Writing about Writing


Book Description

A milestone in the field of composition, Writing about Writing continues to be the only textbook to provide an approach that makes writing studies the center of the introductory writing course. Based on Wardle and Downs’s research and organized around major threshold concepts of writing, this groundbreaking book empowers students in all majors by showing them how to draw on what they know and engage with ongoing conversations about writing and literacy. The accessible writing studies research in Writing about Writing includes foundational research by scholars such as Nancy Sommers and Donald Murray, popular commentary on writing by authors such as Malcolm X and Anne Lamott, and emerging research from both scholars and student writers. Accessible explanations, scaffolded activities, and thoughtful questions help students connect to the readings and transfer their writing-related skills from first-year composition to writing situations in other college courses, work, and their everyday lives. The third edition makes studying writing even more accessible and teachable, with a new overview of rhetoric, a stronger focus on key threshold concepts, scaffolded reading guidance for challenging selections, and a new section in the instructor's manual with responses to frequently asked questions. The conversation on writing about writing continues on the authors' blog, Write On: Notes on Writing about Writing (a channel on Bedford Bits, the Bedford/St. Martin's blog for teachers of writing). Go to community.macmillan.com.




Rhetorical Devices


Book Description

"Help students shine on the written portion of any standardized test by teaching the skills they need to craft powerful, compelling arguments using rhetorical devices. Students will learn to accurately identify and evaluate the effectiveness of rhetorical devices in not only famous speeches, advertisements, political campaigns, and literature, but also in the blog, newspaper, and magazine entries they read in their daily lives. Students will then improve their own writing strategy, style, and organization by correctly and skillfully using the devices they have learned. Each device is illustrated with clear, real-life examples to promote proper usage and followed up with meaningful exercises to maximize understanding. Pointers are provided throughout this book to help your students develop a unique writing style, and cumulative exercises will help students retain what they have learned."--




Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots (The Bailey School Kids #1)


Book Description

The hugely popular early chapter book series re-emerges -- now in e-book! The kids in the third grade at Bailey Elementary are so hard to handle that all of their teachers have quit. But their new teacher, Mrs. Jeepers, is different to say the least. She's just moved from the Transylvanian Alps and she seems to have some strange powers that help her deal with these mischief-makers. Her methods may be a little unconventional, but, then again, Mrs. Jeepers may be just what the Bailey School kids need.




The AP English Language and Composition


Book Description

REA ... Real review, Real practice, Real results. Get the college credits you deserve. AP ENGLISH LITERATURE & COMPOSITION with TESTware Includes CD with timed practice tests, instant scoring, and more. Completely aligned with today’s AP exam Are you prepared to excel on the AP exam? * Set up a study schedule by following our results-driven timeline * Take the first practice test to discover what you know and what you should know * Use REA's advice to ready yourself for proper study and success Practice for real * Create the closest experience to test-day conditions with 3 of the book’s 6 full-length practice tests on REA’s TESTware CD, featuring test-taking against the clock, instant scoring by topic, handy mark-and-return function, pause function, and more. * OR choose paper-and-pencil testing at your own pace * Chart your progress with full and detailed explanations of all answers * Boost your confidence with test-taking strategies and experienced advice Sharpen your knowledge and skills * The book's full subject review features coverage of all AP English Literature and Composition areas: prose, poetry, drama and theater, verse and meter, types of poetry, plot structure, writing essays, and more * Smart and friendly lessons reinforce necessary skills * Key tutorials enhance specific abilities needed on the test * Targeted drills increase comprehension and help organize study Ideal for Classroom or Solo Test Preparation! REA has provided advanced preparation for generations of advanced students who have excelled on important tests and in life. REA’s AP study guides are teacher-recommended and written by experts who have mastered the course and the test.




In the Long Run


Book Description

Designed to allow teachers immersed in Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs and those still contemplating increasing the use of writing in their courses to peer into classrooms of those who have participated in such programs for years, this book reports on the long-term impact upon faculty of WAC programs. The book studies WAC programs--collecting interviews, questionnaires, classroom observations, student evaluations, and course documents from more than 700 faculty, 1-15 years after their first WAC experiences. In the study reported in this book, the focus is in trying to understand how faculty members themselves construct the meaning of their WAC experiences. The book finds that faculty used the same criteria for adopting WAC strategies as for rejecting them--whether the strategy (1) created community in the classroom; (2) enhanced learning; (3) was feasible; and (4) fit the faculty members' priorities and teaching style. The book offers detailed examinations of the WAC programs at the University of Cincinnati (Ohio), Towson State University (Maryland), and Whitworth College (Washington). The voices of faculty members presented in the book come from departments of geography, nursing, criminal justice, math, music, and international business. Appendixes provide questionnaire responses. (NKA)




First Time Up


Book Description

"First time up?"—an insider’s friendly question from 1960s counter-culture—perfectly captures the spirit of this book. A short, supportive, practical guide for the first-time college composition instructor, the book is upbeat, wise but friendly, casual but knowledgeable (like the voice that may have introduced you to certain other firsts). With an experiential focus rather than a theoretical one, First Time Up will be a strong addition to the newcomer’s professional library, and a great candidate for the TA practicum reading list. Dethier, author of The Composition Instructor’s Survival Guide and From Dylan to Donne, directly addresses the common headaches, nightmares, and epiphanies of composition teaching—especially the ones that face the new teacher. And since legions of new college composition teachers are either graduate instructors (TAs) or adjuncts without a formal background in composition studies, he assumes these folks as his primary audience. Dethier’s voice is casual, but it conveys concern, humor, experience, and reassurance to the first-timer. He addresses all major areas that graduate instructors or new adjuncts in a writing program are sure to face, from career anxiety to thoughts on grading and keeping good classroom records. Dethier’s own eclecticism is well-represented here, but he reviews with considerable deftness the value of contemporary scholarship to first-time writing instructors—many of whom will be impatient with high theory. Throughout the work, he affirms a humane, confident approach to teaching, along with a true affection for college students and for teachers just learning to deal with them.




Blue Pelican Java


Book Description

"Blue Pelican Java" is a somewhat unusual high school computer science textbook. Most computer science texts will begin with a section on the history of computers followed with a flurry of definitions that are just "so many words" to the average student. The approach here is to first give the student some experience upon which to hang the definitions that come later. The usual practice of introducing classes and objects is deferred until the student has a firm grasp of the fundamentals (loops, decision structures, etc). Thus, the beginning student is not overwhelmed by the simultaneous introduction of OOPs and the fundamentals. The book includes plenty of exercises (many in "contest" form), programming projects, and a huge appendix.




Egg Monsters from Mars (Goosebumps #42)


Book Description

Disgusted by his bratty kid sister's demand for an egg hunt as part of a birthday celebration, Dana Johnson is amazed when he finds a football-sized, purple-veined egg that hatches a terrifying surprise.




A Practical Introduction to Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis


Book Description

This practical text contains fairly "traditional" coverage of data structures with a clear and complete use of algorithm analysis, and some emphasis on file processing techniques as relevant to modern programmers. It fully integrates OO programming with these topics, as part of the detailed presentation of OO programming itself.Chapter topics include lists, stacks, and queues; binary and general trees; graphs; file processing and external sorting; searching; indexing; and limits to computation.For programmers who need a good reference on data structures.




Beyond Literary Analysis


Book Description

"This book will make the case for multiple, diverse kinds of analysis to be taught in the high school English classroom. In addition to showing what written analysis looks like "in the wild," the authors will provide readers with a framework of fundamental analytical skills for instruction. Importantly, Marchetti and O'Dell will advocate for framing analytical writing around students' (of all levels and abilities) passions and expertise. And just as they do in their previous Heinemann book, Writing with Mentors, they will share resources for bringing many different kinds of analytical writing into the classroom"--