howtowrite3e

Preface

Through its first two editions, readers of How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference have been intrigued—and perhaps attracted—by its title, admittedly not a humble one. Should any book, especially one designed expressly as a guide for college writers, promise so much? The simple answer is no; the more intriguing one is maybe.

What, after all, do experienced writers do when they face an assignment? As the new Introduction to this edition explains in detail, they size up a project to figure out what genre of writing best meets their needs and those of readers. They locate and examine specific examples of that genre, imitating some features and modifying or rejecting others. Then they shape a work within that genre themselves, bringing appropriate rhetorical, organizational, research, and language skills to bear on their writing. It is the goal of How to Write Anything to guide college writers through these complex choices for their most common academic and professional assignments. In doing so, it lays out key strategies to follow in any situation that requires purposeful writing.

But rarely do different writers work in the same order, and the same writer is likely to follow different paths for different projects. So How to Write Anything doesn’t define a single process of writing or imagine that all students using it will have the same skills and interests. Instead, a modular chapter organization and an innovative system of cross-references enables writers to find exactly the information they want at the level of specificity they need—which pretty much sums up the rationale for the book. How to Write Anything is both focused and flexible, marrying the resources of a full rhetoric to the efficiency of a compact handbook. That commitment to clarity and efficiency is even more evident in this latest edition.

A Guide, Reference, and Reader

Parts 1 and 2 of How to Write Anything make up the Guide, which covers genres of writing that instructors assign in composition classes or that students encounter in other college courses. For each genre, writers are offered a framework presented as a flexible series of rhetorical choices—Exploring purpose and topic; Understanding your audience; Finding and developing materials; Creating a structure; and Choosing a style and design. The explanations here are direct, practical, and economical, encouraging students to explore a range of options within genres. If writers do need more help with a particular topic, targeted cross-references make it easy to find in the Reference section.

The Reference section (Parts 3 through 9) covers key aspects of the writing process—with separate parts devoted to Ideas; Shaping & Drafting; Style; Revising & Editing; Research & Sources; Media & Design; and Common Errors. Points mentioned in the Guide section get expanded treatment here for students who need it. For instance, writers might turn to these sections to find techniques for generating arguments, improving their sentences, or overcoming writer’s block. The organization of How to Write Anything lets students find precisely what they need without getting bogged down in other material.

Part 10, the Reader, is an anthology of forty additional contemporary selections organized by genres covered in the Guide. Drawn from a variety of sources such as print and online journals, books, scholarly and popular magazines, blogs, and graphic novels, the readings offer both solid models for writing as well as compelling topics for students to respond to. Some examples include Jane McGonigal on how an hour a day of video games can enrich our lives, Neil deGrasse Tyson on the “cosmic perspective,” and evaluations of everything from cooking shows to Jay-Z to Domino’s pizza. The Reader includes fresh content from established authors such as Zadie Smith, Patton Oswalt, and Sasha Frere-Jones, as well as from newer voices such as Kamakshi Ayyar and Ross Perlin. Headnotes provide context for all readings in the text, and selections in the Reader are followed by analysis questions and writing assignments, which feature cross-references from the questions back to the Guide and Reference sections of the book. These readings, and the questions that follow them, are intended to help students more deeply consider and use the major genres in How to Write Anything.

Key Features

A Flexible Writing Process and Design that Works

How to Write Anything works hard to make its materials accessible and attractive to writers accustomed to intuitive design. For instance, “How to Start” questions at the opening of each chapter in the Guide anticipate where writers get stuck and direct them to exactly what they need: One writer might seek advice about finding a topic for a report, while another with a topic already in hand wants prompts for developing that idea.

Similarly, frequent cross-references between the Guide and Reference sections target the topics that students are likely to want to know more about. The simple language and unobtrusive design of the cross-references make it easy for students to stay focused on their own writing while finding related material—no explanations necessary and minimal clutter on the page. Readings and images throughout the book are similarly highlighted and variously annotated so that readers, once again, find information they need precisely when and where they require it.

Media-savvy students know that learning occurs in more than just words, so this edition preserves one of the favorite design features of How To Write Anything: its context-rich “How To” Visual Tutorials. Through drawings, photographs, and screenshots, these items offer step-by-step instructions for topics, ranging from how to use a writing center productively to how to cite selected materials in both MLA and APA formats.

Writing Worth Reading—From Professionals and Students

How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference contains an ample selection of readings, more than thirty in the Guide chapters alone, representing a wide range of genres. Selections illustrate key principles and show how genres change in response to different contexts, audiences, and—increasingly important—media. Every chapter in the Guide includes many complete examples of the genres under discussion, most of these texts annotated to show how they meet criteria set down in How to Write Anything. The assignments at the end of the Part 1 chapters are closely tied to the chapter readings, so students can use the sample texts both as models and as springboards for discussion and exploration.

Just as important, the models in How to Write Anything are approachable. The readings—some by published professionals and others by student writers—reveal the diversity of contemporary writing being done in these genres. The student samples are especially inventive—chosen to motivate undergraduates to take comparable risks with their own writing. Together, the readings and exercises suggest to writers the many creative possibilities of working in these genres.

New to This Edition

How to Write Anything was designed from the outset to be a practical, highly readable guide to writing for a generation not fond of long books. The third edition doubles down on that commitment. It’s smarter, more efficient, and shorter.

Vibrant new Introduction. Designed as a starting point for a course, a new Introduction explains the structure and rationale of How to Write Anything in practical terms students will appreciate. Concepts that play a key role in the book such as genre, subgenres, writing processes, and even audiences are defined and discussed.
New chapter on writing portfolios. Because more and more courses and college programs ask students to assemble writing portfolios, How to Write Anything introduces a new chapter (Chapter 17) explaining exactly how to compose, select, edit, and present materials for this assignment. The chapter gives special attention to composing student reflections on their coursework.
New “Reading the Genre” prompts. All major readings in Part 1 are now preceded by a brief exercise or query designed to make readers think about the reading’s genre or genre strategies.
Improved chapter organization. Each chapter in the Guide sections has been reviewed to enhance the clarity of its presentations. Chapter 8, Rhetorical Analyses, for example, now offers a chart to summarize key questions for such a paper. And every chapter in Part 2, Special Assignments, has a new structure that makes the discussion of the genre clearer and, in most cases, simpler.
Focused writing throughout the book. How to Write Anything has been fine-tuned to acknowledge students’ preference for brevity and clarity. Chapters get to the point quicker, examples have been tightened, and some chapters have been combined to eliminate overlap.
Fresh readings and images. New readings and images throughout the book keep How to Write Anything topical and challenging. New materials include a literacy narrative by Allegra Goodman, a movie review of The Hunger Games, a student’s research report on women running marathons, a Jen Sorensen editorial cartoon on student debt, and Bert and Ernie on the cover of The New Yorker.
New “Genre Moves” prompts in the Reader section. All chapters in the Reader section now begin with a brief excerpt by a well-known writer, followed by a prompt designed to get readers thinking about the genre presented.

Get the Most Out of Your Course with How to Write Anything

Bedford/St. Martin’s offers resources and format choices that help you and your students get even more out of your book and course. To learn more about or to order any of the following products, contact your Bedford/St. Martin’s sales representative, e-mail sales support (sales_support@bfwpub.com), or visit the Web site at macmillanhighered.com/howtowrite3e/catalog.

LaunchPad for How to Write Anything with Readings: Where Students Learn

LaunchPad provides engaging content and new ways to get the most out of your course. Get an interactive e-book combined with unique, book-specific materials in a fully customizable course space; then assign and mix our resources with yours.

Multimedia selections that make the most of what the Web can do with carefully selected video and multimodal readings for each chapter in Part 1.
Pre-built units—including readings, videos, quizzes, discussion groups, and more—are easy to adapt and assign by adding your own materials and mixing them with our high-quality multimedia content and ready-made assessment options, such as LearningCurve adaptive quizzing.
LaunchPad also provides access to a gradebook that provides a clear window on the performance of your whole class, individual students, and even individual assignments.
A streamlined interface helps students focus on what’s due, and social commenting tools let them engage, make connections, and learn from each other. Use LaunchPad on its own or integrate it with your school’s learning management system so that your class is always on the same page.

To get the most out of your course, order LaunchPad for How to Write Anything with Readings packaged with the print book free for a limited time. (LaunchPad for How to Write Anything with Readings can also be purchased on its own.) An activation code is required.

To order LaunchPad for How to Write Anything with Readings with the print book, use ISBN 978-1-3190-8602-2.

Choose from Alternative Formats of How to Write Anything

Bedford/St. Martin’s offers a range of affordable formats, allowing students to choose the one that works best for them. For details, visit macmillanhighered.com/howtowrite3e/formats.

Spiral-bound. To order the spiral-bound edition of How to Write Anything (the brief version of this book), use ISBN 978-1-4576-9368-7.
Other popular e-book formats. For details, visit macmillanhighered.com/ebooks.

Select Value Packages

Add value to your text by packaging one of the following resources with How to Write Anything. To learn more about package options for any of the following products, contact your Bedford/St. Martin’s sales representative or visit macmillanhighered.com/howtowrite3e/catalog.

LearningCurve for Readers and Writers, Bedford/St. Martin’s adaptive quizzing program, quickly learns what students already know and helps them practice what they don’t yet understand. Game-like quizzing motivates students to engage with their course, and reporting tools help teachers discern their students’ needs. LearningCurve for Readers and Writers can be packaged with How to Write Anything at a significant discount. An activation code is required. To order LearningCurve packaged with the print book, use ISBN 978-1-319-03135-1. For details, visit learningcurveworks.com.

i-series This popular series presents multimedia tutorials in a flexible format—because there are things you can’t do in a book.

ix visualizing composition 2.0 helps students put into practice key rhetorical and visual concepts. To order ix visualizing composition packaged with the print book, contact your sales representative for a package ISBN.
i-claim: visualizing argument offers a new way to see argument—with 6 multimedia tutorials, an illustrated glossary, and a wide array of multimedia arguments. To order i-claim: visualizing argument packaged with the print book, contact your sales representative for a package ISBN.

Portfolio Keeping, Third Edition, by Nedra Reynolds and Elizabeth Davis provides all the information students need to use the portfolio method successfully in a writing course. Portfolio Teaching, a companion guide for writing instructors, provides the practical information instructors and writing program administrators need to teach using the portfolio method. To order Portfolio Keeping packaged with the print book, contact your sales representative for a package ISBN.

Make Learning Fun with Re:Writing 3

macmillanhighered.com/rewriting

New open online resources with videos and interactive elements engage students in new ways of writing. You’ll find tutorials about using common digital writing tools, an interactive peer review game, Extreme Paragraph Makeover, and more—all for free and for fun. Visit macmillanhighered.com/rewriting.

Instructor Resources

macmillanhighered.com/howtowrite3e

You have a lot to do in your course. Bedford/St. Martin’s wants to make it easy for you to find the support you need—and to get it quickly.

Teaching with How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference with Readings is available in print and as a PDF that can be downloaded from the Bedford/St. Martin’s online catalog at the URL above. In addition to chapter overviews and teaching tips, the instructor’s manual includes sample syllabi, classroom activities, and teaching goals.

Teaching Central offers the entire list of Bedford/St. Martin’s print and online professional resources in one place. You’ll find landmark reference works, sourcebooks on pedagogical issues, award-winning collections, and practical advice for the classroom—all free for instructors. Visit macmillanhighered.com/teachingcentral.

Bits collects creative ideas for teaching a range of composition topics in an easily searchable blog format. A community of teachers—leading scholars, authors, and editors—discuss revision, research, grammar and style, technology, peer review, and much more. Take, use, adapt, and pass the ideas around. Then, come back to the site to comment or share your own suggestion. Visit bedfordbits.com.

Acknowledgments

The following reviewers were very helpful through several drafts of this book: Patricia Baines, Middle Tennessee State University; Patricia Bonner, North Carolina A&T State University; Jonathan Bradley, Middle Tennessee State University; Bob Brown, Chippewa Valley Technical College; Diana Kaye Campbell, Forsyth Technical Community College; Tricia Capansky, University of Tennessee at Martin; Susan Chism, Greenville College; Cheri Crenshaw, Dixie State University; Linsey Cuti, Kankakee Community College; Jason DePolo, North Carolina A&T State University; Amy Eggert, Bradley University; Bart Ganzert, Forsyth Technical Community College; Carl Gerriets, Century College; Anissa Graham, University of North Alabama; Gary Hafer, Lycoming College; Elizabeth Hope, Delgado Community College; Pamela Kincheloe, Rochester Institute of Technology; Michael Leggs, Saint Paul College; Lila MacLellan, Pace University; Nicholas Mauriello, University of North Alabama; Chanomi Maxwell-Parish, Northern Michigan University; Linda Miller, Middlesex Community College; Gayle Murchison, College of William and Mary; Sein Oh, University of Illinois at Chicago; Sayanti Ganguly Puckett, Johnson County Community College; Christa Raney, University of North Alabama; Jeremy Reed, Central Methodist University; Theodore Rollins, Johnson County Community College; James Sprouse, Piedmont International University; Janette Thompson, University of Nebraska at Kearney; Patrick Tompkins, John Tyler Community College; Jonathan Torres, Front Range Community College; and Justin Williamson, Pearl River Community College.

All textbooks are collaborations, but we have never before worked on a project that more creatively drew upon the resources of an editorial team and publisher. How to Write Anything began with the confidence of Joan Feinberg, Director of Digital Composition, that we could develop a groundbreaking brief rhetoric. She had the patience to allow the idea to develop at its own pace and then assembled an incredible team to support it. We are grateful for the contributions of Edwin Hill, Vice President; Karen Henry, Editorial Director; and Leasa Burton, Publisher. We are also indebted to Anna Palchik, Senior Art Director and designer of the text, and Deb Baker, Senior Production Editor. Special thanks to Peter Arkle and Anna Veltfort for their drawings, Christian Wise for his photographs, and to Kate Mayhew for her help with art research. They all deserve credit for the distinctive and accessible visual style of How to Write Anything.

For her marketing efforts, we are grateful to the guidance offered by Emily Rowin and, of course, to the efforts of the incomparable Bedford/St. Martin’s sales team. And for all manner of tasks, including coordinating permissions and manuscript preparation, we thank Rachel Childs.

Our greatest debt is to Ellen Darion, who was our original editor on this lengthy project and saw this edition through to the completion of its first draft: always confident about what we could accomplish, patient when chapters went off-track, and perpetually good-humored. If How to Write Anything works, it is because Ellen never wavered from our high aspirations for the book. Her hand is in every chapter, every choice of reading, and every assignment.

Succeeding Ellen as editor on this latest version, Sarah Macomber joined a project she was well familiar with—having conceived How to Write Anything’s much admired visual tutorials. Sarah has given thoughtful attention to every corner of the book, helping to assure that this edition is tight, lively, and imaginative. It has been a pleasure to work with her.

Finally, we are extraordinarily grateful to our former students whose papers or paragraphs appear in How to Write Anything. Their writing speaks for itself, but we have been inspired, too, by their personal dedication and character. These are the sort of students who motivate teachers, and so we are very proud to see their work published in How to Write Anything: Alysha Behn, Jordyn Brown, Stefan Casso, Marissa Dahlstrom, Manasi Deshpande, Micah T. Eades, Wade Lamb, Desiree Lopez, Cheryl Lovelady, Shane McNamee, Matthew Nance, Lily Parish, Miles Pequeno, Heidi Rogers, Kanaka Sathasivan, J. Reagan Tankersley, Katelyn Vincent, and Susan Wilcox.

John J. Ruszkiewicz

Jay T. Dolmage

Correlation to the Council of Writing Program Administrators’ (WPA) Outcomes Statement

How to Write Anything helps students build proficiency in the five categories of learning that writing programs across the country use to assess their work: rhetorical knowledge; critical thinking, reading, and writing; writing processes; knowledge of conventions; and composing in electronic environments. A detailed correlation follows.

Features of How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference with Readings, Third Edition, Correlated to the WPA Outcomes Statement

Note: This chart aligns with the latest WPA Outcomes Statement, ratified in July 2014.

WPA Outcomes	Relevant Features of How to Write Anything
Rhetorical Knowledge
Learn and use key rhetorical concepts through analyzing and composing a variety of texts.	Each assignment chapter in the Guide includes three texts in a wide variety of genres. Questions, headnotes, and “Reading the Genre” prompts encourage students to examine and understand the key rhetorical concepts behind each genre of writing. Writing activities and prompts guide students through composing a range of texts. In addition, the Reader includes more than 40 more texts for student analysis.
Gain experience reading and composing in several genres to understand how genre conventions shape and are shaped by readers’ and writers’ practices and purposes.	The Introduction provides a foundation for thinking about genre, while each assignment chapter in the Guide offers a thorough look at each genre’s conventions and how those conventions have developed and changed, as well as how to apply them to students’ own writing situations. Each chapter in the Reader includes a “Genre Moves” feature, which analyzes a classic model to highlight a specific genre convention and suggest ways students might make use of it.
Develop facility in responding to a variety of situations and contexts, calling for purposeful shifts in voice, tone, level of formality, design, medium, and/or structure.	Each assignment chapter in the Guide offers detailed advice on responding to a particular rhetorical situation, from arguing a claim and proposing a solution to writing an e-mail or a résumé. See “Choosing a Style and Design” sections in Part 1 chapters, and the “Getting the Details Right” sections in Part 2 chapters for advice on situation-specific style and design. Part 5 features chapters on “High, Middle, and Low Style” (32); “Inclusive and Culturally Sensitive Style” (33); and “Vigorous, Clear, Economical Style” (34).
Understand and use a variety of technologies to address a range of audiences.	Chapter 48 covers digital media, including blogs, social networks, Web sites, wikis, podcasts, maps, and videos. Chapter 49 covers creating and using visuals to present data and ideas. Each assignment chapter includes at least one visual example of the genre that the chapter focuses on, and several of the reference chapters include Visual Tutorials featuring photographs and illustrations that provide students with step-by-step instructions for challenging topics, such as using the Web to browse for ideas. This emphasis on visuals, media, and design helps students develop visual and technological literacy they can use in their own work. Chapter 13 covers e-mail; Chapters 17 and 18 address portfolio and presentation software; and Chapters 38 and 40 cover finding, evaluating, and using print and electronic resources for research.
Match the capacities of different environments (e.g., print and electronic) to varying rhetorical situations.	The text and LaunchPad include a wide range of print and multimodal genres from essays and scholarly articles to photographs, infographics, Web sites, and audio and video presentations. Rhetorical choices that students make in each genre are covered in the Guide chapters and appear in discussions of the writing context and in abundant models in the book.
Critical Thinking, Reading, and Composing
Use composing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating in various rhetorical contexts.	The assignment chapters in the Guide emphasize the connection between reading and writing a particular genre: Each chapter includes model readings with annotations that address the key features of the genre. Each Part 1 chapter shows students the rhetorical choices they need to consider when writing their own papers in these genres and offers assignments to actively engage them in these choices. Chapter 21, “Critical Thinking,” explains rhetorical appeals and logical fallacies. Reference chapters in Parts 3 through 8 cover invention, reading, writing, research, and design strategies that work across all genres.
Read a diverse range of texts, attending especially to relationships between assertion and evidence, to patterns of organization, to interplay between verbal and nonverbal elements, and how these features function for different audiences and situations.	Each assignment chapter in the Guide includes three texts in a wide variety of genres. In addition, the Reader includes more than 40 more texts for student analysis. Each of the Guide chapters also includes sections on understanding audience, creating a structure, finding and developing material (including evidence), and choosing a style and design that best reflect the genre of writing. Chapter 20, “Smart Reading,” helps students read deeply and “against the grain,” while in Chapter 21, “Critical Thinking,” students learn about claims, assumptions, and evidence. Chapter 26, “Organization,” gives advice on devising a structure for a piece of writing.
Locate and evaluate primary and secondary research materials, including journal articles, essays, books, databases, and informal Internet sources.	Part 7 covers research and sources in depth, with chapters on beginning your research, finding print and online sources, doing field research, evaluating and annotating sources, and documenting sources.
Use strategies — such as interpretation, synthesis, response, critique, and design/redesign — to compose texts that integrate the writer’s ideas with those from appropriate sources.	Chapters 41 (“Annotating Sources”), 42 (“Paraphrasing Sources”), and 44 (“Incorporating Sources into Your Work”) explore a variety of strategies for integrating the writer’s ideas with ideas and information from sources. Chapter 12, “Synthesis Papers,” shows students how to summarize, compare, and assess the views offered by different sources.
Processes
Develop a writing project through multiple drafts.	Chapter 35, “Revising Your Own Work,” discusses the importance of revising and gives detailed advice on how to approach different types of revision. Targeted cross-references throughout the text help students get the revision help they need when they need it.
Develop flexible strategies for reading, drafting, reviewing, collaboration, revising, rewriting, rereading, and editing.	The Reference’s brief, targeted chapters and cross-references lend themselves to a flexible approach to writing process, with an array of strategies for students to choose from whether they’re crafting an introduction or preparing to revise a first draft. Genre-specific advice in the Guide chapters helps students tailor each step of the writing process to their writing situation, while process-based chapters in the Reference offer guidance that can be applied to any type of writing.
Use composing processes and tools as a means to discover and reconsider ideas.	Each Part 1 chapter includes two sections that encourage students to use the composing process as a means of discovery. “Deciding to write . . . ” covers the reasons a writer might choose a specific form of writing, while “Exploring purpose and topic” prompts students to challenge their own ideas about a subject and write to discover what they think when they look more deeply at it.
Experience the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes.	Several chapters in the Reference send students out into their worlds for advice, information, and feedback. Chapter 22, “Experts,” talks about the kinds of experts — such as librarians, instructors, peers, and writing center tutors — that students can call on for help. Chapter 39, “Doing Field Research,” discusses the whys and hows of interviewing and observing people as part of the research process. Chapter 36, “Peer Editing,” offers advice for helping peers improve their work.
Learn to give and act on productive feedback to works in progress.	Chapter 36, “Peer Editing,” encourages students to give specific, helpful advice to peers and think about peer editing in the same way they revise their own work.
Adapt composing processes for a variety of technologies and modalities.	Chapter 48 focuses on digital media, including blogs, Web sites, wikis, podcasts, maps, and videos. Chapter 13 covers e-mail; Chapters 17 and 18 address portfolio and presentation software; and Chapters 38 and 40 cover finding, evaluating, and using print and electronic resources for research.
Reflect on the development of composing practices and how those practices influence their work.	The new Introduction invites students to consider their writing practices and how the choices they make during invention, drafting, research, and revision shape their process and their work.
Knowledge of Conventions
Develop knowledge of linguistic structures, including grammar, punctuation, and spelling, through practice in composing and revising.	Part 9 (Common Errors) includes chapters on grammar, punctuation, and mechanics, while Chapters 35 and 36 provide editing and proofreading advice. Targeted cross-references throughout the text send students to these chapters as needed.
Understand why genre conventions for structure, paragraphing, tone, and mechanics vary.	Each Part 1 chapter includes a section on choosing style and design to help students understand how their choice of style, structure, tone, and mechanics is shaped by the genre in which they’re writing.
Gain experience negotiating variations in genre conventions.	Models of work from several subgenres within the book’s main genres show students the variations that exist within the confines of a given genre. In addition, “Reading the Genre” prompts help students identify and understand the genre conventions at work in each selection.
Learn common formats and/or design features for different kinds of texts.	Each assignment chapter in the Guide covers a format specific to the genre covered there; see “Choosing a Style and Design” in the Part 1 chapters and “Getting the Details Right” in the Part 2 chapters.
Explore the concepts of intellectual property (such as fair use and copyright) that motivate documentation conventions.	Chapter 45, “Documenting Sources,” helps students understand why documentation is important and what’s at stake in properly identifying and citing material used from sources.
Practice applying citation conventions systematically in their own work.	Chapters 46, “MLA Documentation and Format,” and 47, “APA Documentation and Format,” include detailed guidance for citing sources according to each style’s conventions. Visual Tutorials in each chapter help students identify and find the information they need in order to create accurate citations.