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Wordsmith: A Guide to College Writing, 7th edition

Published by Pearson (January 24, 2018) © 2019

  • Pamela Arlov Middle Georgia State University

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For courses in developmental writing.

Inspire students to craft clear, concise and engaging writing

Wordsmith: A Guide to College Writing is the antidote to dry, overwrought and overly expansive writing guides. It engages students, serves multiple skill levels and teaches writing techniques in a way that's actionable, contemporary, hands-on and fun. The text's 3-part layout allows freedom to mix and match the writing chapters, grammar chapters and readings.

The 7th Edition is a powerful tool for both students and teachers. With appealing, topical readings and expanded writing exercises, the updated text empowers instructors to meet students where they are and engage their collective interests.

Hallmark features of this title

  • Integrates real-world examples and delivers concepts in a direct, conversational way that engages students in learning.
  • Helps students become quicker, more fluid writers building confidence through “Small Scrawls” writing practice in each of the modes chapters (accompanied by visual cues in Ch. 7-9).
  • Presents material in a flexible 3-part layout that enables mixing and matching the writing chapters, grammar chapters, and readings.
  • Groups rhetorical modes together based on actual usage, mirroring realistic writing strategies.
  • Argument coverage includes discussion of ethos, pathos, logos (and identifying flawed arguments).
  • A research chapter provides updated MLA/APA style guidelines and a Word Choice chapter covers more informal writing for the Internet and texting.
  • Free download: The Pearson Guide to the 2021 MLA Handbook.

New and updated features of this title

Brief, readable and actionable content

  • UPDATED: Content has been enhanced (exercises, images, assignments, model essays, Grammar Alert! boxes, and chapter openers) to keep material current and engaging.
  • NEW: Streamlined explanations and examples throughout (particularly in the subject-verb agreement chapter and 2 pronoun chapters), enhance clarity without sacrificing coverage.
  • NEW: The Readings section includes 3 new essays: “Fish Cheeks,” by Amy Tan; “Our Vanishing Night,” by Verlyn Klinkenborg (sourced from National Geographic); and “Curing the Social Media Blues” by Chris Guessman.

Thoughtfully organized for structure and flexibility

  • NEW: Additional paragraph-style editing exercises have been added where students are most likely to have problems and need extra practice (e.g., subject-verb agreement; coordination and subordination; run-on sentences; sentence fragments; pronoun agreement, reference, and point of view).

Handy, in-text, up-to-date style guide information

  • NEW: Writing a Research Paper (Ch. 11) now contains an extensive section on incorporating quotes into research. Given college writing's focus on quotations in the context of research (rather than as dialogue) all quotation marks material now resides here.
  • Preface
  • Updates to the Seventh Edition

PART 1: COMPOSITION

  1. The Writing Process
  2. Preparing to Write
  3. Building a Framework: Thesis and Organization
  4. Introducing the Essay
  5. Developing Body Paragraphs
  6. Concluding the Essay
  7. Revising, Proofreading, and Formatting
  8. Showing and Telling: Description, Narration, and Example
  9. Limiting and Ordering: Definition, Classification, and Process
  10. Examining Logical Connections: Comparison-Contrast, Cause-Effect, and Argument
  11. Writing a Research Paper

PART 2: GRAMMAR

  1. Verbs and Subjects
  2. Subject-Verb Agreement
  3. Coordination and Subordination
  4. Run-on Sentences
  5. Sentence Fragments
  6. Pronoun Case
  7. Pronoun Agreement, Reference, and Point of View
  8. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
  9. Parallel Structure
  10. Verb Shifts
  11. Sentences with Style
  12. Commas
  13. Other Punctuation
  14. Word Choice
  15. Words Commonly Confused
  16. Capitalization
  17. Apostrophes

PART 3: READINGS

  • Reading at the College Level
  • Reading Essays and Literature
  • The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost
  • A Narrow Fellow in the Grass, Emily Dickinson
  • The Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin
  • Our Vanishing Night, Verlyn Klinkenborg
  • The “Black Table” Is Still There, Lawrence Otis Graham
  • Letting in Light, Patricia Raybon
  • Curing the Social Media Blues, Chris Guessman
  • Date Rape: Exposing Dangerous Myths, John J. Macionis
  • Is National Service a Cure for America’s Woes? Larry Fennelly
  • I Wonder: Was It Me or Was It My Sari? Shoba Narayan

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