Reliable and straightforward, this text has helped thousands of students learn to write well. Jean Wyrick’s rhetorically organized STEPS TO WRITING WELL is known for its student-friendly tone and the clear way it presents the basics of essay writing in an easy-to-follow progression of useful lessons and activities. Through straightforward advice and thoughtful assignments, the text gives students the practice they need to approach writing well-constructed essays with confidence.

With Wyrick’s precise instruction and the book’s professional samples by both well-known classic and contemporary writers, STEPS TO WRITING WELL sets students on a solid path to writing success. Everything students need to begin, organize, and revise writing-from choosing a topic to developing the essay to polishing prose-is right here! In the Tenth Edition, Wyrick updates and refines the book’s successful approach, adding useful new discussions, readings, exercises, essay assignments, and visual images for analysis.

PART I: THE BASICS OF THE SHORT ESSAY.
1. Prewriting.
Getting Started (or Soup-Can Labels Can Be Fascinating). Selecting a Subject. Finding Your Essay’’s Purpose and Focus. Pump Primer Techniques. After You’’ve Found Your Focus. Discovering Your Audience. How to Identify Your Readers. Keeping a Journal (Talking to Yourself Does Help). Chapter Summary.
2. The Thesis Statement.
What Is a Thesis? What Does a "Working Thesis" Do? Can a "Working Thesis" Change? Guidelines for Writing a Good Thesis. Avoiding Common Errors in Thesis Statements. Using the Essay Map. Chapter Summary.
3. The Body Paragraphs.
Planning the Body of Your Essay. Composing the Body Paragraphs. The Topic Sentence. Paragraph Development. Paragraph Length. Paragraph Unity. Paragraph Coherence. Paragraph Sequence. Transitions between Paragraphs. Chapter Summary.
4. Beginnings and Endings.
How to Write a Good Lead-in. Avoiding Errors in Lead-ins. How to Write a Good Concluding Paragraph. Avoiding Errors in Conclusions. How to Write a Good Title. Chapter Summary.
5. Drafting and Revision: Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking.
What Is Revision? When Does Revision Occur? Myths about Revision. Can I Learn to Improve My Revision Skills? Preparing to Draft: Some Time-Saving Hints. Writing Centers, Computer Labs, and Computer Classrooms. A Revision Process for Your Drafts. What Is Critical Thinking? Thinking Critically as a Writer. Benefiting from Revision Workshops. Some Last Advice: How to Play with Your Mental Blocks. Chapter Summary.
6. Effective Sentences.
Developing a Clear Style. Developing a Concise Style. Developing a Lively Style. Developing an Emphatic Style. Chapter Summary.
7. Word Logic.
Selecting the Correct Words. Selecting the Best Words. Chapter Summary.
8. The Reading-Writing Connection.
How Can Reading Well Help Me Become a Better Writer? How Can I Become an Analytical Reader? Sample Annotated Essay: "Our Youth Should Serve" by Steven Muller. Writing a Summary. Benefiting from Class Discussions. Chapter Summary.
PART I SUMMARY: THE BASICS OF THE SHORT ESSAY.
PART II: PURPOSES, MODES, AND STRATEGIES.
9. Exposition.
The Strategies of Exposition. Strategy One: Development by Example. Developing Your Essay. Problems to Avoid. Student Essay: "River Rafting Teaches Worthwhile Lessons." Professional Essay: "What’’s So Bad about Being So-So?" by Lisa Wilson Strick. Strategy Two: Development by Process Analysis. Developing Your Essay. Problems to Avoid. Student Essay: "Catching Garage Sale Fever." Professional Essay: "To Bid the World Farewell" by Jessica Mitford. Professional Essay: *"Preparing for the Job Interview: Know Thyself" by Katy Piotrowski. Strategy Three: Development by Comparison and Contrast. Developing Your Essay. Problems to Avoid. Student Essay: Point-by-Point Pattern: "Bringing Back the Joy of Market Day." Student Essay: Block Pattern: "Backyard: Old and New." Professional Essay: Point-by-Point Pattern: "Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts" by Bruce Catton. Professional Essay: Block Pattern: "Two Ways of Viewing the River" by Mark Twain. Strategy Four: Development by Definition. Developing Your Essay. Problems to Avoid. Student Essay: "Blind Paces." Professional Essay: "The Munchausen Mystery" by Don R. Lipsitt. Strategy Five: Development by Division and Classification. Developing Your Essay. Problems to Avoid. Student Essay: "The Native American Era at Mesa Verde." Professional Essay: "The Plot against People" by Russell Baker. Professional Essay: Division: "A Brush with Reality: Surprises in the Tube" by David Bodanis. Strategy Six: Development by Causal Analysis. Developing Your Essay. Problems to Avoid. Student Essay: "It’’s Simply Not Worth It." *Professional Essay: "Some Lessons from the Assembly Line" by Andrew Braaksma.
10. Argumentation.
Developing Your Essay. Problems to Avoid. Common Logical Fallacies. Student Essay: "Students, Take Note!" Professional Pro/Con Essays: School Schedules. *"High Schools, Wake Up!" from USA Today. * "Reform No Child’’s Play" by Paul D. Houston. Conflicting Positions: Gun Control (ads). Competing Products: Energy Sources (ads). Popular Appeals: Spending Our Money (ads).
11. Description.
How to write Effective Description. Problems to Avoid. Student Essay: "Treeclimbing." Professional Essay: Describing a Person: "Still Learning from My Mother" by Cliff Schneider.
12. Narration.
Writing the Effective Narrative Essay. Problems to Avoid. Student Essay: "Never Underestimate the Little Things." Professional Essay: "Sister Flowers" by Maya Angelou.
13. Writing Essays Using Multiple Strategies.
Choosing the Best Strategies. Problems to Avoid. Student Essay: "Pass the Broccoli—Please!" Professional Essay: "Don’’t Let Stereotypes Warp Your Judgments" by Robert L Heinbroner.
PART III: SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS.
14. Writing a Paper Using Research.
Focusing Your Topic. Beginning Your Library Research. Conducting Primary Research. The Personal Interview. The Questionnaire. Preparing a Working Bibliography. Choosing and Evaluating Your Sources. Preparing an Annotated Bibliography. Taking Notes. Avoiding Plagiarism. Choosing the Documentation Style for Your Essay. MLA Style. APA Style. Using Supplementary Notes. Student Paper Using MLA Style: "A Possibility of Survival: The Mysterious Fate of Anastasia and Alexei." *Student Sample Using APA Style.
15. Writing in Class: Exams and ’’Response’’ Essays.
Steps to Writing Well under Pressure. Problems to Avoid. Writing the Summary-and-Response Essay. Student Essay "Youth Service: An Idea Whose Time Has Come."
16. Writing about Literature.
Using Literature in the Composition Classroom. Suggestions for Close Reading of Literature. Steps to Reading a Story. Annotated Fiction: "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin. Student Essay: "A Breath of Fresh Air." Steps to Reading a Poem. Annotated Poetry: "When I Heard the Learn’’d Astronomer" by Walt Whitman. Student Essay: "Two Ways of Knowing." *Fiction: "Gerald No Last Name" by Sandra Cisneros. *Fiction: "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe. Poetry: "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden. *Poetry: "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost.
17. Writing about Visual Arts.
Using Visual Arts in the Composition Classroom. Suggestions for Analyzing Paintings. Additional Advice about Sculpture and Photography. Guidelines for Writing about Art Works. Problems to Avoid. *Annotated painting: Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. *Student Essay "Night in the City and Psyche."
18. Writing about Film.
Using Film in the Composition Classroom. Guidelines for Writing about Film. Problems to Avoid. Student Essay: "Catch the Black Bird." Professional Film Review: "Cat in the Hat Coughs Up Mayhem" by David Germain. Glossary of Film Terms.
19. Writing in the World of Work.
Composing Business Letters. Sample Student Business Letter. Creating Memos. Sending Professional E-Mail. Designing Resumes. Sample Resume # 1. Sample Resume #2. Preparing Interview Notes and Post-Interview Letters.
PART IV: A CONCISE HANDBOOK.
20. Major Errors in Grammar.
Verbs. Nouns. Pronouns. Adverbs and Adjectives. Modifying Phrases. Sentences.
21. A Concise Guide to Punctuation.
Period. Question Mark. Exclamation Point. Comma. Semicolon. Colon. Apostrophe. Quotation Marks. Parentheses. Brackets. Dash. Hyphen. Underlining. Ellipsis Points.
22. A Concise Guide to Mechanics.
Capitalization. Abbreviations. Numbers. Spelling. "Grammar’’s Gremlins" from On Language by William Safire.