A good guide to develop and improve your writing skills
Refining Composition Skills Rhetoric and Grammar makes a valuable contribution to students who need either to develop or polish their composition skills in order to succeed in the academic world. According to Smalley, Ruetten and Kozyrev (2000), “[t]he primary audience is the academically oriented [English Second Language] ESL student; however, the text can also be useful in developmental writing courses for native speakers who would benefit from more guidance in writing compositions” (p. xv).
The book is divided into three units: The Paragraph, The Essay and Grammar Review-, which are in turn divided into chapters. Each chapter layout is the same, and this makes the book well-balanced and organized. The style is simple and easy to follow. A reading activity at the beginning of each chapter triggers discussions and essay topics; but these texts also serve another purpose: “[t]he reading passages [also] function as examples (. . .) of professional writing” (Smalley, Ruetten and Kozyrev, 2000, p xvi). That is, they may stand as models to follow.
The first unit is devoted to introducing fundamental concepts connected to the writing process and writing techniques, such as pre-writing, drafting and editing. The authors suggest that this section of the book is suitable for inexperienced writers. This section is carefully graded, and it takes students smoothly from the stage of planning to the one of writing different types of paragraphs.
More advanced students will probably profit from the contents of Unit 2, which introduces the essay as a genre. Once again, the activities are sequenced according to degree of difficulty. The first chapter introduces the essay and its component parts (i.e. Introduction, thesis statement, developmental paragraphs, and conclusion) and provides useful practice. Then, it goes on to present different types of essays, such as comparison and contrast and argumentative essays, among others. Various samples, ample practice as well as techniques to achieve coherence are available in this section.
The last unit - Grammar Review- includes information about grammar patterns and offers traditional practice. Its aim is “[t]o further encourage revision and focus on accuracy-” (Smalley, Ruetten and Kozyrev, 2000, p. xvi). The final section comprises appendices which may prove useful. An interesting one is Appendix II, Using Others’ Ideas- which explores quoting sources and paraphrasing. Appendix IV complements the former as it focuses on punctuation rules in bibliographic entries and quotations. However, the examples are very few. The authors should have included sample texts with quotations of different types within the units to serve as models, since academic students will probably need to acknowledge sources and therefore may need training in this area.
With appropriate supplementation, Refining Composition Skills Rhetoric and Grammar may serve as a core book for many a writing course. It can be an important resource for both college and academic students, and it may prove invaluable for those who are confronted with essay writing for the first time.
References
Smalley, R. L., Ruetten, M. K. & Kozyrev, J. R. (2000). Refining Composition Skills Rhetoric and Grammar (5th ed.). Boston , MA
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