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'This textbook follows California Language Arts Standards for grades 9-12 to provide a generalized understanding of composition and to serve as a supplementary aid to high school English teachers.'
The table of contents includes:
1. Descriptive Essays This chapter details how to write each of the four types of descriptive essays (person, place, object, and event) and focuses primarily on sense language, showing vs. telling, and essay organization.
2. Narrative Essay This chapter details how to write the two types of narrative essays and focuses on how to properly organize a narrative essay, whether autobiographical or biographical, in order to present an individual's transformation.
3. Expository Essay This chapter details how to write an effective expository essay, focusing specifically on the organization of the main components of an essay --- the introduction, the thesis, the body paragraphs, and the conclusion.
4. Persuasive Essay This chapter details how to write an effective persuasive essay, focusing on how to address counterpoints, how to support an argument with citations, and how to organize the introduction, the thesis, the body paragraphs, and the conclusion.
5. Writing about Literature: The Basics This chapter introduces students to the basics of reading literature. It introduces students to subjective and objective reading, and goes over the basic ideas behind reading for plot, character, setting, and theme.
6. Writing about Literature: Analyzing Prose This chapter covers the basics of close reading, with a focus on connotation vs. denotation, simile, metaphor, repetition, and imagery. The chapter also introduces students to different narrative modes.
7. Tone and Style This chapter shows how to create effective tone and style by paying special attention to syntax and word usage. By explain grammatical concepts that are relevant to meaningful writing, this chapter connects the gap between grammar and writing.
8. Business Documents This chapter introduces students to the basics of formal business writing. It covers business letters, cover letters, resumes, internet etiquette, and personal statements for college applications.
9. Parts of Speech This chapter focuses on the basic parts of speech (noun, verb, adverb, and adjective), reflecting upon the form and function of each part of speech.
10. Parts of the Sentence This chapter focuses on the parts of the sentence (the clause and the phrase). Through investigating dependent and independent clauses and subordinating and coordinating conjunctions, this chapter helps students avoid fragmented or run-on sentences.
11. Punctuation This chapter focuses on the use of common types of punctuation, including commas, semicolons, colons, hyphens, apostrophes, and dashes and parenthesis, to help students avoid sentence structure and clarity issues.
12. Verbs and Sentence Types This chapter describes and explains the main verb and sentence types: to be, linking, transitive, and intransitive. By investigating these constructions, this chapter helps students create more complex and compound sentences.
13. Common Errors in Grammar and Punctuation This chapter reviews the most common errors found in student writing - errors in subject/verb agreement, commas and semicolon misuse, and passive voice - to promote the recognition, understanding, and avoidance of these common problems.
