The Oxford Essential Guide to Writing

A Concise Course in the Art of Writing

Whether you’re composing a letter, writing a school thesis, or starting a novel, this resource offers expert advice on how to think more creatively, how to conjure up ideas from scratch, and how to express those ideas clearly and elegantly. No matter where you find yourself in the writing process—from the daunting look of a blank page, to the rough draft that needs shaping, to the small but important questions of punctuation—you’ll find what you need in this one handy, all-inclusive volume. Some features include:

• How to use journals to store ideas and explore potential topics
• Examples of style and technique from such masters of form as Mark Twain, H.L. Mencken, E.B. White, and Annie Dillard
• Advice on using outlines to shape your material—and drafts and revisions to refine them
• Selecting the proper words to convey both information and point of view
• A useful appendix on punctuation, ranging from commas to underlining and capitalization

Product Details

Category: Reference

Mass Market Paperback | $9.99
Published by Berkley
Jul 01, 2000 | 464 Pages | 4-3/16 x 6-7/8 | ISBN 9780425176405

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Table Of Contents

The Oxford Essential Guide to WritingIntroduction
1. Subject, Reader, and Kinds of Writing
2. Strategy and Style
3. Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics

Part I: The Writing Process
4. Looking for Subjects
5. Exploring for Topics
6. Making a Plan
7. Drafts and Revisions

Part II: The Essay
8. Beginning
9. Closing
10. Organizing the Middle
11. Point of View, Persona, and Tone

Part III: The Expository Paragraph
12. Basic Structure
13. Paragraph Unity
14. Paragraph Development: (1)Illustration and Restatement
15. Paragraph Development: (2)Comparison, Contrast, and Analogy
16. Paragraph Development: (3)Cause and Effect
17. Paragraph Development: (4)Definition, Analysis, and Qualification

Part IV: The Sentence
18. The Sentence: A Definition
19. Sentence Styles
20. The Well-Written Sentence: (1)Concision
21. The Well-Written Sentence: (2)Emphasis
22. The Well-Written Sentence: (3)Rhythm
23. The Well-Written Sentence: (4)Variety

Part V: Diction
24. Meaning
25. Clarity and Simplicity
26. Concision
27. Figurative Language
28. Unusual Language
29. Improving Your Vocabulary: Dictionaries

Part VI: Description and Narration
30. Description
31. Narration

Part VII: Puntcuation
Intorduction
32. Stops
33. The Other Steps

Name Index
Subject Index