College Writing Skills Review

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(More customer reviews)Look up the criteria for academic essay grading at any university in the world, and you see the same qualities demanded: good research, demonstration of a good understanding of the material, neutral academic tone, and cogent argumentation. John Langan's "College Writing Skills" shows almost no guidance in how to get these qualities down, and there is not a single good example of sound academic writing in the book. Instead we get puff- pieces and moronic, juvenile trash like the following:
"When Mom and Dad and your sisters and brothers begin to annoy you, harmless revenge may be just the way to make them quiete [sic] down for a while... Just before the meal, throw a handful of raisins into the food... clamp your hand over your mouth and begin to make odd noises. When they ask you what the matter is, point to a raisin and yell, Bugs [sic]. Dumping the food in the [waste] disposal, the car will head quickly for mcdonalds[sic]." (p.145 6th Edition). Another sample student essay recommends that one flirt with the professor for an A (p.150, "How to Con an Instructor") and yet another describes the author's assault on a senior citizen; the tone suggests self- serving banalities rather than actual remorse ("maybe the old man's pain, in some terrible way, had a purpose").
Besides the reading samples, the sheer size of the book is outrageous at 500 pages. As a style guide, the text itself is bloated and entire pages are entirely redundant to the point the author is making. I fail to see why a book on how to write clearly should be any longer than Strunk and White. Mcgraw- Hill: shame on you. Find an author who has actually written something other than a writing guide to write your next writing guide. Teaching writing is a drag enough without having to find some justification to not simply throw such dross in the dustbin.

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College Writing Skills offers students a practical guide to becoming better writers.From mastering the traditional five-paragraph essay and its variations to learning about the finer points of grammar and punctuation, College Writing Skills empowers students to take control of their writing and put it to work for them.Now, with the new online writing program Connect Writing and the soon-to-come Connect Langan, an online interactive version of College Writing Skills, this new eighth edition brings writing closer to students and helps to take them where they need to go. Whether online or in class, College Writing Skills offers students the tools to succeed.

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