Unique visual approach shows at a glance how good writing is put together and helps students see how to use the same strategies in their own writing. Because inexperienced writers are often more comfortable with visuals than with text, Seeing the Pattern uses visuals to help students improve their reading and writing.
--Graphic Organizers, or maps of an essay that display relationships among ideas, offer students a useful tool for analyzing readings and for planning and revising their own essays.
--Revision Flowcharts prompt students to read their own essays and those of their peers with a critical eye so they can better revise their writing.
--Illustrations are used as prompts for writing and as tools to help students understand the readings and the writing strategies used by the authors.
--A full-color design makes material more accessible and easier to use, with annotated essays, figures, boxes, and lists that summarize key information.
Accessible readings on compelling subjects by a diverse group of writers. The 65 professional readings in Seeing the Pattern include reliable, class-proven essays by well-known writers like Amy Tan, Langston Hughes, and Scott Russell Sanders as well as newer selections chosen for their appropriateness as models and for their interesting and timely topics that today's students will respond to. For example:
--Matthew Gilbert explores the process of reality television shows in "You and Improved"
--Cindy C. Combs classifies the different types of terrorists in "Profile of a Terrorist"
--Clive Thompson explains the causes and effects of online communication in "The Honesty Virus"
The readings in each chapter vary in length and ability, with many of the readings shorter and more accessible than in other readers, allowing students to be successful in their reading before working with longer, more difficult texts. Seeing the Pattern also includes 11 student essays.
The fullest coverage of reading in any rhetorical reader. Seeing the Pattern covers the reading skills that other college-level readers assume students already possess.
--A Guide to Active Reading opens the book and gives students the skills they need to read and analyze a text actively and confidently.
--Two annotated essays in each chapter, one professional and one student essay, highlight the rhetorical techniques used by the author and show students the key features to look for in the readings that follow.
--Unique sections on how to read each pattern give students practical tips for what to look for, highlight, and annotate when reading the selections in each chapter.
--Innovative apparatus reinforces reading skills in each rhetorical chapter. In addition to headnotes and pre-reading questions, McWhorter provides additional help for students unique to this book. Innovative Visualizing the Reading activities present graphic organizers, images, and other visual devices aimed at helping students understand the reading and the writing strategies used by the author. Building Your Critical Thinking Skills questions introduce students to important critical thinking concepts -- such as bias, tone, and connotation -- and ask them to explore how one such concept is used in the reading.
The most help with writing of any rhetorical reader. Seeing the Pattern offers more thorough instruction on planning, drafting, and revising than any of its competitors.
--Three full chapters on the writing process, with exercises, offer key information in easy-to-understand and access charts and boxes. Skill-building exercises and helpful lists and charts, such as "Guidelines for Writing a Thesis Statement" and "Questions to Ask as You Revise," provide easy-to-consult reference tools for students to return to as they work on their own writing.
--Comprehensive introductions to each rhetorical chapter describe the characteristics of the pattern of development, guide students through a sample professional and student essay, and offer specific suggestions for writing an essay using that pattern.
--Practical help for everyday grammatical errors is provided in each rhetorical chapter and in a concise guide to common errors in chapter 4, on revising and editing.
A comprehensive chapter on finding and using sources includes coverage of evaluating sources, incorporating quotations, avoiding plagiarism, and documenting sources using MLA style.
The only reader to cover practical survival strategies for success in college. A unique chapter titled Keys to Academic Success focuses on study, reading, and work habits that underprepared students need to learn. Sections on time management, juggling commitments, and stress management provide helpful advice that will be relevant in both college and the workplace.