Writing Is Communicating
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2025
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$45.00 USD
This concise e-textbook offers clear, practical guidance for writing essays, with a focus on description, narration, exemplification, and argument. It includes a quick-reference review of common grammar errors, introduces multimodal assignment ideas, and provides a brief overview of MLA formatting. Designed to help students develop confidence, Writing Is Communicating: Composition, Grammar, Style encourages students to reflect on themselves as writers and to own their voice.
I Introduction
Advice
Voice
Discovering Your Subjects
Generating Ideas
II Modes of Communication
Chapter 1 Description and Drafting
Paragraph Development
Paragraph Structure
Figurative Language
Suggestions for Descriptive Paragraphs
Student Sample
Chapter 2 Narration
Narrative Essay Structure
Other Considerations
Suggestions for Narrative Writing
Other Considerations
Chapter 3 Exemplification
Exemplification Essay Structure
Introduction
Conclusion
Suggestions for Exemplification Essay
Chapter 4 Argument
Essay Structure
Introduction
Body Paragraphs
Conclusion
Important Considerations
Avoid Logical Fallacies
III Grammar, Mechanics, and Style
Chapter 5 Grammar
Comma Splice and Run-On
Fragment
Pronoun-Antecedent
Gendered Pronouns
Pronoun: Subjective versus Objective
Subjective
Objective
Verb Tenses
Parallelism
Nonparallel
Parallel
Nonparallel
Parallel
Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
Miscellaneous
To/too/two
Their/there/they’re
Its/It’s
Chapter 6 Style
Cloze
6.1: Opening of To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) by Harper Lee
6.2: Opening of Chapter Two, “The Vanishing Glass” in Harry Potter: The Sorcerer’s Stone (1998) by J. K. Rowling
6.3: Opening of “Think Like a Mountain” (1943) by Aldo Leopold, conservationist and writer
Copying Passages and Imitation
Sentence Combining
Punctuation: Making Your Mark
Colon
To Introduce a Series
To Introduce a Complete Sentence That Explains the Previous Sentence
To Introduce a Direct Quotation
To Introduce an Appositive (Restatement of Noun)
Dash
Hyphen
Building Vocabulary
Chapter 7 Multimodal Projects
Advantages of Multimodal Assignments
Audio Narrative Essay
Getting Started
Digital Story
General Parameters
Podcast
Getting Started
iSTART/Visual Report
Visual Report
Remixing Your Writing
IV Research and Documentation
Chapter 8 Research
Getting Started
Finding and Evaluating Sources
Incorporating Research
In-Text Citations
Why Do In-Text Citations Matter?
Integrating Source Material: Paraphrasing, Quoting, Summarizing
Paraphrasing
Quoting
Signal Phrases
Formatting Longer Quotes
Summarizing
Taking a Closer Look at In-Text Citations
Consider the Following Examples
Example: From a Book with One Author
Quick-Reference: In-Text Citations
No Author
Multiple Authors
Corporate Author
Multiple Works by the Same Author
Electronic or Multimedia Sources (No Page Numbers).
Most sources found online will not have a page number:
Credit Paraphrase to Multiple Sources
Bible
Indirect Sources (Quoted in)
Authors with Same Last Names (include initial of first name)
Chapter 9 MLA Style
Works Cited Page
Quick-Reference Chart: MLA Citations
Books
Book
Two Books by the Same Author
Republished Book
Selection from an Anthology or Collection (e.g., Collection of Essays)
Translated Book
An Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword
A Pamphlet
Dissertations and Master’s Theses
Government
Periodicals
Journal Article
Magazine Article
Newspaper Article
Electronic (Online Sources)
A Page on a Website
A Website
Online Magazine Article
Online Journal Article
An Article from an Online Database
Online Government Source
YouTube
Social Media
Photograph or Image
Other Sources
Email
Interview
TV Show
Movie
Podcast
Spotify
CD
Optional Components: Notes Page, Works Consulted, and Appendix
Sample MLA Paper
Chapter 10 Academic Integrity: Generative AI and Plagiarism
V Appendices
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F
References
Dr. Mary Ruth Stepp Wallen brings over three decades of college teaching experience to her work. A native of Inez, Kentucky, she holds dual B.A. degrees in English and Journalism from Morehead State University (1995), an M.A. in English with a creative writing emphasis from Indiana State University (1997), an MFA in Fiction from Southern Illinois University–Carbondale (2003), and a Doctorate of Arts in English Pedagogy from Murray State University (2021). Since 2003, she has been teaching at Big Sandy Community and Technical College in Prestonsburg, KY. Dr. Wallen believes that strong writing transcends genre and empowers all who practice it.