Professional Documents
Culture Documents
F O U RTH EDIT IO N
WR I T I NG
MA TTE R S
Syracuse University
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WRITING MATTERS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 LCR 24 23 22 21
ISBN 978-1-265-99244-6
MHID 1-265-99244-4
The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of
publication. The inclusion of a website does not indicate an
endorsement by the authors or McGraw Hill LLC, and McGraw Hill
LLC does not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented at
these sites.
mheducation.com/highered
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Students are more likely to write well when they think of themselves
as writers rather than as error-makers. By explaining rules in the
context of responsibility, I address composition students respectfully
as mature and capable fellow participants in the research and writing
process.
Sincerely,
The Index.
The comprehensive index at the end of Writing Matters, on pages
I1–I40, includes cross-references to all topics covered in the book. If
you are not sure how to use commas in compound sentences, for
example, look up “commas” or “compound sentences” in the index.
Glossaries.
If you are unfamiliar with a term or not sure if you are using a
particular word (such as who or whom, less or fewer, can or may)
correctly, see the Glossary of Key Terms on pages G1–G13 or the
Glossary of Usage on pages G15–G20.
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Annotated student and professional
models of writing
More than one dozen student projects and professional articles—
including literary analyses, reviews, press releases, outlines, and
cover letters—are explored in detail, with callouts identifying the
unique features of each and analyses of the components of
compelling writing. Annotations in the student project in Chapter 22
(“Writing in Literature and the Other Humanities”), for example, call
attention to the important elements of a literary analysis, such as the
thesis statement, citations, and supporting evidence in a student
project, a close reading of Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant
Fundamentalist. Student and professional models allow students to
see how other writers have met the four writer’s responsibilities.
Accessible ebook and online resources
At McGraw Hill Higher Education, our mission is to accelerate
learning through intuitive, engaging, efficient, and effective
experiences, grounded in research. Assignments in Connect are
WCAG compliant and updates to the ebook of the 4th edition of
Writing Matters go beyond WCAG compliance to create an
improved reading experience for all learners. These enhancements
include improved functionality for viewing annotated readings and
editing marks. We are committed to creating universally accessible
products that unlock the full potential of each learner, including
individuals with disabilities.
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Self-Assessment checklists
Helpful checklists guide students to review their work at every step
of the writing process, from drafting to revising to proofreading a
piece before publication. In Chapter 17 (“Citing Rhetorically”), this
checklist reminds students to emphasize their own insights when
working with sources, and to provide contextual information that
shows why a source is authoritative, thus guiding students to meet
their responsibilities both to themselves by taking their own writing
seriously and to the topic by carefully assessing sources.
Writing Assignment Plus
McGraw Hill’s new Writing Assignment Plus tool delivers a learning
experience that improves students’ written communication skills and
conceptual understanding with every assignment. Assign, monitor,
and provide feedback on writing more efficiently and grade
assignments within McGraw Hill Connect®. Writing Assignment
Plus gives you time-saving tools with just-in-time basic writing and
originality checker.
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Power of Process
In addition to the readings throughout Writing Matters, Power of
Process in Connect provides 100 additional readings. Power of
Process guides students to engage with texts closely and critically so
that they develop awareness of their process decisions, and
ultimately begin to make those decisions consciously on their own—a
hallmark of strategic, self-regulating readers and writers. Power of
Process provides strategies that guide students in learning how to
critically read a piece of writing or consider a text as a possible
source for incorporation into their own work. After they progress
through the strategies, responding to prompts by annotating and
highlighting, students are encouraged to reflect on their processes
and interaction with the text. Instructors can choose from a bank of
carefully chosen readings within Power of Process, readings from
Writing Matters, or upload their own readings. In keeping with
McGraw Hill’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, fifty
percent of the readings in Power of Process are by Black, Indigenous,
and People of Color (BIPOC) authors.
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Grammar tutorial
To help students in their responsibility to both themselves and their
audience, Part Eight, Grammar Matters, begins with a six-page
reference section that explores common grammar challenges such as
subject–verb agreement, comma splices, and shifting tenses. On the
page below, two sentence fragments and four agreement conflicts are
modeled, each with edits showing how to correct the problem. Cross-
references point students to the chapters that discuss the concept.
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Focused exercises
More than 140 exercises help students explore the most important
chapter concepts. Exercises gauge individual students’ grasp of key
skills, and group projects promote teamwork, peer-to-peer feedback,
and collaboration. Many of these exercises help students break the
writing process down into smaller parts to focus, for example, on
setting a schedule, generating ideas, or conducting a database search.
The array of core concepts covered by these exercises strengthen
students’ development of all four of a writer’s responsibilities.
Additional exercises can be assigned through Connect.
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Tech tips
While today’s students are tech savvy, Writing Matters draws their
attention to potential complications that may occur when using even
the most familiar technology. Chapter 12 (“Planning a Research
Project”) advises students to meet their responsibility to themselves
by backing up their research to a separate place as a guard against
data loss.
EFL tips
Targeted advice on grammar, usage, and culture provide additional
support for students for whom English is a foreign language. This
EFL tip in Chapter 26 (“Writing Concisely”) clarifies for students
that, in the US, there is an expectation for academic writing to be
concise. This example helps foreign students to meet their
responsibility to the audience.
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Instructor’s manual.
The instructor’s manual includes teaching tips, learning outcomes,
and suggestions for additional exercises using Connect Composition
and Power of Process. Instruction Matters connects each instructor
and student resource to the core material and makes the exercises
relevant to instructors and students.
Test bank.
The Assessment Matters test bank includes more than a thousand
test items to ensure students grasp the concepts explored in every
chapter.
PowerPoint slides.
The Presentation Matters PowerPoint deck is designed to give new
teachers confidence in the classroom and can be used as a teaching
tool by all instructors. The slides emphasize key ideas from Writing
Matters and help students take useful notes. Instructors can alter the
slides to meet their own needs and, because the PowerPoints are
WCAG compliant, the deck can be shared with students using screen
readers.
LMS and gradebook synching.
McGraw Hill offers deep integration for a range of LMS products.
Deep integration includes functionality such as single sign-on,
automatic grade sync, assignment level linking and calendar
integration.
Reporting.
Connect Composition generates a number of powerful reports and
charts that allow instructors to quickly review the performance of a
specific student or an entire section.
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Chapter-by-Chapter
Changes
Revision Highlights of the Fourth Edition
Writing Matters has been revised to include key updates from the
field and to provide new examples and models.
All content has been reviewed for inclusivity to ensure the text is
free from words or images that reflect prejudiced, stereotyped, or
discriminatory views of particular people or groups, and free from
material that could potentially exclude people from feeling
accepted.
All in-text citations, bibliography notes, and Works Cited pages are
updated to reflect the rules of the ninth edition of the MLA
Handbook, the Modern Language Association’s 2021 update on
citation formats.
The text incorporates the use of the singular “they” to follow
current MLA and APA guidelines.
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Acknowledgments
The creation and evolution of Writing Matters has been an exciting
and humbling experience. I began in the belief that I knew what I
was doing, but I quickly realized that I had embarked on a path not
only of sharing what I know but also of learning what I should know.
Writing Matters lists a single author, Rebecca Moore Howard, but
that author is actually the central figure in a collaboration of
hundreds of students, teachers, and editors.
I thank the instructors who have provided invaluable insights and
suggestions as reviewers and members of the board of advisors.
Talking with instructors at all sorts of institutions and learning from
them about the teaching of writing has been an unparalleled
experience. As a result of this project, I have many new colleagues,
people who care deeply about teaching writing and who are experts
at doing so. I also thank the many students who have shared their
thoughts with us through class tests and design reviews. I
particularly thank the students who have shared their writing with
me and allowed me to publish some of it in this book. Writing
Matters has been improved greatly by their contributions.
Manuscript Reviewers
Butler Community College: Andrea McCaffree-Wallace
Delgado Community College: Emily Cosper
East Carolina University: Tracy Morse
Indian River State College: Camila Alvarez
Kennesaw State University: Jeanne Bohannon
Lone Star College-CyFair: Andrea Hollinger
Metropolitan State University of Denver: Jessica Parker
Missouri Western State University: Kay Siebler
Oklahoma City Community College: Michael Franco
Oklahoma City Community College: Candie McKee
Palm Beach State College: Patrick Tierney
Pitt Community College: Anthony Holsten
Pitt Community College: Daniel Stanford
Robert Morris University: Julianne Michalenko
Salish Kootenai College: Christa Umphrey
St. Charles Community College: Byronie Carter
St. Johns River State College: Paul Andrews
St. Johns River State College-Orange Park: Melody Hargraves
St. Johns River State College-Orange Park: Jeannine Morgan
Tri-County Community College: Lee Ann Hodges
University of Arizona: Dev Bose
University of Memphis: William Duffy
University of Mississippi: Alison Hitch
University of Providence: Curt Bobbitt
University of Providence: Aaron Parrett
Personal Acknowledgments
Writing Matters is the result of rich collaboration with a creative,
supportive, knowledgeable team who have a deep understanding of
both teaching and publishing: Tom Howard, senior lecturer in
University Studies at Colgate University, has worked with me from
the beginning to the end, and his intelligence and ingenuity are
evident everywhere in this project. Patrick Williams and Krista
Kennedy, both of Syracuse University, reviewed key chapters in their
areas of expertise, helping me update and reframe several of the core
chapters. In this edition, Krista Kennedy joined me as a coauthor of
“Designing Accessible Print and Digital Documents” (Ch. 9). She,
Jeff Ward, and Greg Craybas contributed fresh new images that
appear throughout the text.
For previous work on Writing Matters that carries forth to this
edition, I’d like to thank Amy Rupiper Taggart from North Dakota
State University, who drafted “Designing in Context: Academic and
Business Documents”; Ted Johnston, formerly of El Paso
Community College, and Maggie Sokolik, of University of California,
Berkeley, who drafted “Language Matters: Guidance for Multilingual
Writers” (Part 9) and EFL Notes. Sandra Jamieson, Drew University,
and Bruce R. Thaler drafted many of the exercises; and a number of
instructors—David Hooper, of Western Washington University; Tom
Howard, of Colgate University; Ann Marie Leshkowich, of College of
the Holy Cross; Leslie Yoder, of Southwestern College; and Paul
Yoder, of University of Arkansas at Little Rock—kindly contributed
sample exercises designed to help students learn the art of analyzing
arguments.
In addition, Writing Matters has benefited greatly from the
efforts of an extended editorial team: Erin Cosyn, portfolio manager,
and Cara Labell, lead product developer, were amazing in the
guidance and insights they brought to the project. Cheryl Ferguson
contributed copyediting so perceptive that it not only corrected
errors in the manuscript but also helped me articulate and expand
my ideas. Finally, I feel privileged to have worked with Ellen
Thibault, an extraordinarily skilled, creative, and supportive editor.
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Contents
b. Analyzing an Assignment
c. Preparing to Draft
g. Connecting Paragraphs
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5 Drafting and Revising Visuals
a. Deciding Whether to Illustrate College Writing Projects
d. Revising Visuals
6 Revising, Editing, Proofreading, and
Formatting
Revising Globally: Analyzing Your Own Work
a. Gaining Perspective
h. Proofreading
[1682] Th’intent. N.
[1683] Is godly. 1563.
[1684] From. N.
[1685] Doubtfull. 1563, 71, 75, 78.
[1686] Well may. 1578.
[1687] Which rymed that whych made full many mourne.
1563.
[1688] The kynge himselfe of. 1563.
[1689] His faultors faultes. 1563.
[1690] Was. 1571, 75, 78.
[1691] The chyefe was Catesby whom. 1563.
[1692] Whom I did call. N.
[1693] Tyll he vsurped the crowne, he. 1563.
[1694] So many thousandes as they have destroyed. 1563.
[1695] Laweles dealynges al men dyd. 1563.
[1696] Pessima. 1571, 75, 78.
[1697] Quis vetat? None, save clymers stil in ferum, 1563.
[1698] Satyr. 1563.
[1699] Who rudely named were. 1563.
[1700] Me wyth most haynous traytrous cryme. 1563.
[1701] And strangled fyrst in. 1563. And strangled then in. N.
[1702] Ore. N.
[1703] And so sore. 1578.
[1704]