm to locate specific
publications for keywords or subject headings.
Pages 668–670. You can use a library catalog to locate
books and, in many cases, periodicals, newspapers, government documents, and electronic sources (Web sites). The
illustrations in Figures 19.2 and 19.3 show sample search
pages and search results. However, your library’s format and
procedures for accessing the library’s catalog may differ.
Check the menus on the monitor screen to help you get
started, but always ask for help if you don’t know how to
begin or can’t find what you want on the menus.
Pages 670–673. A bibliography is a list of books, articles,
documents, Web-posted articles, and other resources related
to a particular topic. In performing keyword searches, you
34 Advanced Composition
can locate a bibliography by attaching that term to a subject.
For example, to locate sources on Walt Whitman, you could
enter “Bibliography Walt Whitman” in the search window.
Indexes of periodicals may be general or specialized. They’re
accessible online or from a CD-ROM. The Reader’s Guide to
Periodical Literature lists more than 200 popular publications
dating from 1900, although they’re not very useful for academic
research. InfoTrac databases access thousands of periodical
sources. You have access to several InfoTrac databases through
the School Library link on your student homepage. The
material on page 672 discusses the use of periodical indexes.
Full-text articles may be directly accessed if they’re offered in
HTML. Articles in PDF files require Adobe Acrobat Reader to
view or print the material. Make sure you have this free
download on your computer.
Specialized periodical indexes and abstracts generally list
technical and academic articles within a specific academic
discipline, such as art history, biology, or education. The Essay
and General Literature Index is accessible online or as a CDROM. Look over the list of academic indexes on page 673,
but note that many specialized databases require registration
through an academic institution or a subscription to access
full articles as opposed to abstracts.
The most common sources available for research include nonfiction books, reference books, periodicals, and the Internet.
Nonfiction books contain facts, as well as extensive discussions
of opinions, ideas, and theories. Use nonfiction books when
you need an in-depth discussion of a topic.
Reference books include general-interest encyclopedias, specialized encyclopedias, dictionaries, specialized dictionaries, atlases,
and almanacs. If you want to look up a fact, read a concise
discussion of the history of a topic, or find basic background
information, use a reference book. In addition to reference
books for the general reader, specialized reference books offer
more academic and detailed discussions.
Periodicals contain relatively short articles; some, such as
newspapers and certain magazines, are of general interest,
covering a range of topics that appeal to many different people.
Special-interest periodicals focus on a single topic such as
Lesson 2 35
sports, news, or medicine. Unlike books and reference books,
the articles in periodicals are about focused ideas related to
a larger topic. Their short format allows them to concentrate
on one specific aspect of a topic, and their more frequent
publication may mean the information is more up to date
than that in a book. Use periodicals to familiarize yourself
with current ideas and information—but not for background
information, facts, or in-depth information.
Study Figure 19.1 on page 671 for a comparison of scholarly
journals and popular magazines.
Self-Check 6
In your self-check file or notebook, answer the questions based on the following online
exploration.
1. Access http://www.vt.edu/ and study the homepage. Then answer these questions.
a. Where are Virginia Tech Extension facilities located?
b. Along the left side of home page, click on Libraries. A page headed “Search Addison”
will open. In the search windows at the upper right, select “author” from the drop-down
menu. Then enter “Freud, Sigmund” and click GO. You’ll open a list of sources for Sigmund
Freud. Scroll down to the book Civilization and Its Discontents. Where is it located in the
Newman Library? What is this book’s call number? Who translated and edited this work
and who was the publisher?
c. Click on the title/author/publisher header for this entry. Explore the information available
in this area. What are the subject categories for this book?
2. Return to the University Libraries page. At the left margin, under “Find,” click on
Articles/databases. Scroll down and locate the drop-down menu that says “Select
a subject” and click Art & art history. On this page, find and click on RESEARCH
GUIDE Research an Artist. You’ll get a PDF file. In the list of sources, locate the
work by Janet Anderson. What is the publication and location information for this title?
Check your answers with those on page 145.
36 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 7: RESEARCH
THROUGH THE INTERNET
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 673–679 in
Chapter 19 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the self-check
to gauge your progress.
In recent decades, electronic media have radically transformed
the way people transmit, store, and access information. Chances
are, you’re already familiar with the Internet and sites like
MySpace or YouTube. However, this assignment will show you
how to locate Internet sources you can use to write a serious
essay or a research report. Internet sources include listservs,
newsgroups, e-mail, and the World Wide Web. While much of
this material may sound familiar, reading it can help you
understand more about the Internet and how to find your
way around.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 674–675. The World Wide Web was originally designed
to allow scientists and academics to share information. Today,
as you know, the Web links millions of Web sites across the
globe and facilitates quick communication, commerce, and
information access. Web sites are accessed through an online
Web browser, such as Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, or
Netscape Navigator. Each Web site is identified by a uniform
resource locator—URL—with three parts.
Part 2 is the key element to examine. It identifies the server
where the site’s information is stored and explains extensions—
the tag that identifies the type of entity publishing the site.
For research purposes, .edu and .gov are usually the most
reliable, although reputable news, medical, or business
organizations may have a different tag, such as .org or .com.
You must be more careful with those, however, because some
may contain seriously slanted information. If you access them,
read the content carefully and critically to determine their
worth to your topic.
Note: There are also extensions for country codes, such as .uk for
the United Kingdom and .jp for Japan. For some purposes, the
Web site’s country of origin may be a factor in how useful it is.
Lesson 2 37
Pages 675–676. This section further guides you in searching for information and accessing Web sites. A list of
standard search engines appears on page 675.
Pages 676–678. Locating useful Internet sources demands
care and good judgment. Because some of the material on the
Web is inaccurate, biased, invented, or merely entertaining,
you must make an effort to identify authoritative Web sites.
When you find good sites, you can bookmark them, but
remember to keep a separate list of the sites from which you
copied or printed information for your in-text citations and
Works Cited page. Review Table 19.2 on page 677 for a list of
Web sources for academic research. The material on contacting
authors is also especially valuable.
Self-Check 7
Indicate whether the following questions are True or False.
______ 1. An article in Reader’s Digest on carpal tunnel syndrome, written by a chef who has the
ailment, is an accurate source for a paper on carpal tunnel.
______ 2. Information found on a .gov Web site is likely to be accurate.
______ 3. Any information published on the Web undergoes a stringent review process.
______ 4. A Web site called http://members.aol.com/~sstevens/mywebsite.html is probably not a
reliable source for factual information.
______ 5. All information found on the Web has an author listed.
______ 6. An article by the National Rifle Association on the importance of gun ownership will
probably present all sides of the issue.
______ 7. A book written in 1988 discussing demographics in China is likely to be the most
appropriate source for a paper on the 2003 SARS disease outbreak.
(Continued)
38 Advanced Composition
Self-Check 7
Answer the questions based on the following online exploration.
Imagine that you’ve been assigned an art history paper on female artists in history, and
you chose Artemisia Gentileschi, born in Rome in 1593. To learn more about Artemisia,
choose a search engine and type in her name. Explore at least three Web sites that are,
in your judgment, reliable for this assignment. Look for both biographical information and
examples of her work, and then answer the following questions.
8. Who was Artemisia’s first art teacher?
__________________________________________________________
9. What was the name of her first dated and signed painting?
__________________________________________________________
10. What event scarred her life when she was 19 years old?
__________________________________________________________
11. Which of her paintings is considered a reaction to that event?
__________________________________________________________
12. Other than Orazio, which baroque artist’s influence is seen in Artemisia’s work?
__________________________________________________________
13. What criteria did you use to choose reliable Web sites?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 146.
Lesson 2 39
ASSIGNMENT 8: GATHERING
INFORMATION FROM SOURCES
AND USING IT RESPONSIBLY
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 679–689 in
Chapter 19 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the selfcheck to gauge your progress.
In this section, you’ll study techniques for gathering citation
information from sources, taking notes, paraphrasing,
recording direct quotations, and making an annotated bibliography. You’ll also learn what constitutes plagiarism and
how to use sources ethically and responsibly. Learning the
art of correct paraphrasing and the procedures for using a
direct quotation are crucial to writing a research report or a
thoughtful essay, so make careful notes on these procedures.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 679–680. Extracting information from sources must
be systematic. Figure 19.4 on page 679 offers you a worksheet that simplifies the task of keeping track of your sources
for further research or proper citation. Another approach to
organizing extracted information is the annotated bibliography, which is described and illustrated in detail. Even if your
assignment calls for a Works Cited page, you might find the
annotated bibliography a useful tool as you begin your
research, since it includes a description of each article.
Pages 681–683. This section offers three different systems
for taking notes. Some people prefer 4 6 or 5 8 note cards.
Others create computer files organized for taking notes, writing
out quotations, and making comments. A third possibility is
printing out or photocopying material, then underlining and
writing margin notes directly on the copies. Keep in mind
that the advantage of note cards is that you can arrange
them according to the points you wish to make and they can
be easily rearranged if you find something new and worthwhile toward the end of your search for information. But
whichever method you choose, be sure to mark each page
with its source, both for citation purposes and in case you
have to revisit the material for additional information.
40 Advanced Composition
When you take information from sources, you’ll note it in one
of the following ways, each of which must include correct documentation of the source:
■ Direct quote
■ Summary
■ Paraphrase
■ Combination of quote with summary or paraphrase
Pages 683–684. In business and professional research projects,
it’s often the job of the researcher to read through a source, or a
number of sources, and summarize the findings for a CEO or
other individual. That person will be depending on the researcher
to accurately convey the essence of the information—but not
waste time by presenting more than what’s necessary. The same
principle applies to the research papers you’ll write.
Although a summary conveys the same information as the source
you’re working with, it shortens or condenses the wording,
sometimes drastically. It restates, in just a few sentences, the
ideas that are contained in a paragraph, a few paragraphs, or
even several pages. For instance, you might need to summarize
background information so your reader has an understanding of
the context of an issue you’re reporting on or give some history
in order to clarify a problem you’ve uncovered. The following
are the basic steps to take as you read through several pages of
a source you want to summarize:
■ Underline the main ideas or key facts related to
your purpose.
■ Cross out details and facts that aren’t important to
your purpose.
■ Scan through what you’ve underlined from beginning to
end and then set the source aside.
■ Write down the main ideas in your own words without
looking at the source.
■ Scan the underlined material again to verify the facts
you’ve included in your summary.
■ Condense the main ideas into one sentence or a few
sentences, depending on how much of the information
you need for your research project.
Lesson 2 41
Carefully study the five guidelines offered in your textbook
and bookmark the page for future reference. Also remember
that even though your summary notes are written in your
words, you must cite the source if you use all or part of a
summary from your notes when writing your paper. In the
next lesson, you’ll learn different ways to integrate each of
the note-taking methods into your actual paper. For now,
include careful, detailed source information for any note
that you make when researching.
Pages 684–686. As with summaries, paraphrasing restates an
author’s ideas in your own words. Whereas a summary greatly
condenses the facts and ideas, a paraphrase keeps the same
basic order of information. Paraphrases are useful for many
reasons. As a student, if you can read a passage and put it
into your own words, then you can be sure you understand
that passage. Being able to write a good paraphrase also shows
that you grasp the material well enough to translate the ideas
into your own words. As a writer, paraphrasing helps you
avoid using too many direct quotes and encourages you to
phrase the information in your own individual writing style.
Finally, since most sources use language that’s not distinctive enough to quote directly, paraphrases simply convey the
information you need to cover.
Incorrect paraphrasing, when your own phrasing and sentence structure are too close to the author’s, is considered
plagiarism. To avoid plagiarizing, set the source aside and
work completely from what you remember of the passage,
writing as if you were explaining the main idea to someone.
Plagiarism often occurs when you haven’t taken enough
time to understand the material. If you find yourself doing
any of the following, you’re in danger of plagiarizing while
trying to paraphrase:
■ Going back and forth between a source and your writing
■ Using a thesaurus to insert a different word here or
there within a sentence
■ Changing the form of the words, such as a verb to a
noun (“clarify” to “clarification”)
■ Putting the same words in different order
42 Advanced Composition
For further practice on writing paraphrases, visit
Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/02/.
Page 686. A direct quote is simply a unique phrase or sentence that you copy directly from the source, word for word.
You indicate a direct quote by using quotation marks around
the phrase, sentence, or sentences that you’ve taken from the
source, along with the source citation. Use this punctuation
not only in your paper, but also as you take notes, so you
don’t inadvertently plagiarize. If you didn’t use quotation
marks, you could mistake a quote for a summary you wrote
yourself. Even with the citation information, you would have
committed plagiarism, because you didn’t indicate that you
were using the author’s exact wording.
A quote must exactly reproduce the author’s words, including
spelling and punctuation, even if they’re outdated or incorrect.
As you record a quotation in your notes, don’t delete any words
or change any word forms, even if you don’t think you’ll use
that part of the quote or know you’ll have to change a present tense verb to a past tense. Instead, record it exactly, so
you have the complete, accurate quotation before you when
you’re ready to include it in your paper. Only then do you
make decisions about using an ellipse or brackets.
You may find there are times when you don’t want to quote
an entire passage, but part of its language is unique or interesting enough to quote directly. In such cases, you can use a
combination of a paraphrase or summary with a direct quote.
Another essential part of note taking is that of annotating
your notes and sources. Annotating means that you jot down
your thoughts, making personal comments as you interact
with the source and think about how you’re going to use the
information in your paper. Personal comments are an important step toward being able to synthesize sources and draw
conclusions of your own about your topic. In many ways, a
personal comment is a type of freewriting. When a bit of
information captures your attention, you need to write down
the connection to your narrowed topic and your thoughts
while they’re fresh. Finally, such annotation helps you put
your ideas together as you go, thereby providing a great deal
of the writing needed for your paper. Just be sure you keep
careful track of which ideas and information come from
sources and which are your own personal comments.
Lesson 2 43
Pages 687–689. Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional
use of other people’s ideas, words, or concepts without proper
attribution. Either type of plagiarism carries heavy sanctions,
which may include failure of the course, expulsion from the
institution, or, in some cases, legal action. It’s simply unacceptable to copy someone else’s work and try to pass it off as your
own. The box at the bottom of page 687 spells out behavior
you should avoid. Notice that simply omitting quotation
marks from an attributed direct quote is a form of plagiarism.
Cyberplagiarism is common, but still wrong. You may have
found the exact same wording on several Web sites. Which
one should you cite? In these cases, you might decide to find
your information through a more reliable source. If you do
use a Web site as a source, make sure you include the URL,
the specific source, and the date you accessed it.
Pages 692–693. Before you begin, review Chapter 18, which
covers narrowing your topic, writing a working thesis, and
creating research questions. Then read the section on how
to find sources for your topic. As you work, make sure each
source is both reliable and relevant to your topic. Note citation
information as you go. Choose a note-taking method that
works for you or combine two; for instance, you might begin
by making copies and printouts, then transcribe the material
you need onto note cards or into a computer file for easier
management. Paraphrase or summarize information as you
go, copying direct quotes word for word.
44 Advanced Composition
Self-Check 8
Read the following sample source in which the underlined passages indicate quotations
to be used in the exercises. The sentences have been numbered to identify them. The
material appears on page 12 of the source.
(1) I love man as my fellow; but his scepter, real or usurped, extends not to me, unless
the reason of an individual demands my homage; and even then the submission is
to reason, and not to man. (2) In fact, the conduct of an accountable being must
be regulated by the operations of its own reason; or on what foundation rests the
throne of God?
(3) It appears to me necessary to dwell on these obvious truths, because females have
been insulated, as it were; and, while they have been stripped of the virtues that
should clothe humanity, they have been decked out with artificial graces that enable
them to exercise a short-lived tyranny. (4) Love, in their bosoms, taking place of
every nobler passion, their sole ambition to be fair, to raise emotion instead of
inspiring respect; and this ignoble desire, like the servility in absolute monarchies,
destroys all strength of character. (5) Liberty is the mother of virtue, and if women
be, by their very constitution, slaves, and not allowed to breathe the sharp invigorating air of freedom, they must ever languish exotics, and be reckoned beautiful
flaws in nature.
—Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797),
excerpt from A Vindication of the Rights of Women
(Second Revised Edition, 1792)
Complete each of the following sentences, inserting the appropriate quote from the sample
source. Be sure to use the proper form and punctuation for in-text citations.
1. (Sentence 1) Wollstonecraft asserts that while she loves her fellow man
_______________________________________ has no sway over her.
2. (Sentence 3) The author argues that people’s capacity to guide their lives through reason is
among ___________________.
3. (Sentence 3) It’s in that context that she deplores the narrow restrictions of women’s prescribed social roles, proclaiming that women are ___________________________ designed
to attract, manipulate, and _____________________________ over the men in her life.
4. (Sentence 5): Declaring that ______________________, Wollstonecraft argues that if women
are ________________, then they’re precluded from ever inhaling the __________________.
Lesson 2 45
Self-Check 8
Read the following passage carefully. Then write three research questions to begin
your search for material for an essay based on some aspect of the events described
in the paragraph.
In Britain, the July election of 1945 drove the Conservative party from power. It
seems the Brits had had their fill of “blood, toil, tears, and sweat.” Churchill
resigned as Prime Minister and became leader of the opposition. In the spring of
1946, Sir Winston traveled to Fulton, Missouri to deliver a speech in the auditorium
at Westminster College. In his address, he warned that an “iron curtain” had fallen
across Europe. He argued that the English-speaking peoples had a common bond
that would unite them in common defense against the looming threat of the Soviet
Union under Stalin. Indeed, his speech provided a narrative that would shape the
views of an entire generation. That was no mean feat. The state of the world was
by no means clear in the spring of 1946. Europe’s economy was mainly rubble and
ashes. Even as George Catlett Marshall prepared a plan to restore Europe’s economy, Stalin’s Soviet Union was showing its colors and defining its intent. After so
much blood and horror, another kind of darkness rose across Eastern Europe. Just
as, in March of 1942, it was not at all clear how the war would turn out, in the
spring of 1946, it was not at all clear what direction the world would take.
5. __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 146.
46 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 9: CHOOSING AND
NARROWING IDEAS: A REVIEW
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 60–77 in
Chapter 3 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the self-check
to gauge your progress.
INTRODUCTION
As you know, it helps immensely to choose a topic that interests
you. Like a journey, the process of researching and writing takes
a good deal of time, so you should have a compatible companion
in your topic. Even if your instructor assigns a topic, your
thesis—your focus on the topic—will be unique to you.
Often your research sends you in a direction different from
what you first intended, or you become so caught up in gathering information that you forget your narrowed topic, your
research questions, and/or your working thesis. To ensure
productive use of your time, stop periodically during your
hunt for information. Reconsider your thesis to determine the
need for further research and to refocus your efforts. Because
returning to the starting point from time to time is necessary,
we’ll now review the basics of choosing and narrowing ideas.
Remember that choosing and narrowing a topic is a process.
You begin with a broad idea and then break it down into
subtopics, related categories, and supporting details. You’ll
further refine your focus as you research and find additional
information or, in some case, a lack of specifics that forces
you to broaden or change your approach again.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 60–65. Sometimes knowing where to start when
narrowing an assigned topic for an essay can be difficult. Freewriting or some other prewriting technique can help if you
don’t have an idea or can’t think of a personal connection
immediately. You might start with a list of things you want to
know more about—applying different viewpoints and categories.
Lesson 2 47
Narrowing a topic means choosing one aspect of it that you’ll
be able to cover sufficiently in the number of pages you have
to work with. This makes sense when you consider that there
are probably numerous and lengthy books written on your
basic topic, and if you have only five pages in which to present
your idea, it will be impossible to offer any kind of insight in
so short a space. Exploring your topic for an angle or insight
is part of the learning experience. Although the text discusses
techniques for finding ideas, use the suggestions to help you
reconsider research questions and develop assertions to support your thesis.
Pages 65–68. Aside from selecting a point of view on your
topic, you’ll need to determine the purpose of your paper and
consider your audience. “To fulfill an assignment” is never the
purpose of an essay. In this course, you’ll write to an audience
of fellow Penn Foster College students. Your purpose establishes your approach to your topic, while your audience
determines its language and tone.
Pages 68–69. The concept of a point of view includes both
the grammatical perspective and the slant or position you
take in your writing. Your text emphasizes selecting a voice
depending on how you choose to approach your topic. The
first-person point of view is suitable for a narrative, the
second person is often used in process analysis, and the
third person is appropriate for descriptions and academic
papers, although there are many variations on the three
basic approaches. The key is to consistently maintain a
single voice throughout your paper.
Pages 69–77. Review the varied techniques writers use to
discover ideas, which you can apply at any stage of the
research and writing process. As you read, think of ways
you could use each.
Reminder: Keep reading the book you chose in preparation for Lesson 6. If you haven’t yet made a choice and
begun reading, do so before continuing on to Lesson 3.
48 Advanced Composition
Self-Check 9
In your self-check file or notebook, complete the following exercises.
1. Exercise 3.2 on page 65: Respond to topics 1, 3, and 5.
2. Exercise 3.4 on page 69
3. In each of the following sets, which represents a researchable topic that isn’t too broad and
isn’t too narrow?
a. The marketing strategies the Coca-Cola Company applies
The Coca-Cola Company’s future marketing plan
Past marketing strategies the Coca-Cola Company has used
b. Impact of deregulation on the airline industry
Percentage of commercial airline crashes traced to negligent maintenance the ten years
immediately before and after deregulation
Impact of deregulation on commercial airline safety
c. Children sent to day care or preschool start kindergarten with more developed skills.
Children sent to day care or preschool start kindergarten with more highly developed
language skills.
Children sent to day care or preschool start kindergarten with larger vocabularies.
d. The 14 different disease-causing genes discovered in 1994
Importance of genetic research in our lives
Way(s) the discovery of a genetic basis for obesity affects treatment of obese persons,
both medically and socially
e. Ways for adult children of alcoholics to interact most positively with their alcoholic parents
Ways adult children of alcoholics interact with their alcoholic parents
Emotional reactions of adult children of alcoholics to their alcoholic parents
4. Which of the following are appropriate thesis statements for a college research paper—that is,
topics that can be appropriately researched?
a. The economies that result from a trash-burning plant outweigh its environmental impact?
b. Sexual preference is primarily physically based, not socioculturally based.
c. McDonald’s makes a better burger than Burger King.
d. Prozac is one of the best ways to treat clinical depression.
e. Evidence shows that as the number of hours children aged 8–14 watch television
increases, so does their violent behavior.
Check your answers with those on page 147.
1. Paraphrasing, when done correctly, is used to
A. condense an author’s ideas into a single sentence.
B. eliminate details that don’t fit with your topic.
C. restate an author’s ideas in your own words.
D. rewrite an article for a new purpose.
2. Which of the following statements is an appropriate thesis
for an essay that’s aimed at both persuading and informing
the reader?
A. Given the evidence, it’s clear that preserving wetlands is
essential to the common good.
B. Across the globe, particularly in less developed nations,
an increasing proportion of people now live in urban slums.
C. Few people realize that bats are of great assistance in
controlling insect populations.
D. A colorful sunset puts me in mind of an artist in search
of a subject.
49
E x a m i n a t i o n E x a m i n a t i o n
Lesson 2
Finding Sources and Taking Notes
When you feel confident that you have mastered the material in
Lesson 2, go to http://www.takeexamsonline.com and submit
your answers online. If you don’t have access to the Internet,
you can phone in or mail in your exam. Submit your answers for
this examination as soon as you complete it. Do not wait until
another examination is ready.
Questions 1–20: Select the one best answer to each question.
EXAMINATION NUMBER
50080100
Whichever method you use in submitting your exam
answers to the school, you must use the number above.
For the quickest test results, go to
http://www.takeexamsonline.com
50 Examination, Lesson 2
3. Which of the following statements about keywords is true?
A. Most systems limit your search to a single keyword.
B. An asterisk can help you find various word endings for the same keyword.
C. A database list of subject headings contains all possible misspellings.
D. An online library catalog is organized by subject headings, not keywords.
4. Marsha states that information offered on the Internet may be less reliable than library
print sources, because anyone can post information online. Randall argues that the
Internet offers rapid access to many kinds of information and that sources can be
readily checked for reliability. Who is correct?
A. Only Marsha is correct. C. Both students are correct.
B. Only Randall is correct. D. Neither student is correct.
5. When the audience you’re writing to is your instructor, you should
A. assume a certain level of knowledge about your subject.
B. clarify technical terms and supply background information.
C. write in the first person.
D. choose a topic he or she is interested in.
6. A friend has given you some pointers for getting started on your paper on prejudice
against Irish immigrants. Which one of the following actions would your writing
instructor be least likely to agree with?
A. Narrow your focus to a specific group of immigrants, such as nannies or workers on
the Erie Canal.
B. Ask your history instructor for suggestions on where to find good sources.
C. Write a working thesis and then develop some research questions.
D. Locate some sources and start taking notes, paraphrasing the best quotes.
7. Read the following sentence and choose the paraphrase that does not contain plagiarism.
Even though her work was, for the most part, systematically ignored by art
historians, Artemisia Gentileschi would go on to produce a body of work
sufficient for revisionists to designate her as the first woman to have
had a significant impact on Western art.
A. Although she was “systematically ignored by art historians,” modern critics
acknowledge the contribution Artemisia Gentileschi made as a female artist in a
man’s world (Turner 12).
B. Artemisia Gentileschi’s art seemed to be systematically ignored by art historians,
although her body of work had a significant impact on Western art.
C. While her work was ignored by art historians, Artemisia Gentileschi produced sufficient work for revisionists to name her the first significant woman in Western art.
D. Artemisia Gentileschi produced a body of work that revisionists say makes her the
first woman to have had a significant impact on Western art, even though her work
was ignored by art historians for many years (Turner 12).
Examination, Lesson 2 51
8. Connor and Emma are debating the best approaches to choosing a topic. Emma argues
that it’s best to focus on ideas and questions rather than on topics. Connor argues that
a good strategy for choosing a topic is talking with friends about issues that suggest
interesting topics. Which student is correct?
A. Only Emma is correct. C. Both are correct.
B. Only Connor is correct. D. Neither is correct.
9. Which of the following statements about using annotated copies as a system for note
taking is correct?
A. It’s a good system for long papers that use more than four or five sources.
B. It’s ideal for sorting out and organizing your paper by subtopics.
C. You’ll probably have to spend some money to photocopy or print your sources.
D. Although it takes more time in the long run, writing summary notes in the margins
familiarizes you with the material.
10. Which of the following statements about plagiarism is true?
A. Unintentional plagiarism generally isn’t punished.
B. It’s okay to use someone else’s words, as long as you properly acknowledge
the source.
C. Copying from the Internet isn’t considered plagiarism because it’s all free for
the taking.
D. Plagiarism applies only to written words and ideas, not to diagrams or pictures.
11. You need academic journal sources on the topic of child development. Which of the
following indexes would be best for locating articles or essays published in books?
A. Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature
B. Applied Science and Technology Index
C. Essay and General Literature Index
D. InfoTrac
12. If you’re writing to an audience of students your own age, which of the following
statements can you safely make?
A. Providing background on my topic will help my readers understand my
point of view.
B. I respect my readers’ intelligence by assuming they know the same things I know.
C. My audience doesn’t care about grammar and punctuation, so it won’t matter how
I write.
D. Because we probably have similar backgrounds and experiences, my readers will
also share my values.
13. The server for the site http://www.lib.jmu.edu/history/internet.html is
identified by
A. www.lib. C. http://.
B. www.lib.jmu.edu. D. jmu.edu.
52 Examination, Lesson 2
14. The part of the URL that locates a specific Web page is called the
A. locator. C. protocol.
B. path. D. directory.
15. You’ve chosen Louis Pasteur as a subject for an essay on the germ theory of disease,
but you haven’t narrowed your topic yet. To search for sources in the library’s catalog
search page, you begin with a/an _______ search.
A. call number C. keyword
B. title D. author
16. In the process of narrowing his topic, Lewis used a branching diagram to identify
A. specific details. C. subtopics.
B. viable ideas. D. dead ends.
17. Which of the following statements regarding direct quotation is most valid?
A. Expert opinions should always be quoted directly.
B. When in doubt, use a direct quotation.
C. Quote only familiar authors.
D. Use quotations sparingly.
18. According to your text, when you remove words from a quotation you indicate deleted
words by using
A. an ellipsis. C. a dash.
B. brackets. D. guillemets.
19. For conducting keyword searches, which of the following statements is correct?
A. A backslash between words means “and,” so you find documents that include
both words.
B. “Botany OR horticulture,” means both words must appear in the document
C. An asterisk is used to request documents with alternate endings to a word base,
such as “biolog*”.
D. Parentheses separate groups of words to conduct individual searches for each group.
20. Which of the following is an example of a scholarly journal?
A. The Wall Street Journal C. Psychology Today
B. Popular Science D. Film Quarterly
53
Writing a Paper Using
Sources
INTRODUCTION
In this section, you’ll learn how to actually write your research
paper. After your topic is selected and narrowed, the thesis
statement is prepared, and all notes and sources are collected
and organized, it’s time to write the first draft. If the first
steps are completed properly, the writing should be fairly
straightforward. You arrange your notes according to the
pattern of development you’ve chosen and begin writing.
As you present your ideas, you may generate more questions
requiring some additional research or find a gap in your
logic, but you can easily fix these problems at this stage.
Once you’re satisfied with your draft, you can edit and proofread to correct any technical errors.
OBJECTIVES
When you complete this lesson, you’ll be able to
■ Explain how to select a thesis topic
■ Develop an effective thesis statement
■ Provide effective support for your thesis statement
■ Organize the first draft of a research paper
■ Integrate sources into an essay or research paper
■ Use formatting, editing, and proofreading techniques to
revise your work
■ Describe the MLA style for in-text citations and a Works
Cited page
L e s s o n 3 L e s s o n 3
54 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 10: ORGANIZING
AND WRITING YOUR FIRST DRAFT
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 696–704 in
Chapter 20 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the selfcheck to gauge your progress.
You know how to select a topic and complete your research.
Now you’re ready to see how everything comes together into a
first draft. The better job you do of organizing your notes and
sources, the easier it is to put them together into an essay or
research paper. Now we’ll review effective techniques for sorting out your research and developing your ideas as you work
on your first draft.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 696–697. Writing a research paper can be stimulating
and enjoyable if you think of your work as a voyage of discovery.
Your enthusiasm (or lack of it) will be reflected in your pursuit
of information, your critical thinking on the subject, and your
expression of your ideas when you’re writing. Review Figure 20.1
on page 697, a chart listing the steps of the writing process
covered in this chapter.
Pages 697–703. As mentioned, researching your narrowed
topic often unearths additional relevant sources. What’s more,
you may discover information that affects how you planned
to develop your narrowed topic. If you’re making personal
comments or annotations while researching, you’re better
able to determine if you’re getting sidetracked or need to
revise your thesis. Modify your working thesis as you go, to
save time and avoid disappointment. Throw away ideas for
which you aren’t finding support, or adjust your direction
based on a surprising discovery.
For example, say your working thesis is that a girl raised with
older brothers is less likely to adopt a socially acceptable
female gender role, but you then discover credible information from more than one source that indicates the impact of
brothers on a girl doesn’t affect her in terms of societal roles
but only in her general approach to life. Your revised thesis
Lesson 3 55
might say that a girl raised with older brothers is more likely
to adopt a tomboy attitude while playing a socially acceptable
female gender role. Making such decisions and changes as you
go also helps you group similar ideas and details from different
sources, thereby accomplishing the first steps in sorting and
synthesizing your information. Use the exploratory questions
at the top of page 698 to guide you in revising your working
thesis both while you are researching and as you prepare to
draft your paper.
You can begin arranging your ideas by choosing categories
from among your sources, as shown on page 698. A graphic
organizer, such as the one in Figure 20.2 on page 700, is also
a useful tool for grouping your sources. A list of pros and
cons is a third way to organize ideas, which is especially useful
for arguments or a compare-and-contrast approach.
Note: It’s sometimes useful to use more than one approach
to the process of synthesis.
Pages 703–704. Your textbook has made drafting your
research paper a step-by-step process that’s easy to follow.
Many of the 13 steps, like following an introduction-bodyconclusion format, keeping your audience in mind, or
incorporating in-text citations, should seem both familiar and
reasonable by this time. You may want to bookmark this page
for reference when you’re actually writing your assignments.
As you draft your research paper, keep the following points
in mind:
■ You’re still in the process of discovery and synthesis, so
if you find yourself deviating from your plan to pursue a
new thought, follow your instincts to see where they
lead. Such sidetracks at this stage often produce the
most powerful and convincing writing.
■ Begin a new paragraph each time you make a new point
or provide further examples. Don’t worry if the paragraph
seems too short.
■ Focus on your own thoughts and analysis, instead of the
sources. The initial draft should reflect your unique plan
of development for the thesis, not what others say. Once
you know what you think, you can choose the information that supports your ideas. If you string together
quotation after quotation, readers won’t hear your
voice—just a series of facts and opinions.
56 Advanced Composition
■ As you interact with and integrate source information,
your mind will trigger additional connections to your
thesis and to other points you’ve made or will make.
Jot down notes in the margin of your draft as you go,
so you don’t lose the ideas.
■ If you can’t explain information from a source in relation
to your thesis, then set it aside rather than force it into
your draft. You may think of an explanation later or, more
likely, realize that the information wasn’t appropriate.
■ Once your draft is complete, revisit your working thesis
and modify it to fit what you actually wrote, particularly
in relation to the conclusions you’ve drawn at the end.
■ Set the draft aside for at least 24 hours, allowing yourself a complete break from the paper and research.
Drafting a research paper involves cycling back through various
steps in the process. For example, when you notice that a key
point you want to make doesn’t have enough supporting
material (one of those really short paragraphs), you’ll have to
do further research to locate that information. Of course, that
research may lead you to develop other points or to reorganize
your ideas.
Self-Check 10
In your self-check file or notebook, complete the following exercises.
1. From the following, choose the best working thesis for a proposed research paper on the topic
of anorexia nervosa. Briefly explain what’s strong or weak about each one.
Thesis A: There are many causes of anorexia nervosa.
Thesis B: Anorexia nervosa has both emotional and social causes that work hand in hand.
Thesis C: Anorexia nervosa occurs most often in young women aged 13–22.
(Continued)
Lesson 3 57
Self-Check 10
2. From the following, choose the best working thesis for a proposed research paper on
the current state of the former Soviet Union. Briefly explain what’s strong or weak
about each one.
Thesis A: Business practices in former Soviet Union countries
Thesis B: Business practices in the countries of the former Soviet Union have changed
since the breakup.
Thesis C: Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, business practices in former member
countries have changed most in the fields of marketing and customer service, reflecting
the changes in government and political philosophy.
3. Choose the best working thesis for a proposed research paper on the importance of
Hamlet’s father’s ghost in the play by Shakespeare. Briefly explain what’s strong or weak
about each one.
Thesis A: Shakespeare intended the audience to question the existence of Hamlet’s
father’s ghost.
Thesis B: The appearance of Hamlet’s father’s ghost raises an important psychological as
well as dramatic dilemma in the play.
Thesis C: Critics through the ages have debated the significance of Hamlet’s father’s ghost.
4. Read the following passage.
The Chihuahua is a challenging dog to have as a pet. The Chihuahua is not only devoted,
sweet-tempered, and exceedingly cute, but also stubborn, feisty, and prone to destructive
behaviors like digging and chewing. Because of the Chihuahua’s diminutive size (two to seven
pounds), many owners don’t understand at first how much trouble this type of dog can be.
Too many Chihuahuas start out as darling puppies who are lavished with attention and end up
as untrained adults, unceremoniously dropped off at the dog pound.
a. Write a paraphrase of the passage.
b. Write a one-sentence summary of it.
c. Write a personal comment about the paragraph.
(Continued)
58 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 11: INTEGRATING
INFORMATION FROM SOURCES
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 704–711 in
your textbook. Be sure to complete the self-check to gauge
your progress.
Writing a research paper is an opportunity to learn about a
subject you’re interested in. By reading what others have discovered about your topic (researching), you find out not only
facts, but also opinions on how what the ideas mean and what
can be deduced from them. Because part of your supporting
evidence depends on what others have observed, said, and
concluded, you need to know how to integrate the ideas
you’ve decided to use into a cohesive, readable paper. You
also have to give credit to the sources in a way that’s
methodical and understandable.
Self-Check 10
5. Read this passage taken from the study guide to Readings in World Civilizations, by Elizabeth
Signorotti Miklus, page 53.
As Britain’s empire spread, so too did its sports. Prior to the Civil War, cricket was the most
popular team sport in the United States, but cricket had a competitor, another stick and ball
game, known variously as “base,” “goal ball,” or “base ball.” In 1845 Alexander Cartwright
suggested that the group of men with whom he played baseball—on a vacant lot in New York
City—organize a club, charging dues, creating rules of conduct and play, and levying fines for
those who violated the rules. After the end of the Civil War, cricket no longer held its popular
place, but baseball did. Conditions, then, were highly favorable for the emergence of a team
sport, an American team sport, to replace the British sport of cricket.
a. Write a paraphrase of the passage.
b. Write a one-sentence summary of it.
c. Write a personal comment about the paragraph.
Check your answers with those on page 150.
Lesson 3 59
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 704–706. As you know, there are three ways of
extracting information from sources—paraphrasing, summarizing, and direct quotation. All three methods must be
documented through appropriate citations. The first two
methods should make up the majority of your paper.
A direct quotation can make your research paper stronger,
but consider two cautions: First, use direct quotes sparingly—
do so only when the author’s phrasing is vital to the point
you’re making or is so distinctive that it can’t be effectively
paraphrased. It’s pointless to quote common knowledge or
an ordinary statement. Second, avoid using quotations to do
your job of analyzing and explaining your ideas. Too many
quotations suggest that you haven’t formed enough of your
own reasons—at least not enough to use your own words with
ease. A good rule of thumb is that your analysis showing how
that quote relates to your thesis and other source material
must be at least twice as long as each quote you use.
Page 705. Study the information in the box at the bottom of
page 705 to review the kinds of material requiring documentation.
Pages 706–708. Several different approaches may be used
for in-text citations. By reading the textbook’s examples, you’ll
see how to introduce sources into your paper and apply MLA
style. As a rule, when you first mention a source, it’s best to
provide some background information to the reader. For example,
“Frost, whose research into victim-blaming is well known, is
considered an authority on this issue . . .” Introductions are
important for direct quotes, summaries, and paraphrases to
indicate not only that the information isn’t your own, but
also that your source is an authority on the subject. You’re
attributing that information to the owner of it.
Paraphrases, summaries, or direct quotations must also be
integrated into the flow of your paper. A lead-in or transitional
phrase that puts each borrowed idea into the context of your
thesis will help your reader make the connection between the
two. Study the set of verbs on page 707, which can help you
introduce source material. Be sure to use the right verb to fit
the context. Also note the illustration of a properly integrated
quotation on pages 707–708.
60 Advanced Composition
Remember, however, that a research paper isn’t a patchwork
of other people’s ideas, where you use introductions or transitional phrases to pin it all together. Instead, it’s a uniform
whole in which the parts are woven together to create a new
piece of cloth (your report). The strong thread that holds
everything together is your own thinking.
Pages 708–711. This section on using quotations appropriately is organized around answers to four questions: When
should I use quotations? How should I format quotations?
How do I punctuate quotations? And how can I change
quotations? You’ll need to refer to these pages when you
write your papers.
A reminder that bears repeating: Always make sure your
own words set up and guide the reader into understanding the
connection between the quote, summary, or paraphrase and
the logical flow of your argument or discussion. If you drop a
direct quote into a research paper without placing it in the
context of your own words, it may lose its impact or, worse, be
misunderstood. When you explain how the quote relates to the
topic, you show how that opinion or line of thinking supports
or develops your purpose. That way, you make sure readers
use the information to support your conclusions, not draw
their own, which may be far different than what you intended.
Lesson 3 61
Self-Check 11
In your self-check file or notebook, complete the following exercises.
1. Which of the following sentences correctly attributes a quote?
a. Branscomb argues, “It’s a good idea to lurk (i.e., read all the messages without
contributing anything) for a few weeks, to ensure that you don’t break any of the
rules of netiquette” when joining a listserv (7).
b. Branscomb argues that “it’s a good idea to lurk (i.e., read all the messages without
contributing anything) for a few weeks, to ensure that you don’t break any of the rules
of netiquette” when joining a listserv. (7)
c. Branscomb argues that it’s a good idea to lurk (i.e., read all the messages without
contributing anything) for a few weeks, to ensure that you don’t break any of the rules
of netiquette when joining a listserv (7).
d. Branscomb argues that it’s a good idea to lurk (i.e., read all the messages without
contributing anything) for a few weeks, to ensure that you don’t break any of the rules
of netiquette when joining a listserv.
2. Which of the following sentences is properly punctuated as a quote integrated into text?
a. The modern world requires both the ability to concentrate on one thing and the ability
to attend to more than one thing at a time, Ideally, each individual would cultivate a
repertoire of styles of attention, appropriate to different situations, and would learn how
to embed activities and types of attention one within another (Bateson 97).
b. The modern world requires both the ability to concentrate on one thing and the ability
to attend to more than one thing at a time: “Ideally, each individual would cultivate a
repertoire of styles of attention, appropriate to different situations, and would learn how
to embed activities and types of attention one within another.” (Bateson)
c. The modern world requires both the ability to concentrate on one thing and the ability
to attend to more than one thing at a time: “Ideally, each individual would cultivate a
repertoire of styles of attention, appropriate to different situations, and would learn how
to embed activities and types of attention one within another” (Bateson 97).
d. The modern world requires both the ability to concentrate on one thing and the ability
to attend to more than one thing at a time: “Ideally, each individual would cultivate a
repertoire of styles of attention, appropriate to different situations, and would learn how
to embed activities and types of attention one within another.” (97)
(Continued)
62 Advanced Composition
Self-Check 11
Read the following text from a source. Then evaluate the paraphrases according to the
material you’ve studied.
A key factor in explaining the sad state of American education can be found in overbureaucratization, which is seen in the compulsion to consolidate our public schools into massive
factories and to increase to mammoth size our universities even in underpopulated
states. The problem with bureaucracies is that they have to work hard and long to keep
from substituting self-serving survival and growth for their original primary objective. Few
succeed. Bureaucracies have no soul, no memory, and no conscience. If there is a single
stumbling block on the road to the future, it is the bureaucracy as we know it.
—Edward T. Hall, Beyond Culture,
Anchor Publishing, 1977, p. 219
3. Which example most effectively paraphrases the source?
a. According to Edward T. Hall, American education is overly bureaucratic. This is manifest in
the increasing size of educational institutions, even in small states. Bureaucracies are bad
because they tend to work to promote their own survival and growth rather than that of the
institution, as was their initial objective. Most bureaucracies fail because they have a conscience or a soul. I believe that bureaucracies are the biggest stumbling block on the road
to the educational future (219).
b. Bureaucratization has proved to be a major stumbling block on the road to our educational
future. American institutions have become factories that are more conducive to the growth of
bureaucratic procedures than to the growth of the students who attend them. Bureaucracies
have to work long and hard to keep from promoting their own survival rather than the
educational goals that were their primary objective (219).
c. Bureaucratization has proved to be a major stumbling block on the road to our educational
future. American institutions have become factories that are more conducive to the growth
of bureaucratic procedures than to the growth of the students who attend them. This
means that, as Edward T. Hall says in his book, Beyond Culture, today’s educational
institutions “have no soul, no memory, and no conscience.”
d. In his book, Beyond Culture, Edward T. Hall discusses the problems posed by the increasing
bureaucratization of American educational institutions. Hall maintains that overbureaucratization is one of the key factors governing the state of education in America today. He
points to the tendency of bureaucracies to promote their own need both to remain stable
and expand to the exclusion of all else. That tendency, he believes, is responsible for the
fact that many public schools more closely resemble factories than educational institutions.
In Hall’s words, “Bureaucracies have no soul, no memory, and no conscience” (219).
(Continued)
Lesson 3 63
Self-Check 11
Choose the best answer for the following questions.
4. True or False? Citing sources within the context of your presentation requires the use of
parenthetical citations.
5. True or False? Using an introduction before a quote helps establish the credibility of
your source.
6. Which of the following represents the correct in-text citation for using the following direct
quote in a primary source by Henry David Thoreau? “The progress from an absolute to a
limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true
respect for the individual.”
a. Nothing else is needed. It’s correct as it stands since the quote is in quotation marks.
b. You must indicate all source information in a parenthetical citation.
c. You need to introduce the quote as having been written by Thoreau or use his name in
parentheses after the quotation.
d. You should list the information about Thoreau only on the Works Cited page.
7. Which of the following is the correct MLA in-text citation of a Viktor Yushchenko quote found
within an article written by Olena Horodetska without page numbers?
a. According to Viktor Yushchenko, as he faced near-certain victory to become Ukraine’s new
president, “For 14 years we have been independent. Now we have become free.”
b. According to Viktor Yushchenko, as he faced near-certain victory to become Ukraine’s
new president, “For 14 years we have been independent. Now we have become free”
(qtd in Horodetska).
c. According to Viktor Yushchenko, as he faced near-certain victory to become Ukraine’s
new president, “For 14 years we have been independent. Now we have become free.”
(Qtd by O. Horodetska).
d. According to Viktor Yushchenko, as he faced near-certain victory to become Ukraine’s
new president, “For 14 years we have been independent. Now we have become free”
(qtd by Horodetska).
Check your answers with those on page 152.
64 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 12: REVISING
YOUR FIRST DRAFT
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 711–716 in
your textbook. Be sure to complete the self-check to gauge
your progress.
The first draft of a paper is something like a first coat of paint.
Up to this point, how you wrote your questions, personal
comments, and ideas wasn’t very important, as long as you
understood them. But once you begin to revise your rough
draft, writing style becomes very important. When applied to
written reports, style means the way you use words, sentences,
ideas, and structure in your writing. It covers different techniques you need to consider when revising your presentation
before giving it to your audience. Characteristics of style
include clarity, conciseness, coherence, usage, voice, tone,
and unbiased language.
For further assistance with these concepts, either purchase
the resource book The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr.
and E. B. White or go to the college library, click Subject
Guides, scroll down to Humanities, and click the topic
Writing.
As your text suggests, give the first draft of your paper some
“breathing time” before you return to it for assessment and
revision. Let the paint dry, then go back and do it over. Check
each detail to be sure you’ve done the best job you can.
Sometimes that will mean reorganizing sentences or paragraphs
to clarify your ideas. After you’ve revised it to your satisfaction,
let it rest again before the final revision and proofreading.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 711–715. Revision should proceed in two steps. First,
assess the paper overall, marking the deficiencies, revising your
thesis, and conducting any additional research. Second, rewrite
sentences and paragraphs to improve your wording, select more
effective examples, and make the paper easier to read. Every
sentence of your final draft should support your thesis and lead
directly to your conclusion. Use Figure 20.3 on pages 713–714
as a guide to revising your paper. We guarantee a quality
Lesson 3 65
product if you take the time to work through each step of the
flowchart. Bookmark the page for future reference.
The text provides seven guidelines for formatting an academic
paper (pages 712–715). You must apply these guidelines within
the context of the submission requirements on pages 3 and 4
of this guide. You may not use headings in any of your research
papers for this course. Instead, be sure that you use appropriate connective phrasing and transitional devices to guide
your readers through the ideas you’re presenting.
Pages 715–716. When you’re ready for the final editing and
proofing, refer to the text before you begin. It’s too easy to
read what you think you wrote, rather than what’s actually
on the page, so, again, let your brain rest for a day or more
before you approach it for the final review. Use the guidelines
in the text for editing and proofreading your paper.
In Lesson 4, we’ll revisit the drafting and revising parts of
the process.
Self-Check 12
In your self-check file or notebook, revise the following sentences as instructed.
1. Make the sentence clearer: The sincere belief of all of those who are members of the board
was that the company should move to take action on the issues about which they had talked.
2. Make the sentence more precise: The city of San Francisco has many opportunities for leisure
activities.
3. Rewrite the sentence using active rather than passive voice: A decision was reached by members of the board.
4. Make the tone better suited to a formal presentation: The employees are pretty together and
know their stuff.
5. Correct language that shows a stereotype: An employee usually feels more confident about
his new job after he’s completed his training.
(Continued)
66 Advanced Composition
Self-Check 12
6. Correct the informal, nonspecific language: Lots of times in many years, different professional
people who were interested in making education better have asked me what we know about
how people learn so we can use it to make education better.
7. Make the sentence clearer: With the lid off the reactor core was exposed, allowing radioactive
isotopes to escape.
8. Make the sentence clearer: We propose to provide the above engineering services hourly
based on the following estimates.
For the following sentences, replace the idioms with appropriate academic phrasing and
correct any other problem in style.
9. Janice put her finger on the source of the problem.
10. Tom was of two minds whether to take on another part-time job so close to the
final examinations.
11. Frank decided to withdraw because he found the course too demanding.
12. There were doubts as to whether the company’s dealings were above board.
13. As usual, the shortage of money proved to be the main stumbling block.
Check your answers with those on page 153.
Lesson 3 67
ASSIGNMENT 13: DOCUMENTING
YOUR SOURCES: MLA STYLE
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 716–733 in
your textbook. Be sure to complete the self-check to gauge
your progress.
This assignment is unique. It covers the 17 pages of your text’s
guide to using the Modern Language Association (MLA) style
in documenting sources, giving you a good sense of the MLA
approach to in-text citations and listing works cited in a
research paper. This section isn’t meant to be read and
remembered—you’ll use it as a reference when you complete
your writing assignments. The MLA style is standard for English
courses at every level, from secondary to postgraduate, and
also for other humanities disciplines, such as art history,
philosophy, or women’s studies.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 716–717. There are two acceptable forms for writing
MLA in-text citations: attribution and parenthetical citation.
The attribution method mentions the author’s name early on
in a sentence or paragraph, placing page numbers in parentheses at the end of the sentence or paragraph. A parenthetical
citation includes the author’s last name and page number(s)
at the end of a sentence; use this method only after a previous attribution to that author.
Pages 717–720. Read the examples for specific cases of
authorship and volumes. Note the instructions for Internet
and nonprint sources given on page 720. When you cite an
Internet source, be sure to give the reader enough information in your list of works cited to locate the source. If there’s
no author, use a shortened version of the title.
Pages 720–733. Study these guidelines for your works cited
list. List only the sources cited in your paper. Alphabetize the
list using author’s last names and put the list on a separate
page at the end of your paper. When you prepare your list,
carefully follow the instructions given on these pages and
look closely at the examples in the book. Every space and
punctuation mark gives information, so the format has to be
followed exactly.
68 Advanced Composition
Pages 721–725. Book attributions can vary quite a bit, and
that variety is illustrated for you on these pages. Pay special
attention to the following:
■ Books with two or more authors
■ Government publications
■ Edited books or anthologies
■ Citations from an introduction, preface, foreword,
or afterword
■ Translated books
■ An article or chapter within a compilation
■ Two or more works by the same author(s)
The diagram at the bottom of page 721 clarifies the format,
especially for visual learners. Study Figure 20.4, “Where to
Find Documentation for a Book,” on page 722. As an exercise, look at several different books to see where you would
find documentation data for each one.
Pages 726–733. Articles in periodicals, Internet sources,
and other sources each require specific citations. The colorcoded formatting guides will be very helpful in setting up
your works cited pages.
RECOMMENDED EXERCISES
Check your work against the examples in the text.
1. Using the guide to listing articles and periodicals on
page 726, pick up several magazines and write out
correct citations for several of the articles.
2. Referencing pages 728–729, do the same exercise using
scholarly journal articles.
3. Read the coded guides and examples on pages 729–733.
Practice writing proper citations for two or three sources
from different types of publications.
Lesson 3 69
Pages 747–756. Read the “Students Write” essay by Nicholas
Destino. Study each of the margin comments to reinforce your
understanding of the material in this assignment. If you find
yourself engrossed in the paper’s content, read it through
and then go back and examine the margin boxes.
Self-Check 13
Choose the properly formatted citation.
1. Book citation
a. Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation. New York Knopf, 1993.
b. Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation. New York. Knopf, 1993.
c. Brinkley, Alan, The Unfinished Nation. New York: Knopf. 1993.
d. Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation. New York: Knopf, 1993.
2. Internet citation
a. Sherman, Chris. “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About URL.” SearchEngineWatch.
Ed. Danny Sullivan. 24 Aug. 2004. 4 Sept. 2004
watch.com/searchday/article.php/3398511.
b. Sherman, Chris. “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About URL.” SearchEngineWatch.
Ed. Danny Sullivan. 24 Aug. 2004. 4 Sept. 2004
<http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3398511>.
c. Sherman, Chris. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About URL. SearchEngineWatch.
Ed. Danny Sullivan. 24 Aug. 2004. 4 Sept. 2004
<http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3398511>.
d. Sherman, Chris. “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About URL.” SearchEngineWatch.
Ed. Danny Sullivan. 24 Aug. 2004. 4 Sept. 2004
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3398511.
(Continued)
70 Advanced Composition
Self-Check 13
3. A Works Cited page for your research presentation includes
a. only those sources you referenced by in-text citation.
b. only those sources you quoted directly.
c. all the sources you read while researching.
d. all the sources you obtained as “hits” through an Internet search.
4. For the research papers you’ll submit in this course, which type of documentation style is
required for you to use?
a. Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) c. American Psychological Association (APA)
b. Modern Language Association (MLA) d. Columbia Style Guide (CSG)
5. Which of the following illustrates the correct MLA Works Cited format for a book with two authors?
a. John Jones and Mary Smith, 23 Days to a Promotion, Jackson: Last-Month Publishing
House, 1969.
b. Jones, John, and Mary Smith, 23 Days to a Promotion, 1969, Jackson: Last-Month
Publishing House.
c. Jones, John, and Smith, Mary. 23 Days to a Promotion. Jackson: Last-Month Publishing
House, 1969.
d. Jones, John, and Mary Smith. 23 Days to a Promotion. Jackson: Last-Month Publishing
House, 1969.
6. True or False? As long as you use the documentation methods correctly for a particular entry,
you can combine different methods like APA with MLA on a Works Cited page.
7. True or False? By correctly citing your sources of information and documenting them on the
Works Cited page, you meet academic standards and avoid charges of plagiarism.
8. Which of the following is a correct MLA entry for an Internet article?
a. Olena Horodetska, “Yushchenko Certain Victor in Ukraine Election,” Reuters. Dec 27, 2004.
<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7185173>.
b. Horodetska, Olena, “Yushchenko Certain Victor in Ukraine Election,” Reuters. Dec 27, 2004.
Dec 30, 2004. <http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7185173>.
c. Horodetska, Olena. “Yushchenko Certain Victor in Ukraine Election.” Reuters.27 Dec. 2004.
5 June 2005. <http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7185173>.
d. Olena Horodetska. “Yushchenko Certain Victor in Ukraine Election.” Reuters.27 Dec. 2004. 5
June 2005. <http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7185173>.
Check your answers with those on page 154.
Lesson 3 71
ASSIGNMENT 14: REVIEW:
PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT
AND WORKING WITH A
THESIS STATEMENT
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 77–81 in
Chapter 3 and pages 92–100 in Chapter 4 of your textbook.
Be sure to complete the self-check to gauge your progress.
In this review of using patterns of development, you’ll reinforce
your understanding of using various perspectives when narrowing your topic, writing research questions, and developing your
thesis. As you explore your topic and decide how to present it
in your paper, you’ll see how different approaches affect what
and how you write. Beginning with developing an effective
thesis statement, you’ll see the best ways to support your
thesis through an effective pattern of development, as well
as your own ideas and material from relevant sources.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 77–81. The nine patterns of development—narration,
description, illustration, process, comparison and contrast,
classification and division, definition, cause and effect, and
argument—are outlined for you in Figure 3.2 on page 78.
Use the questions to stimulate your thinking as you consider
what kind of paper each approach would produce. Bookmark
the page for future reference. Remember, you’ll use one pattern
as your primary development for your thesis, but you can,
and should, incorporate other patterns as needed to provide
your analysis and evidence.
Pages 92–94. Carefully consider each of the seven guidelines to writing a thesis statement. Study all of the examples,
taking special note of important points, such as
■ Begin with a working thesis, modifying it as you go.
■ An assertion isn’t a fact; it takes a position on a fact or
issue. To state a thesis is to offer an assertion.
■ Limit your essay to one major idea.
72 Advanced Composition
■ Offer a novel point of view on your topic.
■ Don’t begin your essay with an announcement.
Pages 94–95. Your thesis statement may not be the very
first sentence of your paper. It often begins later in the first
paragraph or appears in a later paragraph. Sometimes you
build up to your thesis statement using a series of examples.
For instance, if the thesis is “Organic farming is our best
hope for feeding the planet and preventing permanent damage
to the water supply,” the first paragraphs might begin with
topic sentences like these:
Paragraph 1: Scientific evidence is mounting that
industrial and factory farming is yielding vegetables
with steadily declining levels of vital nutrients.
Paragraph 2: Topsoil loss from industrial farming is
a now a global problem.
Paragraph 3: Year by year, the runoff from commercial fertilizers is steadily contaminating underground
aquifers across the American Midwest.
Your thesis statement, beginning your fourth paragraph,
might then be, “In light of the evidence, agronomists and
many farmers argue that the only viable future for human
food production lies in the techniques of organic farming.”
Then you’ll go on to explain the advantages of organic
farming and how it will produce nutritious food without
contaminating the water.
An implied thesis offers the reader evidence-supported assertions and observations that lead the reader to a conclusion,
even thought the writer never explicitly states the thesis.
However, in academic and college writing, you must provide
a direct, coherent thesis statement. For this course, your
thesis should be included in the first paragraph.
Pages 95–100. The types of evidence you choose must not
only appropriately support your thesis, but also suit your
audience and your pattern of development. This section will
help you select the best type of evidence for your purpose.
Note: Are you reading or have you read the book you
chose in preparation for Lesson 6?
Lesson 3 73
Self-Check 14
In your Self-Check file or notebook, complete the following exercises.
1. Turn to exercise 3.11 on page 80. Using classification and division, definition, cause and
effect, and argument, generate ideas for topics 1 and 3.
2. You’ve been researching adult illiteracy in the United States and have a 14-page draft that
includes two pages about how widespread the problem is, six pages analyzing the causes of
the problem, and six pages evaluating possible solutions and proposing one you feel would be
effective. Write a brief evaluation of the appropriateness of each of the following thesis statements in terms of what you’ve already written.
a. Adult illiteracy poses the greatest threat to America today.
b. Adult illiteracy in America has many causes, but it can be eliminated.
c. How can the problem of adult illiteracy in America be effectively addressed?
d. Subsuming a myriad of causal factors, adult illiteracy manifests itself throughout
contemporary American society.
3. From the following, choose the best working thesis for a research paper about the impact of
governmental policies on the way hospitals provide health care.
a. U.S. government policies on health care have changed during the past 20 years resulting
in hospitals that currently function as oligopolies.
b. U.S. government policies on health care differ greatly from those of Asian nations due to
the different social and economic structures underlying the government.
c. U.S. government policies on health care should be changed to reflect citizens’ current concerns.
4. Read the following thesis statements and decide whether they’re effective. Mark each one
as either effective or not effective. If the statement isn’t effective, revise it to make it so.
a. The American economy should provide jobs, fair wages, and police instances of
discrimination in hiring.
b. The point I want to emphasize is that sex education in public schools can reduce
the rate of teenage pregnancies.
c. A healthy exercise program must be based on a person’s level of fitness.
d. I learned a lot about nature from hiking.
Check your answers with those on page 154.
74 Advanced Composition
NOTES
75
1. In most research papers, the thesis is located in the introduction; however, you might place your thesis near the end
of the paper if
A. your paper analyzes a problem to reach a conclusion.
B. your paper emphasizes comparison and contrast.
C. you wish to create suspense.
D. you wish to illustrate cause and effect.
2. While thinking about her essay topic, Mary recalls a veteran
she met, the haunted look of his eyes and the bright red
scarf draped around his neck, contrasting with an ancient,
tattered leather jacket. Mary is
A. brainstorming. C. visualizing.
B. imagining. D. stylizing.
E x a m i n a t i o n E x a m i n a t i o n
Lesson 3
Writing a Paper Using Sources
When you feel confident that you have mastered the material in
Lesson 3, go to http://www.takeexamsonline.com and submit
your answers online. If you don’t have access to the Internet,
you can phone in or mail in your exam. Submit your answers for
this examination as soon as you complete it. Do not wait until
another examination is ready.
Questions 1–20: Select the one best answer to each question.
EXAMINATION NUMBER
50080200
Whichever method you use in submitting your exam
answers to the school, you must use the number above.
For the quickest test results, go to
http://www.takeexamsonline.com
76 Examination, Lesson 3
3. Which of the following citations is correct?
A. Roach, Mary. “Almost Human,” National Geographic Apr. 2008: 213. 4: 124–145.
B. Roach, Mary. “Almost Human.” National Geographic Apr. 2008: 213. 4: 124–145.
C. Roach, Mary. “Almost Human,” National Geographic, Apr. 2008: 213. 4: 124–145.
D. Roach, Mary. “Almost Human.” National Geographic: Apr. 2008: 213. 4: 124–145.
4. Which one of the following examples of quotations is presented correctly?
A. While Turner initially sounds pessimistic, he later suggests, “Perhaps . . . our local
star will rise like cosmic laughter to illuminate the green tendrils of a new world” (3).
B. Shakespeare’s most famous sonnet begins by comparing his love to a summer’s
day and ends with this couplet:
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
C. How am I to make sense of it when even Albert Einstein said: As far as the laws of
mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain,
they do not refer to reality.
D. John Adams advocated “a government of laws and not of men:” in other words,
justice for all.
5. As you compare ideas, pull together information from sources, and revise your thesis,
you’re engaging in the process of
A. brainstorming. C. rationalization.
B. generalizing. D. synthesis.
6. What does the date following “Pari Center for New Learning” stand for in the following
citation of an online work?
Pribram, Karl H. “Brain and Mathematics.” From Brain and Being: At the Boundary between
Science, Philosophy, Language and Art. John Benhamins, 2004. Pari Center for New Learning.
21 Apr. 2008 <http//www.paricenter.com/library/papers/pribram 01.php>
A. The date the site was accessed
B. The date the Web document was published
C. The date the original book was published
D. The date the article was posted to the site server
7. Which of the following topics would be the least likely candidate for a pro-and-con list?
A. Childbirth after 40 C. Cat worship in ancient Egypt
B. Wind power D. Artificial insemination
8. Source material in a research paper should have a specific purpose that
A. supports your thesis. C. leads to a conclusion.
B. provides background. D. reflects the source.
Examination, Lesson 3 77
9. Regarding in-text citations where no introduction is used, which statement is true?
A. Within the parentheses for a citation you can use the word page or you can use the
abbreviations p. or pp.
B. Use parentheses for the attribution and place the page number after the period.
C. When a quotation ends a sentence, place the last quotation mark after the
parenthesis containing the author’s name and the page number.
D. Following the information, include the author’s last name and the page number in
parentheses, followed by a period.
10. Which of the following statements about graphic organizers is true?
A. A graphic organizer dictates your paper’s organization.
B. A graphic organizer helps sort out the different perspectives of your sources.
C. A graphic organizer works only for compare-and-contrast essays.
D. A graphic organizer is most effective for verbal learners.
11. Your English instructor suggests an acronym, SAVRS, to remember the criteria for
selecting the best relevant evidence for a research paper. Which of the following lists
best translates the acronym?
A. Sufficient, Abstract, Valuable, Rational, Simple
B. Sufficient, Applicable, Variable, Reasonable, Specific
C. Specific, Accurate, Varied, Representative, Sufficient
D. Summary, Accessible, Varied, Reliable, Sufficient
Questions 12 and 13 are based on the following paragraph. The sentences are numbered to
assist your analysis.
(1) In addition to the risks, there are benefits to using phones on the road. (2) Matt Sundeen,
a senior policy specialist for the National Conference of State Legislatures, reports that drivers
with cell phones place an estimated 98,000 emergency calls each day and that the phones
“often reduce emergency response times and actually save lives” (1). (3) The phones have
business benefits too. (4) According to transportation engineer Richard Retting, “Commuter
time is no longer just for driving. (5) As the comforts of home and the efficiency of the office
creep into the automobile, it is becoming increasingly attractive as a work space” (qtd. in
Kilgannon A23). (6) Car phones also have personal benefits. (7) A mother coming home late
from work can check in with her children, a partygoer lost in a strange neighborhood can call
for directions, or a teenager whose car breaks down can phone home.
12. In sentences 2 and 4, phrases introducing the sentences are used for the purpose of
_______ sources into the composition.
A. drafting C. integrating
B. dropping D. generating
13. The parenthetical citation at the end of sentence 5 indicates that
A. Richard Reeting was interviewed by Kilgannon.
B. Page 23 is located in the A section of the encyclopedia.
C. Kilgannon is the editor of an article written by Retting.
D. Rettings’ statement is from an indirect source.
78 Examination, Lesson 3
14. Which citation is correct for this weekly periodical?
A. Taibbi, Matt. “McCain Resurrected.” Rolling Stone 6 Mar. 2008: 33–35.
B. Taibbi, Matt, “McCain Resurrected.” Rolling Stone: 6 Mar. 2008. pp. 33–35.
C. Taibbi, Matt, McCain Resurrected. “Rolling Stone” Mar. 2008. pp. 33-35.
D. Taibbi, Matt. McCain Resurrected. “Rolling Stone”: Mar.2008:33-35.
15. The proper voice and tone for most research papers are
A. first person with a sincere, personal tone.
B. second person with a firm, objective tone.
C. second person with a convincing, rational tone
D. third person with a serious, academic tone.
16. If you’re using a pattern of development to explore the issues surrounding a topic,
what pattern of development would you be using?
A. Argument C. Definition
B. Illustration D. Process
17. Which of the following statements is true regarding formatting papers in MLA style?
A. Place page numbers at the upper right on all pages, including the title page.
B. The MLA style provides no guidelines for using headings within your paper.
C. Provide a separate title page unless your instructor tells you not to.
D. Type the title of your paper in capital letters and underline it.
18. In the introductory phase, In Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud contends that . . . ,
the writer is providing a/an
A. synthesis. C. attribution.
B. integration. D. direct quote.
19. Which one of the following quotes correctly reflects MLA style?
A. Redfield notes that in Aztec society “The Pochteca [merchant class] had adopted a
unique trader argot” (55).
B. “Under the Whigs, the pound sterling became the base currency of global trade
(Calamara and Stein 86) ”.
C. Since “deep thought and curiosity feed the active mind,” the addicted software
designer, then, is increasing the number of neural synapses in his or her brain
(Cranwell 12).
D. “The highest of achievements,” Sir Isaac argued, “are those that produce unexpected results.”
20. In developing a research paper, students and academic writers generally include
A. an indirect or implied thesis.
B. a clear thesis statement.
C. broad background and statistical information.
D. a statement describing the purpose of the essay.
79
L e s s o n 4 L e s s o n 4
Reviewing Writing Basics
and Analyzing Poetry
INTRODUCTION
In this section, you’ll practice some of the basic writing skills
you’ve learned in other courses—probably in high school
English. Because you’re expected to know how to put together
balanced sentences and cohesive paragraphs, this review won’t
be teaching you how to use the tools of writing. Instead it reminds
you to use the skills you have and give you some practice
before asking you to put them to use in your lesson exam.
OBJECTIVES
When you complete this lesson, you’ll be able to
■ Develop unified paragraphs using supportive details
■ Use transitions to express coherent ideas
■ Repeat key ideas to reinforce your main point
■ Read your own and others’ work critically
■ Revise the content and organization of an essay or
research report
■ Write a thoughtful analysis of a poem
ASSIGNMENT 15: WRITING
EFFECTIVE PARAGRAPHS
Read the following assignment. Then study pages 118–131 in
Chapter 5 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the self-check
to gauge your progress.
You’ve no doubt studied paragraph writing before. However,
to prepare for your writing assignments, it won’t hurt to review
the process. In some ways, the same skills used for writing
paragraphs also apply to research writing. Your textbook
80 Advanced Composition
effectively presents the steps you need to take to write a
strong paragraph. Remember, a paragraph is likely to be
well crafted if
■ It addresses one, and only one, topic sentence. A paper is
well crafted if it addresses only one main idea in its thesis.
■ Appropriate details, such as definitions, explanations,
and evidence from sources, provide support for the topic
sentence. So does the support you provide for your thesis.
■ Complete ideas are joined by transitions and repetitions
that show how sentence ideas are related. The concluding
sentence of a paragraph should offer a logical transition
to the paragraph that follows. Again, this skill directly
relates to your paper.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 118–124. Study Figure 5.4 on page 118 to review the
structure of a paragraph. A topic sentence in a paragraph is
equivalent to a thesis in an essay, and each topic sentence
should support the thesis. The student essay by Robin
Ferguson on pages 119–121 will help you see the relationship
between the thesis statement and the paragraph topic sentences. Pay attention to the examples in the reading that
show the relationship between the topic sentence and the
structure of the paragraph.
Pages 124–128. These pages illustrate the unified, welldeveloped paragraph. Use them to refine your ability to
recognize related topics that don’t support the topic sentence,
as well as the difference between generalizations and detailed
support for your ideas. The use of concrete, specific details
that focus on the “who, what, when, where, how, and why”
of your topic will ensure your meaning is clear and your
audience isn’t bored.
Pages 128–131. Supporting ideas in a paragraph flow if the
details and examples are connected with effective transitions
and if the writer uses repetition to help keep the readers’ focus
on the issue. The transitional words in the example on pages
129–130 guide the reader easily through the explanation.
Study the list of transitions in the box on page 129.
Lesson 4 81
Self-Check 15
In your self-check file or notebook, revise each of the following sentences using the
specified guideline.
1. Use who, what, when, where, and how questions: Bats hunt at night because they have
built-in sonar.
2. Name people, places, or objects: Waiting for the bus, my brother stood at the corner
holding a furled umbrella.
3. Use active verbs: Seeing the taxi pull up outside, Miranda went to the door to greet
her husband.
4. Use descriptive language that appeals to the senses: I enjoy the view from Walker Point.
Read the following paragraph, then answer questions 5–8 using the sentence numbers
given in the instructions.
(1) The two primary schools of behavioral psychology are classical conditioning and operant
conditioning. (2) There are three keys to understanding these perspectives. (3) First,
both perspectives focus on behavior, not consciousness, thoughts, or subjective feelings.
(4) Second, both perspectives aim at ways to change or modify a subject’s behavior.
(5) Third, both perspectives attempt to predict future behaviors based on providing specific
techniques for modifying present behavior. (6) A key to understanding and differentiating
the two schools of behaviorism is recognizing that both classical conditioning and operant
conditioning are based on a few basic concepts. (7) These concepts, such as “conditioned
response,” “operant,” or “partial reinforcement,” must be carefully learned. (8) Once they are,
you’ll be fairly well informed about how behaviorists view human behavior and how they
conduct their research.
5. List the transitional expressions used in sentences 3, 4, and 5.
6. Describe the type of connection these terms provide in the sentences.
7. Write a summary that condenses these three sentences into a single sentence. Remove or add
words as necessary.
8. Expand sentence 8 to summarize the content of the paragraph.
Check your answers with those on page 158.
82 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 16: REVIEWING
THE ART OF REVISION
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 148–171 in
Chapter 6 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the self-check
to gauge your progress.
Mark Twain once said, “The time to begin writing an article is
when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time
you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really
want to say.” He wasn’t kidding. Researching and writing an
essay is a process of discovery that begins when you choose
your topic and doesn’t end until you’ve revealed to your
reader what you’ve learned. It’s only after you read your
“finished” paper that you know whether you’ve succeeded.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 148–149. While researching and drafting your paper
seem to be the most time-consuming tasks, make sure you
don’t rush through the revision process. If you look at
Figure 6.1 on page 148, “An Overview of the Writing Process,”
you’ll see that much analysis and reworking is in order. If
you let your paper “rest” for a day or two, you may discover
on the first reading that your conclusion doesn’t match your
thesis. You may also find that your organization or transitions need work or that you need more detail to support an
area. Fixing these flaws takes time, and sometimes even
additional research, so allow at least a week to thoroughly
analyze and revise your paper.
Pages 149–151. The techniques of revision are listed on
these pages. While they may be familiar to you, you may not
have tried all of them. Give particular attention to these points:
■ Allow your draft to rest before you read it for revision,
so you’ll see it with fresh eyes.
■ Read your draft aloud to get the sense of its flow and
coherence. If you stumble or can’t follow the logic, it
needs rewriting.
■ Print or type your draft. Working with a “hard copy”
makes it easier to appraise the writing objectively.
Lesson 4 83
Pages 150–155. Using key questions and a graphic organizer will give you a clear picture of whether your essay needs
minor or major revision. Use a chart like the one in Figure
6.2 on page 151 to analyze your paper and list revisions you
need to make.
Here are some further suggestions for reviewing points
of analysis:
■ Write a sentence or two describing your audience
and make sure all the elements of your paper address
that group.
■ State the purpose of your paper in a single sentence; a
carefully crafted thesis statement should have summed
up that purpose.
■ Make sure your title, introduction, and conclusion
effectively address your thesis.
■ Use the flowchart in Figure 6.3 on pages 153–154 to
evaluate your entire essay.
Pages 155–160. If you’re studying at home, you won’t have
classmates with whom to get together and read assignments,
but if you have e-mail contact with fellow students, you may
want to network with them that way. Otherwise, ask a family
member or friend to read and review your essay using the
questions and suggestions on pages 158–160 as a guide.
Evaluate each of your paragraphs using the flowchart on
pages 156–157.
Pages 160–163. Read the sample essay and the comments
to get a feel for the kind of mistakes you’ll look for in your
essay. You may want to take notes so you remember the
points as you analyze your own work. Make sure you read
the revised version of the student essay on pages 488–492.
Pages 164–171. Use the discussion of learning styles on
pages 164–165 to help you choose the best way to approach
the revision process. Then read the “Students Write” section
beginning on page 165. The essay in question is located in
Chapter 5 on pages 138–140. Next, study Figure 6.6, a
graphic organizer for the author’s first draft, and then
study the revised draft on pages 167–171.
84 Advanced Composition
EDITING AND PROOFREADING
FOR CONVENTIONS
All areas of life operate according to certain codes or rules.
Readers expect academic essays to reflect the rules, or
conventions, governing such writing. When a writer fails to
polish a paper so it follows these customs, readers will not
only be disappointed but also will lose confidence in the
writer and may not understand what the writer is trying to
communicate. The conventions of writing include correct and
appropriate grammar, diction, punctuation, capitalization,
sentence structure, and spelling. For this course, your papers
must follow the conventions of standard American English.
If you have a British background, you must be sure to use
American spelling and word choices, not British ones.
If you need to refresh your understanding of these conventions,
make use of the various resources available to you. One such
resource is http://www.drgrammar.org/. Links to other
applicable Web sites are available at the college’s library
(which you access from your student page using the Student
Library link). Visit both the Subject Guides and the
Guidebooks and Tips sections. Public and college libraries
also have books related to conventions and writing style.
Self-Check 16
In your self-check file or notebook, complete the following exercise.
In “Analyzing the Revision” on page 171, respond to items 1–4. Before you begin, review the
earlier draft of the paper on pages 138–140.
Check your answers with those on page 159.
Lesson 4 85
ASSIGNMENT 17: READING AND
ANALYZING LITERATURE: POETRY
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 758–763 and
775–781 in Chapter 21 of your textbook. Be sure to complete
the self-check to gauge your progress.
Sometimes students dread reading literature for a class, only
to be surprised to find that a novel by Steinbeck or a poem
by Jimmy Santiago Baca reaches them on a level they never
imagined possible. Much of this assignment is devoted to
thinking about literature and analyzing poetry, which, for
some, may present a challenge, if only in overcoming a faulty
perception of what poetry is. Although written poetry is less
familiar to many of us than, say, song lyrics, they’re closely
related. If you think of poetry as lyrics, then you might
accept that sometimes you have to hear—or read—them several times before you connect all the ideas and understand
what the writer is saying. Study the information on analyzing
a poem, because later you’ll be called on to write an analysis.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 758–761. Read the “Chapter Quick Start” introduction about the poet Gwendolyn Brooks, then read “The Bean
Eaters” on page 758. Read it at least twice before going on to
the analysis of the poem on pages 760–761.
Pages 761–762. On these pages, you’re offered nine guidelines for reading literature. They point out that reading
literature requires a different approach from everyday
reading, but it’s worth the effort. “Anticipate a gradual understanding” is the idea we talked about earlier regarding song
lyrics or poetry. It often takes multiple readings, as well as
some extra time and effort, to digest the meanings imbedded
in a poem or a story.
Pages 762–763. You’ve studied the language of literature
before, probably starting in grade school. But as you grow
as a reader and a student, the ideas you encounter through
simile and metaphor become more mature and complex.
The explanations and examples in the text review the terms
and demonstrate the use of each. Literary works also use
86 Advanced Composition
personification, in which human characteristics are attributed
to objects or animals, and symbols that stand for ideas or
themes. Irony plays tricks with words to expose the opposite
of what you may expect.
Pages 775–780. Even if you don’t read poetry for pleasure,
try to appreciate the many elements a poet puts together to
deliver his or her message. Poetry gains its power from communicating feeling and intuition through creative use of
language. Ordinary, literal, “left-brained” language works for
logical or practical purposes, and sometimes even for narratives. But insights into values, emotions, or questions of
existence are better expressed indirectly through concise
images, tone, and levels of meaning. Use the 10 questions
on page 777 to help you analyze the poems by Robert Frost
and Elizabeth Bishop.
Page 781. On this page, you’ll find basic information on literary
analysis. Literary analysis doesn’t mean summarizing a work.
Analysis must provide a critique of the work, considering its
elements (such as tone, language, and the effect of rhyme, if
any) and interpreting the work to reveal its context and message.
Analyzing Poetry
As mentioned earlier, analyzing a poem is much like understanding thoughtful song lyrics. The more you listen to a
song, the more you “catch,” and after hearing it several times
you realize what the entire message or story is. Many popular
songs use symbols or allusions that resonate with their audience. For instance, just a place name, like Woodstock or the
Twin Towers, can provide the time and mood the writer wants
to invoke. Poets try to express ideas concisely, using clear
ideas that evoke not only an image, but also a feeling. Note
that images appeal to all of the five senses, not just sight.
When you read a poem, start by reading it through twice. In
fact, don’t expect to understand it until you’ve read it several
times. In the first reading, you’ll just begin to see where the
poet is going by the time you reach the end. On the second
reading, you’ll see how the earlier ideas develop and are
related to the later ones. With each subsequent reading,
more of the poet’s message will become evident.
Lesson 4 87
The Poet’s Tools
To convey meaning, poets use certain mechanical elements in
addition to themes, emotion, and figures of speech. Rhyme,
meter, and even spelling and punctuation add substance,
depth, and sometimes ambiguity to a poem.
When you first read the two poems given later in this section,
you may not realize that each has a rhyme scheme, because
if you follow the punctuation, as you should, you probably
won’t hear it. Read the poems through twice, and then read
each one aloud.
Next, begin looking for the rhyme scheme. Remember that
rhymes aren’t necessarily perfect and some lines may not have
a rhyming partner. For instance, in Arnold’s poem, lines 21
and 26 end in “Faith” and “breath” respectively. He may have
intended them as a half rhyme. In Dickinson’s poem, “soul”
and “all” offer a half (or slant ) rhyme, but the first line,
which ends with “feathers,” doesn’t rhyme with any other
line. While poets sometimes use rhyme to emphasize words,
in this case it may be the lack of rhyme that makes “feathers”
stand out.
Next, look for other mechanical points of interest. While you
won’t necessarily refer to them in your literary analysis, poets
use these tools to add interest, emphasis, and mood to a
poem. Whenever you come across such elements, remember
that the poet deliberately employed the sounds, as well as the
words. Also remember that not all poems are deadly serious—
if a series of words or rhymes seem playful or funny, chances
are they were meant to be just that.
Alliteration. Alliteration is the repetition of the initial sound
in a series of words. (See line 8 of “Dover Beach.”)
Assonance. In assonance, the vowel sound repeats. (In
“Dover Beach,” see the rhymes of the lines with the ite sound:
tonight, light, flight.)
Consonance. Consonance uses repeating consonant sounds,
usually at the beginning and ends of words, but sometimes in
combination with sounds within a word. (See lines 4 and 12
of “Dover Beach.”)
Internal rhyme. When words within a line or sentence
rhyme, it’s called internal rhyme. Like end rhymes, internal
rhyme may be imperfect.
88 Advanced Composition
Another element of poetry is its rhythm or meter. Rhythm
refers to how the words sound as they’re read. Meter is the
pattern used to create the rhythm. Meter is measured in feet
per line; each foot represents a stressed syllable and one or
two unstressed syllables. Some of these patterns are standard
and have names, the most familiar being iambic pentameter,
which uses one unstressed and one stressed syllable for each
foot, with five feet to the line. Shakespeare often wrote in
iambic pentameter, such as in this couplet:
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Reading the lines aloud gives you a very clear idea of the
meter that was written into the poem. When you read the
Emily Dickinson poem, pay close attention to the meter in
each line. Note how the first line’s meter—like its lack of
rhyme—doesn’t match the rest of the poem.
Why should you examine the mechanics of a poem? For one
thing, the words the poet stresses through rhyme or meter
will help you pick out what’s important. Also, by paying attention to the details, you’ll discover relationships between lines
and words that you might not notice otherwise. For instance,
rhyming words that appear in the first lines and are repeated
at the end of the poem may have particular significance; or,
like the odd lines in the Dickinson poem, a different sound or
meter may signal importance. Finally, the closer you look and
the more ways and the more times you read the poem, the
more likely you are to grasp its full meaning. Although song
lyrics add the dimension of rhythm and meter through a
musical score, the songwriter considers these same mechanics.
Analyzing a Poem
Now that you have a good idea of what you’re looking for,
study the following poems by Matthew Arnold and Emily
Dickinson. Later you’ll have a chance to write your own
analytical or critical ideas about the poems.
Matthew Arnold. Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) was a
prominent poet of the Victorian era. He traveled and lived
in upper-class social circles, maintaining relationships with
English and French literary figures of the time. He was
closely involved with issues of education and, for much of
his life, was the Inspector of Schools for England. He was
Lesson 4 89
considered unpretentious and outgoing, even though much of
his poetry reflected an aura of romantic melancholy characteristic
of many intellectuals of his age. As his poem “Dover Beach” suggests, he had some doubts about the future of civilization.
Dover Beach
The sea is calm tonight,
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay. 5
Come to the window, sweet is the night air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the moon meets the moon-blanched land,
Listen! You hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling, 10
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
Sophocles long ago 15
Heard it in the Aegean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea. 20
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, 25
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems 30
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain 35
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
90 Advanced Composition
Here’s some background on the poem: The beach to which
Arnold refers in the title is, as you might guess, the famous
“white cliffs of Dover,” where the speaker describes its beauty
to his love. Sophocles, a Greek poet and playwright, was the
author of Antigone (441 BCE) and Oedipus the King (425 BCE),
tragedies based on deep flaws in the characters and, by
implication, in human nature. The “Sea of Faith” (third
stanza) refers to Christendom before the Protestant
Reformation of the sixteenth century.
Using the mechanical tools discussed earlier, highlight the
lines you think are most significant. Think about the meaning of the words, and make sure you look up anything you
don’t understand. Then put into words the message you
believe the poet was trying to convey.
Emily Dickinson. Born in 1830, Emily Dickinson was well
educated as a young woman, but after that lived her entire
life in the family home in Amherst, Massachusetts. She wrote
hundreds of poems, but only a few of them were published
during her lifetime and most weren’t discovered until after
her death. Her style of punctuation and use of slant rhymes
was unconventional in her day, but she put great thought
into the mechanics of each poem and each idiosyncratic
device had a purpose. Most of her poems didn’t have titles.
Often referred to as the Belle of Amherst, Dickinson is now
recognized as one of America’s most outstanding poets.
“Hope” is the thing with feathers—
That perches in my soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—
And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm—
I’ve heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.
Lesson 4 91
This poem was part of a larger piece titled “Life.” It can be
considered an extended metaphor, with the bird representing
hope and all the images relating to that idea. The little bird is
a resident of the human soul and always offers comfort no
matter how strong the storm.
Researching for Analysis
When you write a research paper, you look up information
and opinions on your topic to support your thesis. The same
process is used when writing a literary criticism. A good place
to start is with biographical information about the author, poet,
or songwriter. Because most people write about what they know
and their life experiences affect their outlook, it helps to know
where they came from and how their viewpoint developed.
Once you’ve thoroughly analyzed a poem (or song) and decided
on a thesis, you can search for authoritative sources to back
you up. Your reference librarian can help you find appropriate
sources. Then you’ll integrate the information into your paper
as support for your ideas, just as you would any sources for a
research paper. Be sure to use proper citation.
Self-Check 17
In your self-check file or notebook, complete items 1–7 in your own words.
1. What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor? Provide your own invented
examples for each. Identify the central metaphor in Dickinson’s poem.
2. In “Dover Beach,” what does the metaphor “. . . naked shingles of the world” represent?
3. What is personification? Give one example from Arnold’s poem.
(Continued)
92 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 18: BEGINNING,
ENDING, AND ILLUSTRATING
ESSAYS
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 131–137 in
Chapter 5 and pages 287–291 in Chapter 10 of your textbook.
Be sure to complete the self-check to gauge your progress.
To make a point with your essay, you obviously must get
people to read it. A strong introduction will grab your readers’
attention and let them know what to expect. As you make
your points, effective illustrations can help readers follow
your argument and influence their thinking toward your
point of view. Your ending should tie it all up in a conclusion
that completes your argument, reflects your thesis, and
leaves your audience thinking.
Self-Check 17
4. In what way could an empty and abandoned house be a symbol? Use your imagination and
write out three possible examples.
5. Use comparison and contrast to summarize the themes of “Dover Beach” and the Dickinson
poem. Write two or more paragraphs in the style of a short essay.
6. If you were writing a critical essay comparing the two poems, what might your thesis be?
Draft a thesis statement for your essay and write two possible titles for it.
7. What is the meaning of the last two lines of Dickinson’s poem? Offer additional critical
comments on the poem’s ending.
Check your answers with those on page 159.
Lesson 4 93
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 131–135. Your introduction is your readers’ first
impression of your work. It should indicate the focus of your
narrowed topic, set the tone, and establish expectations for
the essay. In the text, study the two examples of introductions
from student essays and read the analysis on page 132.
A good introduction should also
■ Present your thesis statement
■ Engage the reader’s interest
■ Provide any necessary background information
Study the tips on pages 132–135 for writing a strong introduction. It’s a good idea to begin with an anecdote, a
description, a startling statistic, or a comparison to “hook”
your readers. For instance,
“The first time I saw Jim Handy, he was standing atop a
water tower, reciting the Gettysburg Address.”
“Imagine a world without automobiles.”
“Today, two out of every five American children are born
into poverty.”
“The art and science of archeology are similar to that of
crime investigation.”
Keep the introduction short—one paragraph is best—and
avoid announcements, slang, and other gimmicks.
Pages 135–136. An effective conclusion wraps up the essay
with a succinct summary and/or a logical conclusion derived
from your supporting evidence. While your ending must reflect
your thesis, it shouldn’t simply reiterate it. Your conclusion
also may point beyond your essay. For instance, “Railroads
were once the heart of American transportation and, given
current trends, a new age of railroading may be in our immediate future.” Sometimes, closing with an anecdote or
quotation can be effective. For example, “As noted by Anais
Nin, ‘We do not see the world as it is; we see it as we are.’”
Your conclusion shouldn’t soften or contradict your stand on
a topic and should never apologize for your work or your
ideas. Study the five mistakes to avoid on page 136.
94 Advanced Composition
Pages 136–137. A good title can make your essay stronger.
In most academic papers, the best titles tend to be descriptive
and straightforward. To make it more engaging or intriguing,
you might frame the title as a question or use word play or
alliteration, if it’s smartly done. Here are some examples:
Mountain Top Removal: A Crime against Nature
Is Mountain Top Removal a Crime against Nature?
Poverty from Profits: The Tragedy of Mountain Top Removal
Avoid generic titles that merely indicate your topic without
telling your readers anything about your thesis, such as
“Trash Removal,” “Free Trade,” or “Sexual Harassment.”
Pages 287–291. In writing, illustrations are the examples
you offer to support your general statements. Select examples
that are appropriate, relevant, accurate, striking, or dramatic,
so they impress upon the reader the point you’re trying to
make. Illustrations should
■ Engage the reader’s interest
■ Support generalizations
■ Explain or clarify through examples
■ Support the overall purpose of your paper
Make sure your organization is effective and that your examples fit into the design of your paper, contributing to its flow
and readability.
Lesson 4 95
Self-Check 18
Study the following paragraph and then complete items 1–4.
How did a handful of Spanish conquistadors overcome a Mexican empire comprising a population
in the millions? The mighty, literate, and culturally sophisticated Aztec society of Mexico may
have appeared invincible. But two factors seem paramount in their conquest. First, the Europeans
had superior weaponry. Second, and perhaps of much greater interest, subtle cultural factors
were involved. Ancient prophecies recorded by Aztec priests foretold the arrival of a bearded
god, an incarnation of the mighty Quetzalcoatl, arriving in the Aztec year Reed I (1516)—
exactly when Hernando Cortez arrived. Had Cortez been viewed as a demonic, rather than
a divine apparition, superior weaponry wouldn’t have saved the Spaniards from Aztec fury.
Cortez took practical advantage of his temporary “godliness” to gather indigenous allies
against the hated Aztecs. Meanwhile, to hasten the success of the Spanish conquest, both
Aztecs and their oppressed populations began to succumb to European diseases like typhoid,
measles, and cholera.
1. Does the first sentence of this paragraph engage the reader? Explain your view in a
few sentences.
2. Create a thesis statement for an essay based on the paragraph.
3. Read this concluding paragraph, then answer the question.
The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire of Mexico was aided by one of the great ironies of
history, the myth of the return of the bearded god Quetzalcoatl. Yet, as we revisit this terrible
drama, we are reminded of a broader fact and a wider context: Similar tragedies still occur
today when Western civilization encroaches on ancient indigenous cultures.
What two tips for writing a conclusion were used?
4. Which of the following titles would be best? Why did you reject the others?
a. They Expected a God and Got a Grandee
b. Cortez and the Prophecy that Betrayed the Aztecs
c. An Empire Falls for a Fable
Check your answers with those on page 161.
96 Advanced Composition
EVALUATION PROCESS
Before moving to your first written assignment, take a moment
to look at how your work will be evaluated. Your instructors
will score each writing assignment applying the following rubric
to evaluate how well your work illustrates both the basic and
advanced traits of good writing in various research settings
(see Appendix). Although the basic tools of writing aren’t
being taught again in this course, you’re required to produce
good writing. If you’re unsure of something, return to the
textbook to fine-tune the required skills. For more information, look at the contents in your textbook for a chapter
breakdown and page numbers. For specific characteristics,
use the index of your textbook.
On the chart, each trait is broken into three skill levels
explaining what writing at that level looks like and to what
extent the writing shows that trait. Each skill level is assigned
a score that corresponds to the appropriate letter grade within
the Penn Foster College grading scale. (For information about
the grading scale, see the Student Handbook.) As such, these
scores don’t represent an amount awarded from a possible
range of points. Instead, each score value is constant. That
means if your writing exhibits the given characteristics, you
automatically earn the designated score for that trait and
skill level. Papers with inconsistencies among skill levels will
be scored according to the middle ground. For example, you
may have spelled and punctuated everything with excellent
style but your grammar is poor. The evaluator will average
the score of high Skill Realized for Conventions with the score
of low Skill Emerging for the score on Conventions.
Skill Emerging describes writing that either doesn’t
have the trait or the writing lacks controlled, deliberate
application. As below-average work, writing with
traits at this level earns a D or F.
Skill Developing refers to writing which shows
general competence in the trait but which lacks
finesse or depth of understanding in application.
Traits in this range earn a low B or a C.
Skill Realized indicates the writing demonstrates
the trait effectively and creatively, earning an A or
high B.
Lesson 4 97
When evaluating your paper, the instructor first reads
through your essay to become familiar with its content and
flow. He or she then works through the text, evaluating both
problem areas and strengths related to the rubric. Next, he or
she fills out a blank evaluation chart identifying where your
writing falls within each trait, relying on the descriptions in
the Appendix to provide the full explanation of the traits your
writing displays. Consequently, while reviewing your evaluated exam, you must refer to the rubric.

98 Advanced Composition
The instructor may provide further comments or explanation
about a particular strength or weakness within that trait,
but primarily you’ll depend on the information given in your
study guide. In light of that feedback, you should then reexamine your paper and review the textbook to learn ways to
strengthen that trait the next time you write. With each exam
your goal is to further master the tools that enable you to
craft your writing more deliberately and consciously.
99
Objective
Using two outside sources of biographical background,
the student develops a 1,000- to 1,500-word paper analyzing
the following literary devices as demonstrated in the lyrics
of a song: irony, metaphor, personification, simile,
and/or symbolism.
Topic
Choose a meaningful song you frequently think about or hum
to yourself. Besides the music and beat, what makes particular
words stand out? Because of your experiences, the way you
interpret and take meaning from the song will be different
from others. It may even be different from what the songwriter intended when choosing certain word combinations
to create an evocative, memorable experience. The same can
be said of the person who chose those lyrics to sing.
Using your choice of song, analyze the type and the effectiveness of the literary devices used by the songwriter: irony,
metaphor, personification, simile, and/or symbolism. Apply
that analysis to explain the structure and meaning of the
song. Incorporate related biographical or autobiographical
information about the writer to provide further insight into
the meaning of the song. You must use a total of three
sources for this assignment: the song and two sources with
biographical information.
E x a m i n a t i o n E x a m i n a t i o n
Lesson 4
Reviewing Writing Basics
and Analyzing Poetry
EXAMINATION NUMBER
50080300
Whichever method you use in submitting your exam
to the school, you must use the number above.
100 Examination, Lesson 4
Purpose
To express ideas and inform readers about the meaning of
one song based on its literary devices and applicable biographical information of the songwriter
Audience
Distance-education students enrolled at Penn Foster College
Process
Choose a song that you like because the words are memorable
and meaningful to you. Copy the lyrics into a Word document,
provide the citation information in MLA format, and then
write a paragraph of five to eight sentences explaining why
you’ve chosen it. This represents the first part of your assignment but isn’t part of the word count.
Start on page 782, “Generating Ideas,” and work through
the steps for analyzing a poem, which you apply to the song
lyrics you’ve chosen. Use the knowledge you’ve gained about
poetic literary devices to analyze and explain the use of irony,
metaphor, personification, simile, and/or symbolism in the
song you’ve chosen. Stop at the bottom of page 787 after
completing a rough organizational plan for your analysis.
Don’t conduct any research at this point.
Judiciously choose the most suitable phrases from the song
to illustrate the poetic elements you’ve identified. Be sure
that you use the correct MLA format for quotes from poems
(including any line breaks). Since this is your primary source,
you don’t have to provide parenthetical citations each time
you quote, paraphrase, or summarize the song, but provide
line or stanza indicators as needed to guide your readers.
Although the primary purpose of your paper is to analyze the
literary elements of the song lyrics, you must also incorporate
some biographical background about the writer related to the
meaning the artist intended for the song. First, search for
primary sources: What has the songwriter written about the
song? Then seek biographies of the lyricist you’ve chosen
(secondary sources). Investigate several different sources to
educate yourself about the songwriter.
Examination, Lesson 4 101
Choose five sources that provided the most insight for you
into both the meaning of the song and the use of the literary
elements you’ve identified. Prepare an annotated bibliography
of those five sources (see pages 680–681). Each annotation
must contain two to four sentences explaining not only what
the source covered in relation to the song and/or writer, but
also what you found most interesting or unusual about the
information provided. (The annotated bibliography isn’t part
of the word count.) However, you’ll use information from only
two of your five sources for the actual paper.
Return to your organizational plan and look for places to
incorporate the illustrations you chose from the song and
relevant, reliable information from your two research sources.
This biographical support, as well as the direct quotations
from the song, must be appropriately incorporated into the
paper with MLA in-text citations and explanation.
Continue with the Guided Writing Assignment, pages 787–792.
Use the third-person point of view for this academic essay.
Review your textbook as needed to apply appropriate writing
skills as you prewrite, research, and develop your essay. In
addition, ensure that your work displays good writing traits
and represents the characteristics described on the Course
Rubric (see Appendix).
Prepare the final draft of this research paper according to
the exam submission format assigned in the introductory
instructions of this guide. Be sure the paper itself meets the
word-count requirements. Place all required work in the
same document and in the following order, beginning a new
page for each part:
■ The lyrics for the song, your reasons for choosing it, and
the source information
■ The actual research paper
■ MLA Works Cited page (three sources used in the
paper—the song and two research sources)
■ Annotated MLA Bibliography of four research sources
For this examination, submit the required work as instructed
to Penn Foster College.
102 Examination, Lesson 4
NOTES
103
L e s s o n 5 L e s s o n 5
Using Definition with
Classification
INTRODUCTION
Not only in everyday life, but also in writing, it’s helpful (and
sometimes comforting) to get things organized. By classifying
objects, chores, and even people into recognizable groups, or
dividing large entities into manageable segments, we make
sense of and keep track of the various parts of our lives. By
classifying or dividing a topic for an essay and providing definitions when necessary, you easily organize your thoughts
and guide your reader to your conclusion.
OBJECTIVES
When you complete this lesson, you’ll be able to
■ Differentiate classification and division
■ Effectively use division and classification with definition
■ Explain the characteristics of an extended definition
■ Integrate definitions into essays
■ Use an extended definition as a pattern of development
■ Analyze similarities and differences in subject matter
ASSIGNMENT 19:
CLASSIFICATION AND DIVISION
Read the following assignment. Then study pages 418–426 and
428–440 in Chapter 13 of your textbook. Be sure to complete
the self-check to gauge your progress.
In this assignment you’ll reconsider the nature of classification
and division in combination with other patterns of development,
such as definition. While each method of organization can be
effective on its own, combining two or three will give your
essay more depth and allow more sophisticated approaches
to your subject matter.
L e s s o n 5
104 Advanced Composition
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 418–419. It seems we humans are compelled to sort
things—clothing, office supplies, and library books are generally grouped together in ways that help us find and use them
more efficiently. Even people are sorted into groups by family,
job title, or personality type. That’s classification. If we divide
a large group, such as a business, into smaller categories,
like departments, we call that division.
Pages 419–422. Read the essay by Paula M. White. The
essay is based on the assumption that there are multiple
intelligences, and the implied thesis is that children can
be identified as being “visual-spatial,” “interpersonal,” or
belonging to some other category of intelligence. As you
consider the types of intelligence and their characteristics,
reflect on this implied assumption. Is it addressed effectively
in her final paragraphs?
Pages 423–425. Your text discusses the characteristics of
the classification or division essay on these pages. First,
remember your readers and be sure that your categories
make sense to them. Use a single principle for classification
or division. For example, if your topic were stars, you could
classify them by brightness, color, and mass, but if you
divided them, it would be by types of stars. Each thing classified or sorted into parts should be fully explained. An essay
that employs classification or division frames the parts and
pieces with a thesis, which identifies the topic. Example:
“Selecting the Right Vacation for Your Family.”
Pages 425–429. A classification or division essay is a natural for a graphic organizer. Study Figure 13.1 on page 425 for
an example. Then read “A Brush with Reality: Surprises in
the Tube,” on pages 426–428 and study Figure 13.2 on
page 429 to see how the article is illustrated in a graphic
organizer.
Pages 428–430. You can integrate a division or classification into an essay with other patterns of development. Five
examples are given on page 430.
Lesson 5 105
Pages 431–440. Use the “Guided Writing Assignment” on
these pages to practice the classification topic “Languages of
Cinema.” Consider ways you could classify different forms of
cinema, such as drama, westerns, horror, comedy, science
fiction, or romance movies, such as by different audiences
or the kinds of emotions the films appeal to. Based on the
principle you come up with, write out a working thesis for
“Languages of Cinema.” Think about what method you would
use to work out a classification scheme. Consider a likely
purpose, point of view, and audience for your essay.
Self-Check 19
In your self-check file or notebook, complete the following exercises. Read the following
passage carefully, then answer the questions.
How Are Rocks Different from Minerals?
Geologists know the difference between rocks and minerals. Minerals are natural chemical
compounds, and their variety is enormous. They’re sometimes classified according to their
chemical properties. The Dana classification system includes the silicate, carbonate, sulfate,
oxide, and element classes, among others. For instance, a very common mineral in the silicate
class, quartz, is mainly composed of silicon dioxide. The element class comprises metals and
intermetallic elements, such as silver and gold.
In contrast, the three basic kinds of rocks are classified in terms of how they were formed.
Igneous rocks are hardened magma—the molten rock found beneath Earth’s crust. Sedimentary
rocks are formed from layers of sand, clay, or the remains of marine creatures. Compressed
by the weight and pressure of ocean depths, sand can become sandstone, clay can become
shale, and the skeletons of marine animals may be transformed into limestone. Finally,
metamorphic rocks can originate from either igneous or sedimentary rocks. Over billions of
years, convulsions of the Earth’s crust have pushed igneous or sedimentary rocks deep into
our planet’s subsurface to be transformed (metamorphosed) by unimaginable heat and pressure. Over millions of years, granite may be transformed into some form of gneiss or
schist—rocks that are often found in the Alps or the Rocky Mountains. Limestone may be
transformed into marble, shale into slate, and sandstone into glittering quartzite.
(Continued)
106 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 20: DEFINITION
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 464–477 in
Chapter 14 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the selfcheck to gauge your progress.
As we move from classification and division into definition,
you can probably see why we’re linking these two patterns of
development. When you identify specific categories or parts
as you classify or divide a topic, you’ll quite likely need to
define those terms to clarify your principle of comparison.
For this lesson’s paper, you’ll develop an extended definition
of the term family according to your beliefs and/or culture.
You’ll then use classification to show where your definition
fits with other definitions of that term.
Consider how specialized areas like sociology and science
would approach defining family according to the way the
term is employed in that field. For example, a psychologist
might focus on the varying functions of family for an individual member, such as birth order and role, each of which
would then require further explanation to define those terms.
A zoologist, on the other hand, might define the family called
Self-Check 19
1. Which of the following patterns of development does not stand out in the paragraph?
a. Comparison and contrast
b. Classification and division
c. Argument
d. Illustration
2. If the paragraphs are part of a short essay, what is a possible working thesis for the essay?
3. Outline the classifications and divisions in the essay.
Check your answers with those on page 161.
Lesson 5 107
Equidae, horse-like mammals by detailing the different animal
species included in that family, such as the horse, mountain
zebra, and the Tibetan wild ass, and by contrasting it with
the other families within the same suborder of classification.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 464–468. A definition, which explains the meaning
of a term or concept, should be given directly and then may be
explored through illustrations and examples. For example,
“Voice over: In a film or video, dialog spoken off camera,
generally in the context a series of visual images” is a direct
definition, while the essay by Yleana Martinez offers an
extended definition of cascarones through explanations of
how they’re made and used.
Pages 468–471. In an extended definition you may expect
to find one or more characteristics, including
■ A brief explanation of the term: “Arachnid: A family of
creatures within the Arthropod phylum, which includes
spiders, scorpions, and horseshoe crabs.”
■ Specificity and focus: In the Martinez essay, the focus is
on a specific custom.
■ A point: An extended definition makes its point by elaborating on the definition. “With their compound eyes,
treacherous webs, and grasping mandibles, spiders
are seen by some as prototypes of some alien menace.”
■ Varying or mixed patterns of development: You might
compare and contrast spiders and horseshoe crabs or
discuss the evolution of spiders from ancestors of the
horseshoe crab. Other approaches would be to use
details and distinguishing characteristics, such as compound eyes, treacherous webs, and grasping mandibles,
or repudiate misconceptions—“Spiders play a vital role in
curtailing the populations of insect pests.”
Pages 472–477. Figure 14.1 on page 472 offers a graphic
organizer for an extended-definition essay. It’s followed by an
essay, “Spanglish,” on pages 473–475. As you read, imagine
108 Advanced Composition
creating a graphic organizer for the essay. Then study
Figure 14.2 to see if your thoughts and ideas on that
objective match up with the organizer offered in your text.
Another element to writing an extended definition for an
academic paper is to study its etymology, which refers to the
origin and history of the word. For example, as detailed in
Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, the term etymology
comes from the Greek words etumos, meaning “true,” and
logia, meaning “word” and “reason,” to indicate a word’s
literal meaning and source. This fourteenth-century term
worked its way from Greek into the English language by
passing through Latin, Anglo-French, and Middle English.
Unabridged dictionaries will provide the most information,
usually including the time period the word came into common use, the language(s) in which some form of it was used,
and the root word(s) for each of its parts. With some, you
may have to identify the root word for a term and then look
up that root word in the dictionary for the origin’s definition.
Be sure to read the section or appendix in the dictionary that
explains how to read the etymological information to gain full
use of this resource tool.
Why would anyone want to incorporate this type of information in a definition paper? Sometimes a term’s etymology is
so basic, such as when the root word means exactly the
same as the term, no purpose is served by discussing it. On
the other hand, the word’s original meaning can often shed
new light on its current use and deepen your understanding.
Consider the term plagiarize, which involves using someone
else’s work and ideas as your own. Originally, the word came
from the Latin and Greek where it meant “kidnapping,” as
well as netting or trapping game ( Merriam-Webster ).
Supplying this etymological information in your definition
can help you portray the angry shock an author feels when
his or her work is kidnapped or taken hostage by another
person. In addition, it can be used to underscore the criminal
connotations associated with plagiarism, thereby supporting
the severe punishments imposed for such an act.
For your definition paper, you’re required to use the Oxford
English Dictionary (OED) as one of your sources. You may
consult other dictionaries, but you must include cited information from the OED regarding the etymology of the term
Lesson 5 109
family with an explanation of how that information contributes to the way you’re defining the term. A subscription is
required to access the OED. Most libraries have either a
printed OED (make sure to note the edition number in your
citation information) or an online subscription so you can
access it for free. If these options aren’t available to you,
however, you’ll need to purchase a 30-day subscription
through http://www.oup.com/online/oed/.
Self-Check 20
In your self-check file or notebook, complete the following exercises. Refer to the paragraphs on rocks and minerals in Self-Check 19 and answer the following questions.
1. Look up the term metamorphosis in a standard college dictionary and write out several
different definitions. Which one would apply to rocks?
2. Using Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary at http://www.merriam-webster.com/,
investigate the etymology of metamorphosis. (Be sure to look up the term meta- as well.)
How does the information you find help you better understand the definition?
3. What words or concepts are defined in the paragraphs?
4. How does the discussion of rocks and minerals combine definition with classification?
Check your answers with those on page 162.
110 Advanced Composition
NOTES
111
Objective
Using four outside sources, write a 1,200- to 1,700-word
extended-definition essay which incorporates classification.
Topic
What is your definition of family? Some people focus on the
“nuclear family” concept involving a married man and woman
with children. Others may include grandparents, aunts, uncles,
and cousins in their definition. For some, the term family
might be related to the concept of home or may be applied to
groups involving a certain level of trust and intimacy, such as
a church family. Each person’s definition of family is different
because of his or her background and experience.
Define family in a way that represents your cultural background and/or personal beliefs while also reflecting the root
and etymology of the term. You must use a total of four
sources for this assignment: the Oxford English Dictionary,
a college-level psychology textbook, and two Web sites.
Purpose
To inform readers about the writer’s definition of family
Audience
Distance-education students enrolled at Penn Foster College
E x a m i n a t i o n E x a m i n a t i o n
Lesson 5
Using Definition with Classification
EXAMINATION NUMBER
50080400
112 Examination, Lesson 5
Process
Using the term family, work from “Generating Ideas,” on page 432,
up to (but not including) “Developing Your Thesis” on page 436.
Develop ideas for either Classification Method 1 or 2, keeping
notes as you go. Don’t conduct any research at this point.
Building on the classification ideas, turn to page 478 and work
from “Generating Ideas” up to “Developing Your Thesis.” Then
apply Suggestions 2, 5, and 6 on page 480. If you wish, you
may also apply Suggestion 3.
Only after you finish the above activities may you conduct the
required research in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), in
college-level psychology textbooks, and on the Internet. Review
several different textbooks and Internet sites to learn more
about the term, even though you’ll cite only one textbook, two
Web sources, and the OED in your paper.
Continue with “Developing Your Thesis” on page 480 and work
through the “Guided Writing Assignment” to the top of page 488.
Narrow your focus properly for the assigned length. As you draft
your paper, use classification to distinguish your definition from
other categories/definitions of family. Use strategies from other
patterns of development as appropriate. To support your definition and classification, incorporate appropriate MLA in-text
citations from the Oxford English Dictionary, from a college-level
psychology textbook, and from two credible Internet sources.
Apply appropriate writing skills as you prewrite, research,
organize, draft, revise, edit, and proofread to produce a final
paper meeting the content and length requirements. In addition, ensure that your work displays good writing traits and
represents the characteristics described on the Course Rubric
(see Appendix).
Prepare a final draft of the paper according to the exam submission format assigned in the introductory instructions of
this guide. Provide the MLA Works Cited page as the last page
in your document (but not included in the word count). Submit
your final work to the school as instructed.
113
L e s s o n 6 L e s s o n 6
Using Comparison
and Contrast
INTRODUCTION
Regardless of type, the purposes of academic writing are to
inform, to communicate feelings and ideas, or to persuade.
Analyzing the purpose of another writer’s work or writing to
achieve your purpose requires effective critical thinking skills.
After all, if you’re going to praise or criticize another’s opinions
or try to persuade readers to agree with yours, you must
understand the topic and have something worthwhile to say
about it. In this lesson we’ll practice analyzing ideas and look
at additional ways to integrate pertinent ideas into an essay.
OBJECTIVES
When you complete this lesson, you’ll be able to
■ Explain point-by-point organization for comparison
and contrast
■ Characterize subject-by-subject organization for
comparison and contrast
■ Analyze short stories using comparison and contrast
Note: As previously mentioned, you must read one
novel that has then been turned into a movie and to
watch that movie in order to write the research paper
for this lesson.
114 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 21: REVIEWING
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 372–387 in
Chapter 12 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the selfcheck to gauge your progress.
Stanley is evil; Livingston is good. That’s sharp contrast. While
Stanley and Livingston both enjoy fishing, Stanley ties his own
flies and fishes in sparkling mountain streams, while Livingston
uses a bamboo pole and earthworms at the local fishing hole.
That’s comparison and contrast. To compare is to show
similarities; to contrast is to show differences. You make
these judgments in your daily life without thinking about it,
comparing two sisters’ personalities or your present partner
with a former one. We compare the advantages and disadvantages of renting or buying and the nutritional value and cost
of one food compared to another. As you study the use of
contrast and comparison in a paper, think about how this
pattern might be used with other patterns, such as definition.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 372–375. In college-level writing there are two basic
approaches to comparison and contrast. The point-by-point
approach is illustrated by “An Amazing Journey: 100 Years
in America,” on pages 373–375. As you read it, try to locate
the points of comparison or contrast. The piece by Ian Frazier,
on pages 376–378, demonstrates the subject-by-subject
approach, in which the author compares the romantic days
of pay phones with today’s hectic cell-phone lifestyle.
Pages 379–381. Carefully review the characteristics of comparison or contrast essays. Key points for this pattern of
development are
■ A clear purpose
■ A specific basis of comparison
■ A fair appraisal
Lesson 6 115
Comparison or contrast makes a point. Why would I compare
white pine trees to Douglas fir trees? Perhaps I’m comparing
and contrasting their relative virtues as Christmas trees. Why
would I compare and contrast jogging and walking as aerobic
exercise? Perhaps I want to compare the two with respect to
the age and physical condition of people who jog or walk. If
I’m a long-distance runner, I might wish to praise the endorphin highs of the three-mile jog as opposed to the milder joys
of walking. Details and sensory impressions provide the
flavor of any effective comparison or contrast.
Pages 381–387. The graphic organizers on pages 382–383
offer examples of point-by-point and subject-by-subject
approaches. Compare and contrast the two samples to see
how they’re different. Next, read the essay, “Who’s Eating What,
and Why, in the United States and Europe?” on pages 384–387.
Then study Figure 12.3 on page 386 for point-by-point graphic
organizer. Study the outline carefully, referring back to the
essay as needed, to see how the points are framed and
presented by the author.
Self-Check 21
In your self-check file or notebook, complete the following exercises.
1. Analyze the essay “Dearly Disconnected” (pages 376–378) for its subject-by-subject organization. State the topic of the essay, noting what’s being compared and contrasted. Summarize
the subjects of paragraphs 1, 2, 4, 7, and 8, identifying a thematic idea that stands out. For
instance, the “seediness and sadness” of pay phones is characterized in paragraph 5.
2. Identify two bases of comparison for this topic: Advantages and Disadvantages of Integrating
Public School Classrooms by Gender. Write a working thesis statement for each of them, one
pro and the other one con.
Check your answers with those on page 162.
116 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 22: INTEGRATING
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST
INTO AN ESSAY
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 387–404 in
Chapter 12 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the selfcheck to gauge your progress.
Comparison and contrast may be used along with other
patterns of development, such as narration, argument, or
definition. First, you must decide the purpose of your essay,
and then choose the best approach. By reading the examples
and studying the flow charts, you’ll be preparing to write an
effective essay of your own.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Page 387. Study the five tips for integrating comparison and
contrast into a paper. Reviewing these key ideas several times
is a good way to reinforce them so they become second nature.
Remember, if you use comparison and contrast in a paper, you
must be sure of your purpose. Is it persuasion? Informing?
Expressing a new approach to an old idea? Tie your purpose
to your main thesis. Be sure that you choose either a pointby-point or a subject-by-subject approach to comparing and
contrasting—don’t try to use both. Finally, particularly when
comparison and contrast isn’t the primary developmental
pattern of your essay, provide transitions that ease your
reader back to your primary pattern of development.
Pages 396–398. Figure 12.4 is a flowchart for revising a
comparison-and-contrast paper. For now read through it and
see what you’ll be looking for when you revise. It may save you
time if you’re aware of the necessary elements as you write.
Pages 399–402. Even if you’ve already read this student
essay, “Border Bites,” by Heather Gianakos, read it again,
this time with a sharper eye for analyzing it.
Pages 403–404. Review this section to become more skilled
at reading comparison and contrast essays—your own, as
well as those written by someone else.
Lesson 6 117
ASSIGNMENT 23:
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST
Read the following assignment. Then study pages 404–415 in
Chapter 12 and pages 689–691 in Chapter 19 of your textbook.
Be sure to complete the self-check to gauge your progress.
In working with any kind of text, analysis means reading
closely, beyond the meaning of the words—looking for effective and ineffective wording, questioning the assumptions
and opinions of the author, and inspecting the organization
and how it affects the presentation of ideas. In this assignment, you’ll focus on analyzing comparison-and-contrast
essays. If you’ve read these essays before, apply your sharpened skills to reading more critically this time.
Self-Check 22
Review the essay “Border Bites,” by Heather Gianakos, then complete items 1–3 in your
self-check file or notebook.
1. From Gianakos’ concluding paragraph, summarize the contrast she makes between
Southwestern and Mexican food.
2. What are the author’s points in paragraphs 1, 3, and 4?
3. What nutrition-oriented information in this comparison could be used for another
comparison/contrast approach to this topic?
Check your answers with those on page 163.
118 Advanced Composition
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 404–409. Read the essay by Daniel Golman, “His
Marriage and Hers: Childhood Roots.” Golman is a pioneer
in developing concepts about emotional intelligence. In this
essay, he’s exploring and explaining the different “emotional
climates” that meet in subtle or stormy ways within a marriage. The comparison and contrast in the essay is based on
views by wives and husbands.
Pages 410–415. In the essay by Abigail Zuger, “Defining a
Doctor, with a Tear, a Shrug, and a Schedule,” you’ll consider
and the use of comparison and contrast combined with other
patterns of development. You’ll be further analyzing these
essays for your self-check for this assignment.
Pages 414–415. Study the topics on these two pages and
choose an approach for each—to express your ideas, inform
your readers, or persuade your readers. As a self-evaluation,
write out responses to parts A and B of “Evaluating Your
Progress” in the boxed feature on page 415.
Pages 689–692. Field research involves you, the researcher,
generating your own primary source material in conjunction
with other research methods. Cautiously use the three
approaches covered in the textbook, allowing the purpose and
audience of your research to dictate whether to conduct field
research and, if so, which approach to use. For your paper
analyzing the lyrics of the song, interviewing the lyricist could
have been a useful approach—depending on your ability to
gain access to that person. For the paper defining family, you
might have found helpful surveying your neighbors about
their family traditions to classify your traditions within the
neighborhood. Many professionals conduct observations on a
regular basis. For instance, a supervisor observes a production
line to determine problem areas or a principal observes a
teacher to evaluate interactions with students. Regardless
of the approach, you begin field research only after you’ve
narrowed your topic, developed your working thesis, and
usually after you’ve researched other sources to educate
yourself about your angle on the topic. The goal is to enter
field research to achieve a specified purpose so the information you gather is relevant to your thesis.
Lesson 6 119
For your next paper, you must conduct field research, either
through interviewing or through surveying. Carefully review
the guidelines for each approach before choosing the one
which will provide the most useful information. With your
purpose in mind, develop pertinent questions. Spend plenty
of time preparing these questions to ensure you gather what
you want to know. Use open-ended ones for interviews and,
for the most part, closed questions for surveys. One or two
open-ended questions on a survey might be beneficial, particularly if your pool of respondents isn’t too large and you’re
looking for reasons for a particular choice of answer. Just
remember that it will take a bit more time when you collate
the results.
To use interviewing for your assignment, you need to find one
or more people who have read the book and seen the movie.
Otherwise, the information you gather may not be relevant or
even reliable and credible. In fact, the best interview would be
with college professors or graduate students who can speak
knowledgeably about the book’s plot or character development and with those who can do the same with the movie.
For further guidance in preparing for an interview, examine the
related links available at http://www.utexas.edu/academic/
diia/assessment/iar/programs/plan/method/interview.php
through Instructional Assessment Resources (IAR) and at
http://www.wikihow.com/Choose-the-Right-InterviewQuestions. Some of the suggestions given in the interview
links at each site apply to gathering information on a particular topic (evaluating programs or job candidates), but the
principles covered apply to your research task as well.
To learn more about developing appropriate survey questions,
visit SuperSaver Knowledge Base http://knowledge-base.
supersurvey.com/index.htm (work through the links on
the left) and Data Collection Methods and Evaluation Tools
created by the Social Policy Research Associates for The
Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development:
http://www.evaluationtools.org/files/Guidelines%20for%
20Writing%20Survey%20Questions.pdf.
120 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 24: ANALYZING
SHORT STORIES USING
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 760–775 in
Chapter 21 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the selfcheck to gauge your progress.
In this assignment, we’ll look at how to analyze narrative fiction by identifying themes and looking for meanings deeper
than those garnered in the first reading. Don’t be afraid to
use your own insight. While you can learn something from
reading the analyses of experienced critics, you must also
learn to develop an original point of view derived from your
critical-thinking skills. One approach to analyzing literature
is to use comparison and contrast.
Self-Check 23
Review the essay by Abigail Zuger on pages 410–413, then complete items 1 and 2 in your
self-check file or notebook.
1. Zuger uses three patterns of development other than comparison and contrast. Identify them
by paragraph and summarize how each is used.
2. Does the author use a point-by-point approach or a subject-by-subject approach? Is it
effective? Why or why not?
Check your answers with those on page 163.
Lesson 6 121
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 760–763. Like poetry, a short story requires more than
one reading to comprehend because the story is not only about
what happens; it’s also about the ideas presented by the author.
The reading strategies offered here will help you understand
and interpret the author’s meaning through his or her use
of setting, characters, point of view, figures of speech, and
other literary devices. These strategies apply to novels and
movies, as well.
Pages 764–769. Read “The Secret Lion,” by Alberto Rios.
When you read it the second time, think about the title and
what it has to do with the theme of the story.
Pages 769–771. Study the elements of narrative fiction on
these pages, focusing on short stories. The setting of a narrative includes the time, the place, and the situation. Imagine
script instructions from a screenplay to get the idea. “It’s 1864.
The place is a Pennsylvania town called Gettysburg. Over
three hot days in July, we observe the Battle of Gettysburg
from the perspective of many of the major players on both
sides.” Or, “It’s October, 1934. Two hobos, Cal and Big Bill,
ride the rails in search of a meal or a warm, dry barn.”
Character is revealed by action (and reaction) and dialogue;
often the narrator is one of the characters. The point of view
is simply the perspective from which a story is told. A story
may be told in the first person (“I was late arriving for my
appointment with Johnny Black”) or the narrator can be an
omniscient third-person observer who describes the unfolding
of the drama and knows the thoughts of the characters. A good
plot involves a sequence of events that engage the reader in
some way; usually plot depends on some kind of conflict.
All these elements work together to express the theme of the
story, which is the point the writer is trying to make. Themes
often involve a message about human experience or the
human condition. The questions on page 771 on guiding an
analysis of theme will also help you compare and contrast
your book and movie.
Page 772. Your exam requires you to analyze the development
of either the plot or one of the main characters. Before choosing
a focus, review the questions in the box for plot and for characters. For which ones do you immediately have both an
122 Advanced Composition
emotional and mental response for your novel and/or movie?
Remember that as you narrow your focus, you work with the
angle that’s most interesting to you.
After choosing between plot and character, you’ll have to
identify a specific principle of comparison within the general
category of plot or character. You must also determine how
well both the novel and the movie accomplish that development, as well as which one develops it the best. Since you
must include an element of persuasion in your paper, your
thesis must include a position on which media form (novel or
movie) implemented the literary element most successfully.
For example, perhaps the book developed the central conflict
with subtle finesse, whereas the movie focused solely on the
action in the conflict and neglected the underlying issues the
conflict was supposed to explore. On the other hand, maybe
the movie provided a clearer framework for the conflict, pruning away the meanderings of the book and thereby clarifying
the theme. Especially consider anything that annoys you
about the book or movie related to the way the plot or character is developed, especially when it involves the movie
handling the element differently than the book.
Reviews of movies and books frequently provide some type of
comparison and contrast, though they often cover more than
one area. Seek those that are more developed with a refined
focus related to your own principle of comparison. Avoid newspaper and general-interest magazine reviews, which tend to be
short and limited in scope. They’re usually written by staff
reporters for a broad audience wanting to know the entertainment value. Instead, look for expert opinions—those written by
people with the education and experience that lends credibility
to their analysis.
Remember that analyzing for a literary element doesn’t involve
retelling the story or describing a main character. Of course,
the first step is to gain a good understanding of the basic
action and motives. You must then move from understanding
to assessing the novel and movie as a work of literature.
Analysis requires you to take the work apart and examine a
particular technique or element closely to determine how that
element contributes to the novel and evaluate its effectiveness
in accomplishing its purpose. For your paper, you’ll provide
only a brief synopsis of the basic story, focusing instead on
Lesson 6 123
how the author’s plot development or character development
compares to that of the scriptwriter’s and actors’ interpretation.
To do so, you must supply specific examples from several
places in both the book and movie to support your analysis.
The goal is to define a new understanding for your reader.
Pages 773–775. “The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin,
is a richly descriptive narrative that ends with an ironic twist.
Pay attention to the structure of the story and the interaction
of the characters.
Self-Check 24
Reread “The Story of an Hour” beginning on page 773, then complete items 1–4 in your
self-check file or notebook.
1. In what general time period does the story take place? How much time elapses from its
beginning to its end?
2. Who is the main character? What physical characteristics does he or she have? Do his or her
physical traits have any impact on the plot?
3. Does the main character change in the course of the story? In what way?
4. What is the theme of the story? How do you know?
Check your answers with those on page 164.
124 Advanced Composition
NOTES
125
Objective
Using six outside sources, students write a 2,000- to 2,500-
word comparison or contrast research paper that explores
the commonalities and differences of plot or character development between a book and a movie based on the book. The
paper will persuade the reader that either the book or the
movie does the better job with that literary element.
Topic
Have you ever read a book and then been excited to see the
movie—only to find the movie a huge disappointment? Or
perhaps you found the movie version enlightened the book?
Your assignment is to provide your own analysis of a novel
you choose that has been made into a movie (not a movie
that has been made into a book). You’ll write your literary
analysis using the comparison and contrast pattern of development. Your analysis must incorporate examples from both
the book and movie to illustrate the commonalities or differences for either the plot development or one major character
in the book and the movie. You must conduct either an interview or a survey related to the novel and movie, as well as
research different reviews of both the movie and the book to
support your analysis. You must use a total of six sources for
this assignment: the novel, the movie, one interview or survey
you conducted, and three critical reviews.
E x a m i n a t i o n E x a m i n a t i o n
Lesson 6
Using Comparison and Contrast
EXAMINATION NUMBER
50080500
126 Examination, Lesson 6
Purpose
To inform about one literary element in the novel and movie
To persuade audience that either the book or the movie does
a better job developing either the plot or one major character
Audience
Distance-education students enrolled at Penn Foster College
Process
Review the novel you chose for this assignment and the
movie based on that novel. Choose to focus either on plot
development or on one major character. Scan through the
novel to mark examples related to that focus and watch the
movie again taking notes of examples.
Keeping notes as you go, work from “Generating Ideas” on
page 388 through item 1 of “Discovering Similarities and
Differences” and “Generating Details” on page 390. Don’t
conduct any research at this point.
Continue with item 4 of “Discovering Similarities and
Differences” and “Generating Details” on page 390, where
you imagine the author of the novel interacting with the stars
or scriptwriter in the movie. Explore how the author would
react and what he or she might say about the way the novel
has been adapted. Then explore what the stars/scriptwriter
might say to defend the movie. Don’t conduct any research
at this point.
Craft applicable questions for either an interview or survey to
learn what others think about the novel, the movie, or both.
Conduct that research.
After completing the previous steps, conduct additional
research, picking up with item 5 of “Discovering Similarities
and Differences” and “Generating Details” on pages 390–391.
Remember to research enough to educate yourself and to find
the sources most applicable to your purpose and audience,
the four you’ll cite in the actual paper.
Examination, Lesson 6 127
Continue with “Developing Your Thesis” on page 391 and
work through the rest of the “Guided Writing Assignment” to
the top of page 399 to produce the required comparison or
contrast research paper.
Use your textbook as needed to apply appropriate writing
skills as you prewrite, research, organize, draft, revise, edit,
and proofread to produce a final essay meeting the content
and length requirements. You must also ensure your work
displays good writing traits, such as those indicated in the
Advanced Composition course rubric (see Appendix).
Prepare a final draft of the paper according to the exam submission format assigned in the Syllabus. Provide the MLA
Works Cited page as the last page in your document (but not
included in the word count). Submit your final work to the
school as instructed.
128 Advanced Composition
NOTES
129
Writing an Argument
INTRODUCTION
Arguments are part of daily life. Whether a person is passionate about his or her point of view or simply wants to make a
point, the proper approach to persuasion or argument makes
all the difference in whether a point of view is accepted by
others. Some arguments, such as who is the all-time best
quarterback or whether German cars are superior to American
cars, are merely opinion. But when it comes to public-policy
issues, like capital punishment or civil rights, and personalfulfillment issues, like where to live or how to spend leisure
time, differences in viewpoint can be examined through
sound and reasoned arguments. As an educated citizen,
you’ll benefit from learning the art of persuading others
to your point of view.
OBJECTIVES
When you complete this lesson, you’ll be able to
■ List the basic parts of an argument
■ Describe effective strategies for reading an argument
■ Explain the analytical skills used in critically evaluating
an argument
■ Identify strategies for writing effective argument essays
L e s s o n 7 L e s s o n 7
130 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 25: THE ELEMENTS
OF ARGUMENT
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 556–562 in
Chapter 16 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the selfcheck to gauge your progress.
You might win a personal argument by sheer force of personality or persistence, but a written argument takes planning
and organization to ensure your points are made and your
strategy is effective. By making a claim and proving it, using
reliable devices to present your reasons and evidence, you’ll
improve your chances of convincing others. By appealing to
emotions, needs, and/or values, you can further strengthen
your arguments and powers of persuasion.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 556–562. The basic parts of an argument include
(1) an issue, (2) a claim, and (3) support. Here’s an example:
I think the town council should insist that the hedge be
trimmed at the corner of Grove Avenue and Second Street (1).
That hedge obstructs drivers’ vision and constitutes a hazard
(2). And that’s not just my opinion; the police have recorded
seven accidents at that corner over the last two months (3).
The issue is framed, a claim is made, and support is offered
for the claim.
Pages 557–558. Review the essay by Lynn Steirer. As you
read, identify the issue, the claim, and the support(s) for
the claim.
Pages 559–560. Make sure you understand the three types
of claims and the various types of support presented. When
you write an argument, your thesis statement will generally
frame your claim. In some cases, your claim may be implied,
though you must state the thesis in the paper you’ll write for
this exam.
Pages 560–561. Without solid support, an argument is just
an unsubstantiated opinion. Support for a claim can be based
on reasons, evidence, or appeals to emotion, needs, or values.
Lesson 7 131
By using the proper approach for your audience and backing
your claim with solid information and ideas, you can build a
strong argument. You can practice recognizing the elements of
argument by seeing if you can find claims and support in
advertisements as you read and watch television. Be especially
alert for appeals, which are the basis of most advertising.
Page 562. Every argument, by its nature, has opposing
points of view. By anticipating other points of view as you
write your argument, you can refute them as part of your
essay. You can acknowledge an opposing view by admitting
the part that has some merit or showing how the opposition
is weak or insufficient. The keystone of an effective argument
is its conclusion. A strong finish will leave your reader with a
final impression of your argument and its strength. In your
assigned reading, note the strong conclusion offered by Lynn
Steirer at the end of her essay.
Self-Check 25
In your self-check file or notebook, complete the following exercises.
Read “Another Mother’s Child: A Letter to a Murdered Son” on pages 233–234. Evaluating
this letter as an argument, apply what you’ve learned about the basic parts of an argument
to items 1–5.
1. What is the author’s claim?
2. What evidence does the author present to support her claim?
3. What is the nature of the author’s appeal? Give examples to support your findings.
Check your answers with those on page 165.
132 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 26: STRATEGIES
FOR READING AND CRITICALLY
ANALYZING AN ARGUMENT
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 563–578 in
Chapter 16 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the selfcheck to gauge your progress.
Although it’s easy to react emotionally when you read an
argument you don’t agree with, remember that in analyzing
it you’re looking for a valid claim supported by acceptable
reasons and evidence. Even if you disagree with the claim,
you might recognize that the argument is sound. If the
author has strong credentials and is published in a reliable
periodical, such as a professional journal or a respected
newspaper, the argument also has more credibility. Before
you reject an argument, make sure you have sufficient
knowledge on the subject to judge it fairly.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 563–564. Be prepared to read an argument at least
twice, paying attention to the title, who the author is, and the
source in which the item appears. If you’re not familiar with
the topic or the author, do a little research. More than once
a humorist like Dave Barry, who’s mentioned in your text,
has received letters rebuking him for his foolish notions,
when in fact he was using exaggeration and sarcasm to
make his point.
Pages 564–567. Read the article “Economic Affirmative
Action” on pages 564–566. Read it once for initial impressions
and basic information. Read it again and take notes, underlining key phrases and any words you’re not familiar with.
Pages 567–573. Strategies for following the structure of an
argument include preparing a graphic organizer and writing
a summary of the argument as an aid to analyzing it. Study
the annotated notes for paragraphs from the essay “When
Voluntarism Isn’t Noble” on page 572. Then read the sample
summary of that article on page 573.
Lesson 7 133
Pages 573–574. To do a proper job of analyzing an argument, you have to identify the writer’s purpose, the audience,
the claim, and the support for the claim. Support may
include factual evidence, appeals, or a mixture of the two.
You also must assess the writer’s credibility based on his
or her credentials, as well as the essay itself. If the author
adequately addresses opposing viewpoints (refutation) his
or her credibility is better demonstrated.
Pages 575–576. Rhetorical fallacies—errors in reasoning—
are common in defective argument essays. Make sure you
study the types of faulty reasoning on pages 575–576,
because one of these mistakes in an essay can destroy any
credibility the writer may have. Unless you’re aware of these
tactics, however, they may seem to make sense when presented skillfully. Emotional appeals are another tactic that
can be either glaringly obvious if poorly presented or
effectively manipulative if done well. Much political and
commercial rhetoric is characterized by deceptive claims and
appeals based on emotional appeals. Study Table 16.1 at the
bottom of page 575 for examples of unfair emotional appeals.
Page 577. Study Figure 16.3 on page 577 and flag it for
future reference. It offers you a checklist for analyzing an
argument essay.
Page 578. To think critically about an argument, you may
be required to compare two or more sources on a particular
issue. This process is called synthesis. Seven questions are
offered on this page to help you understand and apply the
process of synthesis.
134 Advanced Composition
ASSIGNMENT 27: WRITING
ARGUMENTS
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 590–605 in
Chapter 17 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the selfcheck to gauge your progress.
You’ve learned to identify the elements of an argument.
Now turn your attention to the art of writing arguments.
The heading that begins this assignment is “What Is an
Argument?” We’ll approach this question from the
perspective of preparing, organizing, and writing one.
Self-Check 26
Study the essay by Ted Koerth, “Economic Affirmative Action,” on pages 564–566. In your
self-check file or notebook, complete the following exercises.
1. Respond to the five questions about the essay found on page 567.
2. Using Table 16.1 as a reference, identify the unfair appeal to emotion in each of the
following statements.
a. Folks, you all know me. I’ve stood up for your best interests ever since eighth grade, when
I was student council president.
b. These single mothers—and I bet you’ve known a few—often work two or three jobs and
can hardly feed their kids, much less spend time reading to their kids when they come
home exhausted at the end of the day.
c. Why would Jake Cleaver give a fig about your low wages and long hours? He was born
with a silver spoon in his mouth. He pays his gardeners less than minimum wage!
d. Oprah Winfrey is against the war, which proves my brother is right.
Check your answers with those on page 165.
Lesson 7 135
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 590–592. What is an argument? You can begin to
assess that question by reading William Safire’s essay “Abolish
the Penny” on pages 591–592. Safire is a master of the art of
editorial writing, but don’t be sidetracked by his wit. Look for
the elements of an argument with which you’re now familiar.
Pages 593–594. The key to preparing a good argument is
making sure you have an issue that’s controversial enough.
Once you have your topic and have narrowed and defined
your focus, you can work on your claim. Study the material
on page 594 regarding narrowing a general idea to a
specific claim.
Pages 595–596. Audience analysis is a major part of
preparing an argument. Are you approaching an agreeing,
neutral, or disagreeing audience? It can be challenging to
sway an audience that’s neutral or on the fence. For the disagreeing audience, your text suggests finding some kind of
common ground between your position and the opposing
position of your audience. For example, “I know we seem
poles apart on the immigration issue, but I think we can
agree that we want to live in a fair and just nation.” Humor
and wit can also help soften a cool or unreceptive audience.
Pages 596–598. A good argument requires sound evidence
that’s not only relevant, but also well integrated into the
organization of your argument. Convincing evidence requires
rigorous logic. Be sure you understand the difference
between inductive and deductive reasoning—inductive
reasoning gathers evidence that points to a conclusion.
For example,
Evidence: The polar caps are melting.
Evidence: Glaciers around the world are melting.
Evidence: The hottest years on record have occurred over the
last decade.
Conclusion: Global warming is a real and pressing issue.
Deductive reasoning begins with a major premise, proceeds to
a minor premise, and then to a conclusion. Here’s an example:
Major premise: All birds have functional or vestigial
feathered wings.
136 Advanced Composition
Minor premise: Song sparrows have wings.
Conclusion: Sparrows are birds.
This is a rather simple example of a syllogism, which is the
basic form of a deductive argument. Study the examples in
your text.
Pages 598–599. If your argument doesn’t stir a bit of passion
in you, it’s unlikely to move the emotions of your audience.
Your objective in a compelling argument is to move hearts and
minds in favor of your argument by appealing to your audience’s
needs and values. On the other hand, a sound argument can
be made better by recognizing opposing points of view, whether
you acknowledge, accommodate, or refute them.
Pages 600–605. A graphic organizer can be very helpful in
sorting out the parts of your argument. In this section, you’ll
see the basic form and a completed organizer for the essay,
“Not White, Just Right.” Before reading this piece by Rachel
Jones, study Figure 17.1.
Self-Check 27
In your self-check file or notebook, complete the following exercises.
1. Exercise 17.1 on page 593: Choose two of the five issues for your response.
2. Exercise 17.2 on page 594: Choose two of the five issues for your response.
3. Exercise 17.3 on page 596: For one of the three claims, discuss arguing it before three kinds
of audiences, as specified in the instructions.
4. Exercise 17.4 on page 599: Reviewing the three claims given in Exercise 17.3, identify opposing viewpoints and discus your approach to acknowledging, accommodating, or refuting them.
Respond to all three claims.
Check your answers with those on page 166.
Lesson 7 137
ASSIGNMENT 28: ANALYZING
AND RESPONDING TO
ARGUMENTS
Read the following assignment. Then read pages 620–635 in
Chapter 17 of your textbook. Be sure to complete the selfcheck to gauge your progress.
In this assignment, you’ll analyze a student essay and by
comparing two articles on the same topic, you’ll see how
to go about responding to an argument.
READING HIGHLIGHTS
Pages 620–624. Read the “Students Write” essay by Stanford
DeWinter with a critical eye. You’ll be analyzing the essay in
your self-check for this assignment. Look for the thesis statement to see how it’s reflected in the conclusion, evaluate the
author’s supporting evidence, and note the kinds of appeals
he uses with his audience.
Pages 625–635. Read the two essays on these pages. The
article by Andrew Simms offers a point of view that’s critical
of America’s love affair with sport utility vehicles. An essay by
John Merline defends the SUV, refuting and countering the
arguments proposed by Simms. Be prepared to respond
to analysis and evaluation questions in the self-check for
this assignment.
Note: For a more thorough review of the elements of an argument and the steps in developing an argument, log onto the
college’s Web site and view the supplement for this lesson,
available in the Advanced Composition course under
“My Courses.”
138 Advanced Composition
Self-Check 28
In your self-check file or notebook, complete the following exercises.
1. Analyzing the Essay: Complete items 1–5 on page 624.
2. Analyzing the Reading: Complete items 1–5 on pages 629–630.
3. Integrating the Readings: Complete items 1–4 on page 635.
Check your answers with those on page 170.
139
Final Examination: Worth 30 percent of your course grade,
this examination is weighted as a proctored exam; therefore,
students don’t take an additional proctored exam for Advanced
Composition at the end of the semester.
Objective
Using a total of six sources, students write a well-reasoned
research paper of 2,500 to 3,000 words arguing for or against
the ramifications of buying products from their own country.
Topic
The topic is the ramifications of either supporting or not supporting buying (or not buying) products manufactured solely
from your own country. Choose one side of the issue and take
a definite stand. Use research to support the claim that citizens
of a country should or shouldn’t support the economy by
buying products based on quality, price, and availability
of products. You must use a total of six sources for
this assignment.
Purpose
To persuade the reader that buying (or not buying)
products only from your country is necessary for
your country’s economy
Audience
Distance-education students enrolled at Penn Foster College
E x a m i n a t i o n E x a m i n a t i o n
Lesson 7
Writing an Argument
EXAMINATION NUMBER
50080600
140 Examination, Lesson 7
Process
First, establish a working thesis indicating your position
(which side you support) for the assigned topic.
Keeping notes as you go, work from “Generating Ideas”
on page 606 through the “Guided Writing Assignment” to
page 619 so that you prewrite, research, organize, draft, edit,
proofread, and produce a final draft meeting the assignment
content and length requirements. You must also ensure your
work displays good writing traits, such as those indicated in
the Course Rubric (see Appendix).
Prepare a final draft according to the required exam submission
format. Provide the MLA Works Cited page as the last page in
your document (but not included in the word count). Submit
your final document to the school as instructed.
141
A n s w e r s A n s w e r s
Self-Check 1
1. Primary sources are original works. They include poems,
novels, academic works, letters, diaries, films, and so
forth. Secondary sources draw on, summarize, criticize,
and/or interpret primary sources. For example, letters
exchanged by James and Dolley Madison might be used
as primary sources for a paper on James Madison. A
secondary source for the same paper could be a biography
of Madison.
Secondary sources may save time, since the interpretations and summaries of original sources can give you
an overview of a topic or of primary sources that may be
difficult to comprehend. But the limitation of secondary
sources is that they’re interpretations from a particular
point of view. When time permits and they’re available,
it’s best to consult primary sources and come to your
own conclusion.
2. The MLA system requires parenthetical, in-text citations
within the body of an essay or research paper for any
direct quote, paraphrase, or summary of someone else’s
ideas and words. For example,
According to Gentry, there is only one feasible approach
to the summit of Mont Blanc (34).
If an author’s name has been in use earlier: Some feel
there is only one feasible approach to the summit of
Mont Blanc (Gentry 34).
Also required is a Works Cited page, where sources cited
in the paper are listed by the last names of authors,
arranged in alphabetical order.
3. The thesis statement
Self-Check 2
1. Biological: What is the biological process of species
extinction? How often do species go extinct? What is the
theory of natural selection?
Geological: How has Earth’s natural environment
changed over billions of years? What events or changes
in the environment may have brought about massive
extinction of species?
142 Self-Check Answers
Historical: What human historical trends have affected
species habitats?
Economic: What economic trends or forces may have
encouraged the destruction of animal species?
2. Working Thesis: Although many factors have contributed
to the extinction of species over the millions of years of
Earth’s history, in our era human activities are a major
contributor to species extinction.
Research Questions:
■ What are the most common natural causes of
species extinction?
■ What impacts have humans had on natural habitats?
■ Which are most harmful?
■ In what ways might these impacts have led to
species extinction?
■ How deliberate or accidental were these impacts and
can they be reversed?
■ How are humans impacted by species extinction?
■ What measures may be taken to protect endangered
animal species?
Self-Check 3
1. A source is relevant if it can answer a research question
while supporting the thesis. However, a relevant source
may or may not be reliable. A source is reliable (or is
more likely to be reliable) if it has a good reputation.
Major daily newspapers, such as the Washington Post,
or periodicals like Newsweek, may fall into this category.
Scholarly works may be considered reliable if they’re
from a peer-reviewed journal. An author with expertise
in his or her field may be considered reliable. However,
regardless of the source, you must be cautious if an
author’s statements seem biased, incomplete, or
inadequately supported by fact-based information.
2. Exercise 18.3
1. a. Textbook: Preliminary reading, not a
research source
b. Magazine article: Possible source of anecdotes
and general background information
c. Journal: Credible scholarly source
2. a. Newspaper article: Useful source of examples of
first-hand experience, but not adequate for grasping the whole picture
b. Journal article: Excellent scholarly source but may
be too technical for audience
c. Pamphlet: Useful government article
3. a. Article: Credible newspaper, but scan article to
determine its relevance
b. Web site: Possible example, but credibility may
be questionable
c. Training manual: Possible example of one
company’s policy
3. Does the site offer a bibliography or list of works as
sources for the Internet article? Can the accuracy of the
information be verified elsewhere? Am I accessing the
complete document? (If not, establish that you can
access the full text of the original.)
4. a
5. c
Self-Check 4
1. F
2. EO
3. O
4. O
Self-Check Answers 143
5. F
6. F
7. O
8. FO (He did offer to buy Cuba, but whether he was greedy
for influence is opinion.)
9. O
10. G—The statement doesn’t define “most people.” You
could evaluate credible poll data on political attitudes
to determine the validity of this assertion.
11. F—This is likely to be a fact, depending on its source.
Standard references in astronomy could be consulted
to verify the statement.
12. G—The term “many nations” is vague, as is “people.”
National and international news sources would be needed
to verify the truth and/or significance of this statement.
13. G—Africa’s natural resources don’t guarantee the
continent a bright future. Many other issues affect
the future development of each country in Africa.
14. F—This could be easily verified through the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency or local meteorologists.
15. Possible response: There are four identifiable assumptions
in the first sentence: First, loving one’s fellow man isn’t
the same thing as offering him homage simply due to his
sex. Second, it isn’t clear that male dominance is inherent;
it may be imposed and unjust. Third, homage is due
another person (male or female) only to the extent that
he or she is capable of reason. Implicit in the third
assumption is the fourth assumption: the faculty of
reason is a virtue deserving of recognition and credit.
In the second sentence it’s assumed that a person is
accountable for any virtues gained through the exercise
of reason. We’re responsible for our choices, reasoned or
unreasoned. Further, it’s assumed that man’s capacity
for reason is the foundation of our relationship to God.
144 Self-Check Answers
Self-Check 5
Possible answers:
1. To read more effectively and efficiently, it’s important to
understand several things. First, whatever you’re reading
will include significant and insignificant material.
Concentrate on what’s important. Second, not everything
should be read in the same way. You can skim over
familiar text, but should read difficult conceptual or
technical discussions far more carefully. Third, ideas and
connections may be lost to you if you read something
only once. Literary essays or research papers, for example,
should generally be read at least twice. Finally, keep in
mind that not everything you read is true. Always read
with a critical eye as well as an open mind.
2. Shoguns weren’t warlords; they replaced earlier warlords.
The political role of the shogun may have been like
that of a medieval European duke or perhaps a
regional governor.
3. The title and role of shogun was inherited within a
family line.
4. The shoguns used muskets from Portuguese traders to
arm their soldiers.
5. Since travel beyond Japan was banned, contact with
outsiders was greatly restricted. At the same time, since
international trade was essentially cut off, the Japanese
had to develop a self-sufficient society.
Self-Check 6
1. a. Virginia, Dominican Republic, Switzerland,
Egypt, India
b. Second floor; BF173.F682 1961; James Strachey;
New York: W. W. Norton, c1961
c. Psychoanalysis, Social Psychology, Civilization
2. Anderson, Janet A. Women in the Fine Arts: A
Bibliography and Illustration Guide; Jefferson, NC:
McFarland & Co., 1991 (N8354 A47 1991 ART/ARCH REF)
Self-Check Answers 145
Self-Check 7
1. False
2. True
3. False
4. True
5. False
6. False
7. False
8. Her father, Orazio Gentileschi
9. Susanna and the Elders
10. She was raped by her art teacher.
11. Judith Slaying Holofernes
12. Caravaggio
13. Any of the following: You checked the domain name for
clues to its origin, including its extension (.edu, .org,
etc.); you read carefully and critically to be sure the
information was presented professionally and could be
verified with other sources; you saw no indications that
the information was merely opinion or unchecked facts;
at least one of your sources was affiliated with a university, museum, or other reliable, academic resource.
Self-Check 8
1. Wollstonecraft asserts that while she loves her fellow
man, “his scepter, real or usurped” has no sway over
her (12).
2. The author argues that people’s capacity to guide their
lives through reason is among “obvious truths” (12).
3. It’s in that context that she deplores the narrow restrictions of women’s prescribed social roles, proclaiming that
women are “decked out with artificial graces” designed to
attract, manipulate, and “exercise a short-lived tyranny”
over the men in her life (12).
146 Self-Check Answers
Self-Check Answers 147
4. Declaring that “Liberty is the mother of virtue,”
Wollstonecraft argues that if “women [are], by their . . .
constitution, slaves,” then they’re precluded from ever
inhaling “the sharp invigorating air of freedom” (12).
5. Possible research questions:
■ What important events surrounded the period during
which Winston Churchill was prime minister
of Great Britain?
■ What was the content and context of the speech
Churchill gave at Fulton, Missouri?
■ Why did Churchill’s “iron curtain” metaphor attract so
much attention?
■ How did the American public describe or view the
uncertainties of 1946?
■ What was the intent and nature of the Marshall Plan?
Self-Check 9
1. Possible answers:
Senior Citizens: Who is considered a senior citizen? (At
what age?) What roles do senior citizens play in society?
What products do senior citizens buy? When will senior
citizens become the majority in America? In what parts
of the country do senior citizens tend to live? How do
senior citizens affect the economy? Why are senior
citizens an important part of American society? Who is
considered a senior citizen in other cultures?
Environmental Protection: What are the major threats to
our global environment? What is the evidence for global
warming and climate change? To what extent is there a
scientific consensus that global warming is a real? What
seems to motivate those who deny that global climate
change is a threat? How has human activity affected our
planet’s environment? What effects have expanding populations had on local and regional environments? What
economic effects may result from global warming and
climate change? What lifestyle changes may be required
to cope with global climate change?
Television Programming: How much time do people spend
watching television? To what extent is television programming controlled by a small number of large media
conglomerates, like Disney or the Murdoch News Group?
To what extent does television programming serve the
public interest? Why are commercials such a large percentage of television content? How do television commercials
affect consumers and consumer choices? What effect do
television commercials have on young children’s health?
2. Possible answers:
1. Second person would work. However, first person
would also work if the writer incorporates personal
experience and observations.
2. First person would allow the writer to convey his or
her view of the accident.
3. Third person is the most appropriate choice for an
academic paper.
3. Appropriately Narrowed Topics
a. The first one is the best choice. Your research may
include observation of print, television, and radio
advertisements, as well as research into various
current marketing theories and strategies. Both
types of research are “doable,” and the question is
focused enough to yield a fully developed research
paper. The second is very broad and not researchable—it’s unlikely that Coca-Cola personnel will
reveal their future marketing plan. The third is
researchable but too broad, as given. “The past”
covers a lot of time, especially since the Coca-Cola
Company was incorporated in 1919.
b. The third is the best choice because it’s focused
enough to allow you to research the question in
some depth, yet broad enough to allow you to consider the various effects of deregulation on airline
safety. You would probably use statistics such as
those given in the second topic. The first is far
too broad.
148 Self-Check Answers
Self-Check Answers 149
c. The second is the best choice because the topic is
broad enough to find more than just one or two
sources, but it’s limited to one focus—the development of preschool language skills. The first is too
broad, since it includes all skills (e.g., language,
social, small motor skills, large motor skills, etc.).
You would have to gather too much diverse information. There may or may not be enough information for
the third one. You would need to find more than just
one or two studies if you chose it. If you find that
there are enough sources dealing with vocabulary
only, then you could choose to pursue it, though you
would have to define “larger” and “vocabulary.”
d. The first is far too narrow to develop into a research
paper. You could answer this question in one sentence,
and the question doesn’t allow you to develop your own
thoughts about the topic. The second is too broad—
you could write a book to discuss the importance of
genetic research in our lives. The third one is the best
choice. You might be asking, “How can I research
something whose effect hasn’t yet been felt?” You can
logically posit what “might happen” in the future
based on what “has happened” in the past. For example, your research may bring you to the major causes
of obesity in the recent past (last 20 to 30 years) to
establish a direct relationship between cause and
treatment. Once you establish that direct cause-andeffect relationship, you can project similar types of
relationships based on the new genetic research.
e. The third is probably too narrow—it asks the
researcher to identify just one major emotional
reaction. At first glance, there’s not a lot of difference
between the first two, but there is one major difference.
The second asks for the variety of ways in which adult
children of alcoholics interact with their alcoholic
parents. Substantial research has identified many patterns of interaction, so this question may be too broad
to deal with in the scope of one research paper. The
first is the best choice. It narrows the scope by focusing on only the most positive ways of interaction.
150 Self-Check Answers
It also asks you to use the research to support your
own informed judgment, which you provide eventually
in the final research paper, thus creating interest as
well as focus.
4. Researchable Topics
a. Researchable—there’s enough information available.
You’d have to sift through a lot of ideas, both pro and
con, valid and invalid, to choose the best material for
answering the research question and supporting your
point of view.
b. Somewhat researchable. There have been some recent
experiments dealing with the physical (genetic) basis
of sexual preference, but not enough research to support a credible view one way or the other.
c. Not researchable as it’s worded, since it has no concrete meaning. What does “better” mean? Better in
terms of nutrition? Better tasting? Better value?
Fewer calories? Better for making your kids happy?
This question could become researchable only if you
define its terms. In addition, the topic isn’t one college
professors would generally appreciate you choosing.
d. Researchable—see letter a.
e. Researchable—see letter a.
Self-Check 10
1. Thesis B is the best working thesis. It identifies specific
causes of anorexia nervosa as well as the grouping and
order in which the causes will be discussed in the research
paper. Thesis A is weak because it’s too general. Thesis C
is too narrow and factual. It could be proven with one or
two statistics and doesn’t invite the writer’s own perspective on the topic.
2. Thesis C is the best of the three. It provides more focus
than thesis B by identifying the particular areas of business practice to be researched. Thesis A isn’t a complete
sentence and it offers no perspective on the topic.
Self-Check Answers 151
Even if used as a title, it’s poor because it doesn’t suggest
a stand on an issue. Thesis B is researchable, but it will
yield too much information to be manageable. Business
practices can cover many things from marketing and
customer service to management philosophies, styles
of business correspondence, or the speed at which
business is conducted.
3. Thesis B is the best choice because it focuses on two types
of dilemmas raised by the appearance of Hamlet’s father’s
ghost. Evidence from the play or from various critics’
interpretations of the play could be used to support this
stance. Thesis A may not be researchable, since it would
be difficult to find primary sources that prove Shakespeare’s
intent (letters or diaries or notes for plays that Shakespeare
wrote). If evidence from the play can be interpreted as
Shakespeare’s intention for the audience to question the
existence of the ghost, there’s other evidence in the play
that contradicts that stance. Therefore, more irrefutable
evidence (that a primary source would provide) would be
necessary. In addition, the statement doesn’t seem related
to the topic of the ghost’s importance. Thesis C is much
too broad. It also indicates that the writer hasn’t bothered
to make a decision regarding the ghost’s importance. The
resulting paper will reflect that lack of interest, as well as
lack of depth. A writer must be decisive and choose a
clear focus appropriate for the purpose and audience.
4. Wording may vary.
a. Paraphrase: The Chihuahua can make a loyal and
charming pet, but it has several qualities that make
it a difficult dog to own. Even though the Chihuahua
is a small dog, it can be willful and can cause damage
because it likes to dig and chew. Chihuahua owners
may find their puppies cute, but those who can’t
handle the behavior of the grown dogs often abandon
them at animal shelters.
b. Summary: Because of its appearance, the Chihuahua’s
difficulty as a pet is often underestimated.
c. Personal Comment: Your answer should include some
opinion about this type of dog and whether you learned
something you didn’t know before, as well as questions
like, How many Chihuahuas are left at animal shelters?
Are they adopted quickly? Are adopted dogs likely to
stay with their new owners?
152 Self-Check Answers
5. Wording may vary.
a. Paraphrase: The British Empire brought its popular
sports to much of the world. In the United States just
before the Civil War, cricket was enjoyed more than
any other team sport until, known by a number of
names, baseball gained popularity. Alexander
Cartwright formed the first baseball club in 1845.
The club charged dues, developed rules, and inflicted
penalties. By the time the Civil War ended, baseball
replaced cricket as the most popular team sport.
b. Summary: By the end of the Civil War, the American
sport of baseball replaced the British sport of cricket
as America’s most popular team sport.
c. Personal Comment: Your answer should include
a comment about what surprised you in this
information and a question you have about it.
Self-Check 11
1. a
2. c
3. d
4. False. You’re required to use in-text citation, which can
be an introduction, a parenthetical, or a combination of
the two. Use a parenthetical citation if your introduction
doesn’t contain sufficient information to reference the
source on the Works Cited page.
5. True
6. C
7. B
Self-Check Answers 153
Self-Check 12
Wording may vary.
1. The board members believed that the company should
take action on current issues.
2. The city of San Francisco offers hiking, swimming,
sailing, and fishing.
3. The members of the board reached a decision.
4. The employees are organized and knowledgeable.
5. Most employees feel more confident about their new
jobs after completing their training.
6. Over the last 75 years, psychologists and educators
interested in educational improvement have sought to
use what is known about the process of learning to
design better educational programs.
7. Removing the lid exposed the reactor core, allowing
radioactive isotopes to escape.
8. The following hourly wage scales provide our estimated
costs for the requested engineering services.
9. Janice identified the source of the faulty
electrical connection.
10. Tom was uncertain about the wisdom of taking another
part-time job so close to the final examinations.
11. Frank decided to withdraw from Calculus Interpretations
because he found the course too demanding.
12. The mayor and financiers doubted the legality and
honesty of ACE Company’s dealings.
13. As expected, the shortage of campaign money proved to
be the primary obstacle to Jane Doe’s bid for the state
senate seat.
Self-Check 13
1. d
2. b
3. a
4. b
5. d
6. False. Use only one type of documentation for the entire
research project. Do not mix and match.
7. True
8. c
Self-Check 14
1. Item 1: Classification and division: Categorize goods that
are made in America, such as automobiles, clothing,
foods, and so on.
Definition: What makes a product “American,” the
materials, the labor, or both?
Cause and effect: People may buy goods because of their
quality or because doing so helps keep jobs in America
and stimulates the economy.
Argument: Is buying only American-made goods
patriotic, or is it an outdated nationalistic approach
to consumerism?
Item 3: Classification and division: Classify and describe
various approaches to community policing efforts in
American cities, such as neighborhood-watch programs,
Guardian Angels or similar groups, or connecting with
police officers walking a neighborhood beat.
Definition: What’s meant by “community policing”? Does
it mean the community should participate or that a
community should be well policed—or both?
Cause and effect: High crime rates in some urban neighborhoods may generate intense community pressure to
provide some form of community policing.
154 Self-Check Answers
Self-Check Answers 155
Argument: Given inadequate funding for law enforcement
in many metropolitan areas, is community policing in
urban neighborhoods effective, or are “community
policing” proposals mostly political rhetoric?
2. Thesis evaluation
a. Although it’s a direct, active opinion statement referring
to the topic of adult illiteracy in America, there are a
couple of problems with this as a thesis. First, calling
adult illiteracy the “greatest threat” to America today
is a very large claim. What about all the other serious
problems confronting us? There’s no need to make
such a large claim, which may only distract your reader
with thoughts of other problems. Second, the focus of
your draft isn’t the threat that illiteracy poses—you’ve
got only about one page out of 14 about how widespread
the problem is (maybe for your introduction), and nothing about its consequences (economic, social, political,
etc.). Clearly, that’s not what your paper is about. (If it
is what you want your paper to be about—or what your
reader expects your paper to be about, you’ve got some
major revising to do.) Instead, what your draft does
discuss at length are causes and possible solutions,
but your thesis doesn’t let your reader know that.
b. This sentence identifies the topic of the paper as adult
illiteracy and indicates that there are many causes,
which the reader will naturally expect you to explain
(and you do, for about half of your draft). Then comes
the “but,” a logical link to the opposite of “causes,”
which would be “solutions” or something of the sort.
Instead, the sentence continues “but it can be eliminated.” This wording seems to do the same job as
“solutions”—in fact, asserting that adult illiteracy can
actually be eliminated is a strong positive statement
indeed. What’s more, just as your draft addresses the
causes of illiteracy, it goes on to discuss its elimination
by evaluating solutions and proposing one you feel
would be effective. Since this sentence prepares your
reader for exactly the paper you are delivering, it works
as a thesis sentence for your paper.
156 Self-Check Answers
c. The topic is certainly clear here: adult illiteracy in
America. Also, this sentence goes on to focus on how
this problem may “be effectively addressed,” which is
one good way to prepare the reader for your evaluation
of possible solutions and proposal of one you feel
would be effective. However, you devote almost equal
space to analyzing the causes of the problem and
need to let your reader know that.
There’s another problem with using this sentence as
your thesis statement. It’s not a statement but a
question, and that’s not what your reader ordinarily
expects of a thesis. A question can be a very good way
to “get the ball rolling” in an introduction, inviting your
reader to get involved and think about the topic before
you state your opinion in the thesis statement. On the
other hand, questions merely hint at an opinion and
might be misinterpreted.
d. This sentence does speak about the topic of adult
illiteracy in America. There are problems, however,
with what it says about the topic and how it says it.
“Subsuming a myriad of causal factors” is trying to
impress the reader with its long words, unusual
words, and technical-sounding words. This style
makes the reader work hard to understand what the
writer is saying (and usually indicates the writer has
nothing to say or is afraid to express an opinion
directly and clearly).
“Causal factors” uses two words to say “causes.” And
there are a “myriad” of them; “myriad” is a fine oldfashioned word that literally means “ten thousand,”
but is used to mean “a very large number”—an exaggerated way of saying “many.” Evidently these many
causes are “subsuming.” “Subsume” is a rather technical term meaning that one large category includes
smaller ones. For example, “popcorn” and “potato
chips” are both subsumed under the category of
“snack foods.” The first part of the sentence therefore
means that adult illiteracy includes many causes. But
does it “include” many causes, or does it result from
many causes? Saying that adult illiteracy “subsumes”
Self-Check Answers 157
many causes is quite fuzzy. The writer probably would
never have written “Adult illiteracy includes many
causes,” because in such familiar language the idea
doesn’t really make sense, but the “fancy” language
disguised that, at least from the writer.
Now we know that the first part of the sentence talks
(not very clearly) about the causes of adult illiteracy—
the six pages of your draft. The rest of the sentence,
however, goes on to say that adult illiteracy “manifests
itself throughout contemporary American society.”
Your draft only has a page on how widespread adult
illiteracy is (not even that it manifests itself throughout
our society); what’s more, the second major part of
your draft, evaluating solutions to the problem and
proposing the best one, isn’t mentioned at all in this
sentence. If you used this sentence as your thesis
statement, your reader would expect a paper explaining the causes of adult illiteracy and describing how
adult illiteracy can be found throughout American
society. The paper you did write, about causes and
solutions, would be unexpected and unappreciated.
3. The first statement is the best thesis, since it’s the
most focused and specific. It focuses the argument on
the hospital as an oligopoly (a certain type of economic
structure) and also implies that the writer will explain
how changed policy has influenced hospital economics.
The other two are too broad and difficult to research.
The second would require identifying particular Asian
nations. In the third one, who are the citizens mentioned? All U.S. citizens? If so, is there valid evidence
that represents all citizens’ concerns?
4. a. Not effective—there are too many points covered and
the phrasing is awkward. How can the economy police
anything? The focus should be on one point. Suggested
revision: The American economy can be healthy only
when jobs provide fair wages in correlation with the
cost of living.
b. Not effective—the statement makes an announcement. Suggested revision: Sex education in public
schools can reduce the rate of teenage pregnancies.
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c. Effective—no revision needed.
d. Not effective—the statement is general and lacks
detail. Suggested revision: My years hiking the
Appalachian Trail taught me to respect the
natural world.
Self-Check 15
Possible answers:
1. Among nocturnal hunters, bats are unique in their
ability to sense objects and judge distances through
built-in sonar.
2. Waiting for the crosstown bus at the corner of Elm
and Main, my brother John stood holding his
furled umbrella.
3. Seeing the taxi pull up outside, Miranda’s heart raced
and tears streamed down her face as she ran to the
door to embrace her husband.
4. The view from Walker Point embraces sky and
rolling hills that fade like dreams as they recede
into the hazy distance.
5. First, Second, and Third
6. The terms provide a logical connection for concepts
in a series.
7. Both classical and operant conditioning focus on studying
behavior, as opposed to subjective consciousness, changing
behavior, and anticipating future behaviors.
8. When people master the basic concepts of classical
conditioning and operant conditioning, they’ll understand how both schools of behaviorism view human
behavior and conduct research.
Self-Check Answers 159
Self-Check 16
Possible answers:
1. Lee expanded her introduction, added more specific
details about Survivor in a new paragraph, cut out
unnecessary details about other reality shows, added
better illustrations of other reality TV shows, and
expanded her conclusion. Her revisions made her views
about the decline of reality TV more vivid for readers.
2. Lee added a second paragraph to add more details
about why Survivor was popular. These details reinforce
her thesis.
3. Lee’s revised introduction explains the effects of the first
Survivor more vividly. The revised conclusion includes
Lee’s thoughts about what she sees as the decline of
this fad.
4. One possible paragraph: The first draft of paragraph 5
didn’t include the detail about Temptation Island. This
particular detail illustrates how distasteful reality TV
has become for Lee.
Self-Check 17
Possible answers:
1. A simile describes one thing as like another, with the
word like or as linking the two. For example, “the fine
lace was like a morning mist encircling her face.” By
contrast, a metaphor lets some object, place, or thing
stand for another object, place, or thing: “All the world’s
a stage.” The metaphor compares “Hope” to “the thing
with feathers” that stands for the human soul.
2. The shore exposed by receding surf could represent the
world as it is, laid bare of pretense or illusion.
3. Personification is giving some kind of human characteristic
to objects, ideas, or qualities. In “Dover Beach,” the contrast of hopeful (as opposed to menacing) perceptions of
the ocean is comparing the cycle of the tides with the
rise and fall of human experiences.
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4. A dilapidated and abandoned house could stand for
futility or the impermanence of life and possessions. It
could stand for happier days now long gone or it could
represent menace if terrible things are thought to have
occurred there. If the house is associated with a person
or family, it could represent the character of a person
who once lived there, an empty heart, or a sense
of abandonment.
5. Dickinson’s poem doesn’t deny the troubles that arise
in life, but her “thing with feathers” remains optimistic.
Since the little bird “sings its song with no words,” we
know that hope isn’t a rational thing to be captured by
thoughts or words. It exists beyond our understanding
and control.
By contrast, “Dover Beach” suggests that human hearts
and minds may have once been joined, although no such
common sea now exists. Instead, the world is an illusion
and the prospects for meaningful and fulfilling lives are a
façade. Behind it lurks the menace of “ignorant armies”
that shape the world behind our naïve perceptions.
For Dickinson, the remedy for life’s perplexities lies
beyond this life, as an unquenchable promise, and for
Arnold, the only remedy is the fealty and devotion of
lovers. Yet, while Dickinson’s hope will abide, it seems
less certain that the devotion of lovers can withstand the
tides of melancholy that underlie the human condition.
6. Title: Oil and Water: The Poetic Perceptions of Emily
Dickinson and Matthew Arnold
Thesis: The social worlds of Emily Dickinson and
Matthew Arnold strongly informed the divergent themes
of their poems “Hope” and “Dover Beach.”
Title: Of Love and Hope: The Worldviews of Emily
Dickinson and Matthew Arnold
Thesis: Contrasting poems by Emily Dickinson and
Matthew Arnold reveals radically different views of what
people might call salvation.
Self-Check Answers 161
7. “It” refers to the “little bird” that’s Dickinson’s metaphor
for hope. The lines may mean that hope asks nothing of
her when she suffers some extremity or that hope isn’t
indifferent to our suffering. It asks nothing of us because
it feeds itself and, thereby, asks not a “crumb” of us.
Self-Check 18
1. The sentence poses an intriguing question that might
engage readers and encourage readers to read further.
2. The Spanish conquest of Mexico succeeded in part
because the Aztec people were convinced that Hernando
Cortez was an incarnate god.
3. The conclusion reiterates the thesis, but in a widened
context. It suggests the relevance of the thesis, since
the conquest of Mexico foretold similar tragedies that
continue to occur.
4. b—Title “a” is vague and doesn’t capture the thesis. Also,
many readers may not know what a “Grandee” is. Title
“c” uses alliteration, which may be catchy and might
engage a reader’s interest, but it’s also vague and
doesn’t represent the content of the essay.
Self-Check 19
1. c
2. Possible thesis: Unlike minerals, which are natural
chemical compounds, rocks are categorized by the way
in which they’re formed.
3. Classification: Minerals
Divisions: Only two given—quartz and feldspars
Classification: Rocks
Divisions: Igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic
162 Self-Check Answers
Self-Check 20
1. Your definitions will vary, but the definition that applies
to rock should refer to a change in its constitution
caused by pressure, heat, and water, making it more
compact and more highly crystalline.
2. Answers will vary, though should include that meta- in
this situation means “change” and that the root word
morphë means “form.” This word combination is also
seen in the Greek metamorphoun, to transform. Rocks
are classified by the way they form (morphë). In the
process of metamorphosis, the igneous or sedimentary
forms actually change form, they transform into a
different kind of rock.
3. Minerals, element class, igneous rocks, magma,
sedimentary rocks, and metamorphic rocks
4. The passage classifies minerals by their chemical properties and rocks by how they were formed; each paragraph
includes scientific names and terms that needed to be
defined for the reader.
Self-Check 21
Possible answers:
1. The topic is telephones, comparing and contrasting pay
phones and cell phones. In paragraphs 1 and 2, the subject could be summarized as “love and luck.” It describes
how the author and his wife-to-be managed to communicate using a pay phone. The theme of paragraph 4 is the
author’s relationship to pay phones throughout his life.
The narrative shifts to cell phones in paragraph 7. He
describes how cell phones are replacing pay phones as a
new toy taking the place of an old, beat-up one. In paragraph 8, he comments on the manner in which people
use cell phones and its relationship to the modern world.
2. Bases of comparison could be as follows: Advantage:
development of social skills; disadvantage: academic
performance of girls.
Self-Check Answers 163
Thesis 1: Integrating public school classrooms by gender
develops important social skills for both boys and girls,
since the sexes must interact on a daily basis.
Thesis 2: Integrating public school classrooms by gender
may be a disadvantage to girls since studies show that
boys are more assertive and are called on by teachers
more often.
Self-Check 22
1. Southwestern cuisine is heavy on fried or grilled beef,
while Mexican food is based on richly seasoned corn and
tomato recipes.
2. Paragraph 1: Southwestern and Mexican cuisine overlap,
but the differences are due to divergent cultural traditions.
Paragraph 3: Corn meal was and is basic to Mexican
cuisine, while Anglos made tortillas with wheat flour.
Paragraph 4: Meat is included in both Southwestern and
Mexican cuisine, but the meats are prepared differently
and served in different ways in the two traditions.
3. Given today’s concern with obesity and excess fat in
our diets, you could compare and contrast the cooking
methods (fried, grilled, or slow-cooked), the amount of
meat and fat in each style of cooking, and the use of
vegetables and seasonings in each type of cooking.
Self-Check 23
1. Zuger uses narrative of personal experience in paragraph 1,
in which she describes a meeting with two interns. In
paragraph 6 she describes feeling like she was in a
“medieval morality play,” and in paragraph 12 she
describes her inability to alter the perspectives of her
interns. She uses description in paragraph 2, describing
the attire of her two interns, the man and the woman. In
paragraph 5 she describes the divergent attitudes of her
two interns.
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The third type is argument, used in paragraphs 8–12:
The author argues for a new, more humane and collaborative approach to medicine based on shortening interns’
work hours.
2. The author uses a point-by-point approach, which is
effective because it allows her to make a series of observations and analyses of two interns and their two
conflicting approaches to medicine. For example, she
lines up a series of points to compare and contrast the
two interns and another series of points that forcefully
argue her reasons for shortening intern work hours. If
she had used a subject-by-subject approach, it would
have been more difficult to clearly compare and contrast
the two individuals and move on to her argument about
the hours interns are required to work.
Self-Check 24
1. The story takes place in the late nineteenth century, during the time the author lived and wrote. From its title we
can infer that the action took place in a single hour.
2. The main character is Mrs. Louise Mallard. She is young
and fair with “white slender hands”; also, she has heart
disease. Her weak heart gives out, not at the shock of
her husband’s death, but at the shock of seeing him
alive.
3. Louise realizes that with her husband dead, she will
be free, able to live for herself alone, a thought that fills
her with joy. She changes from a somewhat passive,
conventional wife to a woman who suddenly has dreams
of her own.
4. The theme is of a woman’s self-discovery and her feelings
when she experiences sudden independence—radical
ideas in 1894.
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Self-Check 25
1. The author’s claim is “There is no legitimate need for a
handgun in a civilized society.”
2. Her evidence includes that other nations are 10 to 50
times safer because of handgun restrictions and that
25,000 people died in the United States “last year”
because handguns are legal here.
3. The author uses an emotional appeal, talking about her
son, who was murdered in an “unspeakable crime” that
happened because Americans are “lethargic about this
grotesque carnage” and because legislators “did not have
the integrity and common sense to establish laws that
would protect the public.” She also appeals to values,
noting that everyone deserves a chance at a life and a
career and that America, a civilized society, shouldn’t be
plagued by handgun murders. She says the blood of her
son and his girlfriend “and the blood of thousands of
other victims stains the flag.”
Self-Check 26
1. a. Koreth’s claim is that instead of continuing with affirmative action policies “we need a system that gives a
boost to those who have had to overcome considerable
financial, physical, or other obstacles” (para. 8).
b. Policy, primarily—it recommends a new system for
assisting disadvantaged people, regardless of race.
However, the claim also appeals to the value of fairness or equity.
c. Reasons: No one chooses race, so a policy based on
race is racist; affirmative action is unfair because it
favors underrepresented groups rather than achievers
of any group. Evidence: Hypothetical examples; the
essay would benefit from statistical evidence or expert
opinion to back up its claim.
d. He appeals to readers’ desire to succeed, sense of
fairness, and antiracist values.
166 Self-Check Answers
e. Koreth recognized the opposing view (para. 2) and
suggests that the system he proposes may benefit all
people, including minority groups.
2. a. Plain folks: I’m just a simple person; I’m just like you.
b. Appeal to pity
c. Ad hominem: This is an attack on the person, which
may be unrelated to his actual stance on the issue of
low wages and long hours.
d. Appeal to false authority: Winfrey isn’t an authority on
war, international relations, or government policy.
Self-Check 27
Exercise 17.1:
1. Limiting topics: The lottery in your home state; analysis
of how the lottery is promoted in one state. Background:
How many states have lotteries; how much money is
raised; moral objections to state lotteries.
2. Limiting topics: Privacy in the workplace or on the
Internet; security of Internet transactions and accounts;
corporate access or personal information with individual’s
knowledge. Background: Define the networks to be discussed; examples of privacy violations; relevant court cases.
3. Limiting topics: A specific speech code on a specific campus; an incident or series of incidents that might justify
speech codes. Background: Reasons for speech codes;
purposes of typical speech codes; number of campuses
that have enacted speech codes.
4. Limiting topics: Controversy over displaying a crèche on
public property at Christmas; attempts to display symbols meaningful to different religions. Background:
Interpretations of what constitutes a religious symbol,
relevant U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
5. Limiting topics: Mandatory drug testing for members of
particular professions (e.g., hospital workers, train engineers, police officers); mandatory testing of athletes for
the use of steroids; mandatory testing for a specific drug.
Background: Laws and company policies mandating drug
testing; effects of drugs on job performance; relevant
constitutional issues.
Exercise 17.2:
1. a. While many parents approve of government control
of pornography on the Internet, such controls may
violate the First Amendment right to free speech.
b. Pornography is so readily available to children on the
Internet that the government must pass legislation to
control it.
2. a. Limiting immigration may open up more jobs to
unemployed citizens.
b. While the government needs to control immigration,
controls should be flexile so that people who can make
valuable contributions to our society will be admitted.
3. a. Strict controls on campaign spending would very
likely decrease the number of political advertisements
on television.
b. Laws limiting the amount of money a politician can
raise and spend are violations of First Amendment
rights and shouldn’t be enacted.
4. a. Computer literacy probably will be a mandatory
requirement for most job applicants in the twenty-first
century; every college graduate should be required to
demonstrate proficiency on the computer.
b. College students, who will need to use computers in
all fields and professions, should be required to
demonstrate computer literacy in order to graduate.
5. a. Because they promote exercise and competitive spirit,
sports are probably among the best activities children
can engage in.
b. Sports get inactive children away from the TV and into
the fresh air; therefore, parents should encourage
their children to engage in competitive sports.
Exercise 17.3:
1. a. Urge readers to call school boards to insist on sex
education classes.
b. Contrast statistics on teen pregnancy for schools with sex
education classes versus schools without such classes;
Self-Check Answers 167
cite expert opinion in favor of sex ed; narrate testimonials from teens who have benefited from sex
education classes.
c. Appeal to the common desire to protect teens but
argue that they should be protected from pregnancy
and sexual disease, not from information; cite persuasive facts and statistics.
2. a. Urge readers to write to companies that advertise
during shows that portray violence unrealistically,
arguing the need for action.
b. Present examples of the real toll violence takes on
victims and their families; contrast with unrealistic
examples from TV shows; cite examples of “copy
cat” crimes.
c. Establish a common ground (the desire to reduce
violent crime); provide some examples as in b, as
well as the results of studies that show an increase in
violence correlated with increased television viewing.
3. a. Provide advice on ways to reduce the hours that some
children spend on computers and to increase their
involvement with social activities.
b. Provide expert testimony on and examples of children
who experience negative consequences from their
exclusive involvement with computers.
c. Concede that children need to be knowledgeable
about using computers, but argue that social skills
are needed as well.
Exercise 17.4:
1. Possible opposing arguments:
■ Sex education may expose children to information parents may wish to withhold until the children are older.
Response: Accommodate by proposing parental waivers
or refute by arguing that students need to be informed
about sex during adolescence when many begin to
experiment with it.
168 Self-Check Answers
Self-Check Answers 169
■ Sex education sends the signal that sex is acceptable
behavior for teens. Response: Acknowledge the
position or accommodate it by noting that most teens
experiment with sex and therefore should help protect
themselves against disease and pregnancy by participating in the program.
2. Possible opposing arguments:
■ Portraying violence more realistically on television
will desensitize people to it, not deter them from it.
Response: Refute by noting that portraying the effects of
actual violence has deterred crime and changed people’s
minds, citing such examples as televised images of the
Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement.
■ Violent images have no effect on people who commit
violence crimes. Response: Accommodate by noting that
while realistic portrayals of violence won’t affect hardened criminals, they’ll probably keep some people from
becoming criminals; or refute by citing studies that
show a high crime rate among heavy television viewers.
3. Possible opposing arguments:
■ Children have many opportunities to interact with
other people on the Internet. Response: Accommodate
by pointing out that interaction with strangers on the
Internet can be valuable but limited, or refute by noting that the uncertainty and possible dangers of
interacting with strangers on the internet.
■ Children who take advantage of all the computer has
to offer learn more than children with a more active
social life. Response: Acknowledge by conceding that
children can learn much from playing educational
computer games and surfing the Internet as well as
from playing with other children.
Self-Check 28
Analyzing the Essay
1. DeWinter’s controlling idea clearly appears in the last
two sentences of the first paragraph. The thesis statement can be identified as the next-to-last sentence,
which prepares the reader for the organization of
the essay.
2. DeWinter’s evidence includes statistics (paras. 1–2), expert
testimony (2), government research from the National
Institutes of Health (3), the report of the philanthropic
Gates Foundation (3), the popular business magazine
Fortune (4), scholarly analysis from the Harvard Business
Review (4), and information from the professional organization Association for Childhood Education International (5).
3. DeWinter acknowledges an opposing view at the beginning of the final paragraph, but then refutes it.
4. DeWinter attempts to establish common ground with the
audience in the introduction and particularly in the conclusion, which acknowledges college students’ stage of
development and argues that they’re ready to make
social contributions as they become increasingly
aware of the larger world and their place in it.
5. The author appeals to the human need to be needed.
Values include humanitarian, philanthropic interests;
economic success; and compassion for human suffering.
Analyzing the Reading
Possible answers:
1. Simms makes a claim of policy, which appears in the
second paragraph, that SUVs should carry warning
labels. He opens the essay by supporting his premise
and making several emotional appeals. This is a
deductive argument.
2. Simms cites research conducted by experts, mostly scientists and governments, as well as the expert testimony
of the Paris city council, the city government of Rome,
and the mayor of London. Large organizations, like government and the World Health Organization, are more
170 Self-Check Answers
Self-Check Answers 171
credible because they have the resources to conduct
research and use neutral scientific measures.
3. The argument follows Method I outlined on page 613:
claim, support, opposing viewpoints. This strategy is
designed to win over a neutral or wavering audience
(page 595). Had he faced a disagreeing audience, he
would have had to establish common ground first.
4. SUV Owners of America, “an industry front group run by
a PR firm that has worked for General Motors” (9), says
that carbon dioxide isn’t a pollutant. He uses an arsenic
analogy to refute this claim, which appeals to emotion
and logic.
5. Simms concludes that if warning labels covered 30 to 50
percent of the vehicles’ surface area, people might be
more hesitant to buy SUVs (14). Labels would help move
the industry “out of denial” (15). His solution is somewhat facetious.
Integrating the Readings
1. Responses will vary, but Merline uses several sources
that might be suspect, whereas Simms’s sources are
mostly credible.
2. You might have addressed the quality of the evidence or
the structure of the argument to suit audience attitudes.
3. Simms clearly favors government regulation in these
areas, while Merline advocates for the free market (typically unregulated).
4. Some facts appear to contradict each other: Simms cites
U.S. federal data that SUV drivers are less safe, while
Merline cites the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
study, which found that SUV drivers were safer. Readers
should examine the credibility of the sources, research
their methodology, and look for corroborating studies.
172 Self-Check Answers
NOTES
173
A p p e n d i x A p p e n d i x

174 Appendix

Appendix 175

176 Appendix

Appendix 177

178 Appendix

Appendix 179

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