Engage students with brief, readable, and actionable content

A direct, engaging, and conversational style appeals to students and makes reading interesting. The use of real¿-world examples helps students connect to the text and heightens their learning.
Updated - Enhanced content — exercises, images, assignments, model essays, Grammar Alert! boxes, and chapter openers — engages students and keeps the material current.

New - In many chapters, particularly the subject-verb agreement chapter and the two pronoun chapters, explanations and examples have been streamlined and simplified to enhance clarity without sacrificing coverage.

Small Scrawls, informal writing assignments, are included for each of the writing modes. These assignments, intended to be completed in one sitting, inspire students' confidence and creativity as well as help them become quicker and more fluid in their writing. Each Small Scrawl in Chapters 7, 8, and 9 is accompanied by a visual cue.
The Readings section is entertaining, challenging, and thought-provoking, and has been updated with three new essays.

New - “Fish Cheeks,” by Amy Tan
New - “Our Vanishing Night,” by Verlyn Klinkenborg (sourced from National Geographic)
New - “Curing the Social Media Blues” by Chris Guessman

Give structure and flexibility with thoughtfully organized material

The three¿-part layout empowers instructors to mix and match writing chapters, grammar chapters, and readings.
The text groups rhetorical modes together based on actual usage, mirroring realistic writing strategies.
New - Additional paragraph-style editing exercises have been added to important areas, where students are most likely to have problems and need extra practice:

Reference the most current style guide information with handy in-text coverage

A full chapter on research, including guidelines for the updated MLA and APA style citations, prepares students for future courses.

New - Writing a Research Paper, Chapter 11, now contains an extensive section on incorporating quotations into research. Because college writing focuses much more on quotations in the context of research — rather than as simple dialogue — all of the material on quotations and use of quotation marks now resides here.

Discussion of ethos, pathos, and logos —and identifying flawed arguments — bolsters the coverage of arguments.
Word Choice, Chapter 25, addresses the more informal constructions brought about by texting and the Internet.

The loose-leaf version of the text is also available with MyLab Writing

MyLab™ is the teaching and learning platform that empowers you to reach every student. By combining trusted content with digital tools and a flexible platform, MyLab personalizes the learning experience and improves results for each student. When students enter your developmental writing course with varying skill levels, MyLab can help you identify which students need extra support and provide them targeted practice and instruction outside of class. Learn more about MyLab Writing.

Reach every student with MyLab

Empower each learner: Each student learns at a different pace. Personalized learning pinpoints the precise areas where each student needs practice, giving all students the support they need — when and where they need it — to be successful.

MyLab Writing diagnoses students’ strengths and weaknesses through a pre-assessment known as the Path Builder, and offers up a personalized Learning Path. Students then receive targeted practice and multimodal activities to help them improve over time.

Teach your course your way: Your course is unique. So whether you’d like to build your own assignments, teach multiple sections, or set prerequisites, MyLab gives you the flexibility to easily create your course to fit your needs.

Improve student results: When you teach with MyLab, student performance often improves. That’s why instructors have chosen MyLab for over 15 years, touching the lives of over 50 million students.

Check out the preface for a complete list of features and what's new in this edition.

Wordsmith: A Guide to College Writing, 7th edition