Skip to content

    Read more about You, Writing! A Guide to College Composition

    You, Writing! A Guide to College Composition

    (26 reviews)

    Alexandra Glynn, North Hennepin Community College

    Kelli Hallsten-Erickson, Lake Superior College

    Amy Jo Swing, Lake Superior College

    Copyright Year:

    Publisher: Alexandra Glynn

    Language: English

    Formats Available

    Conditions of Use

    Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
    CC BY-NC-SA

    Reviews

    Learn more about reviews.

    Reviewed by Kole Matheson, Lecturer, Old Dominion University on 5/22/24

    The text covers areas and ideas relevant to Aristotle's rhetorical canon, which is to say it reflects a process-driven approach to communication. I find process to be essential to the composition classroom, but other outcomes are important too... read more

    Reviewed by Tara Montague, Part-time instructor, Portland Community College on 3/6/22

    The text is comprehensive; it covers all of the topics I would expect it to. It has a lengthy (10-page) glossary, but no index. I am undecided as to how useful the glossary is. read more

    Reviewed by Lindsay Tigue, Assistant Professor, Eastern New Mexico University on 12/31/21

    This book covers most of the topics I cover in my Composition courses and it includes a lot of helpful information on the topic of writing. read more

    Reviewed by Elizabeth Bidinger, Professor, Worcester State University on 7/7/21

    This textbook provides excellent coverage of the fundamental topics that are covered in most FYW courses, and is especially well-suited for one that doesn't emphasize writing with sources and research. It is unusually thorough on the basics of... read more

    Reviewed by Danielle Santos, Adjunct Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell on 6/14/21

    For an introductory Composition course, this text covers what I teach. I like the examples given, and many of the diagrams are helpful & similar to what I already use. However, I wouldn't have minded more prompts for practice exercises as I... read more

    Reviewed by David Beach, Associate Professor, Radford University on 5/21/21

    Glynn's text serves as a comprehensive rhetoric to help first-year college students navigate the expectations of expository college writing. A good supplemental text for any FY expository writing course. read more

    Reviewed by Michele Ren, Associate Professor, Radford University on 5/4/21

    The book is certainly comprehensive and provides a glossary; I wish I could give 4.5 because a clickable table of contents would be wonderful. read more

    Reviewed by Erica Braverman, Part-time instructor, Portland Community College on 1/12/21

    This book is great for a writing class geared toward academic writing. It covers the basics of instructing a first-year student of how to go through the writing process and what they can expect while doing so. I especially liked the section on... read more

    Reviewed by Matthew Chelf, Adjunct Instructor, Portland Community College on 12/9/20

    You, Writing! wonderfully covers the whole of the writing process in 170 pages of approachable, audience-friendly language. Like many contemporary texts on first year college composition, You, Writing! stresses writing as a process, not a product.... read more

    Reviewed by Charles Prescott, Professor of English, Berkshire Community College on 6/28/20

    The text effectively and comprehensively covers the main topics and strategies included in an introductory composition course. I especially appreciate the Basic Writing Process Chart as a graphic introduction of the key steps of the writing... read more

    Reviewed by Caroline Stanley, Associate Professor, Bridgewater State University on 6/22/20

    The text is comprehensive in covering the major topics pertaining to basic writing. It provides many useful tips about the writing process including proofreading, correcting run-on sentences, and overcoming writer’s block. Likewise, the glossary... read more

    Reviewed by Colin Rafferty, Associate Professor, University of Mary Washington on 6/19/20

    Covers the full spectrum of introductory writing studies, including big picture things like generating ideas and organizing them as well as more local issues like style and grammar. A glossary of commonly used terms is helpful, as the discussion... read more

    Reviewed by Katie Durant, Adjunct Professor, Middlesex Community College on 6/17/20

    This book covers all the major topics I teach in my class currently. It is written clearly with many interesting examples to help students understand the concepts. The index is very helpful and the glossary in the back defines many of the key... read more

    Reviewed by Matthew Gilbert, Adjunct Instructor, East Tennessee State University on 4/16/20

    This book provides a comprehensive approach for all levels of writers for a range of writing projects. The text works effectively in providing a breakdown of all major aspects of composition: how to determine the audience or purpose of the... read more

    Reviewed by Susan Pesti-Strobel, Adjunct Instructor, Linn-Benton Community College on 1/12/20

    _You, Writing!_ by Glynn et al. guides the student writer through successful moves of academic writing. This book would be a very useful companion for both students and instructors. It is clear that the writers have extensive experience with... read more

    Reviewed by Sheri Anderson, Composition Instructor, Colorado State University on 12/24/19

    "You, Writing!" comprehensively addresses the basics of writing in a casual, easily-accessible way. It would be an extremely useful textbook in a freshman composition class. It covers a variety of writing genres, as well as some basics that we, as... read more

    Reviewed by Kristin Macintyre, Instructor of Composition, Colorado State University on 12/21/19

    This text appears in eleven chapters, and each chapter covers an important component in the writing process. The chapters cover basic (but important) steps such as defining audience and purpose (chapter 3), finding a topic (chapter 4), and writing... read more

    Reviewed by Jessica Kane, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University on 11/14/19

    The book covers the major steps for academic writing, and while it had some examples of non-academic sources, it seemed to focus pretty overwhelmingly on "essays" in various formats. That's exactly what some programs want, though a bit limited for... read more

    Reviewed by Megan Morris, Adjunct professor, Richard Bland College on 10/16/19

    The textbook thoroughly covers the subject of writing, including differences between high school and college writing, generating ideas, developing a thesis, different modes of paragraph development, research and citation, and sentence skills. The... read more

    Reviewed by Erica Heim, Graduate Employee / Composition Instructor, University of Oregon on 6/14/19

    This text outlined all basic steps to the writing composition process, and then some. The entirety of the traditional writing process was outlined, from reading to brainstorming to organizing to drafting to revising and proofreading, but it... read more

    Reviewed by Margaret LaFleur, Instructor, Minnesota State on 5/29/19

    This was quite comprehensive for a general overview of Composition. The authors don't get too deep into any given style of essay, which is helpful for instructors designing their own courses as it would allow them to build off of the general... read more

    Reviewed by Rebecca Owen, Adjunct Instructor , Chemeketa Community College on 5/6/19

    This text is an excellent and conversational approach to college writing. It covers all the necessary topics, from styles of writing to grammar. The examples it uses are interesting and current, which makes it easy to read and follow. The glossary... read more

    Reviewed by Tiffany Duet, Instructor, Nicholls State University on 4/29/19

    The text includes pertinent content regarding writing processes and modes of writing. While it does an adequate job of explaining concepts regarding argumentation, the text neglects to provide logical fallacies (specifically ad populum) in... read more

    Reviewed by Jennifer Wilde, Adjunct instructor, Columbia Gorge Community College on 12/14/18

    This book covers all the stages of a writing project, from determining the audience and purpose of a writing assignment, to developing a thesis statement and proofreading the final revision. It is geared to the beginning college writer and... read more

    Reviewed by Michael Albright, Assistant Professor, MnSCU on 10/24/18

    This text covers a range of composition and rhetoric topics, while allowing for the convenience of selecting concerns that are most relevant to particular courses or students. read more

    Reviewed by Zachary Canter, Adjunct Faculty, East Tennessee State University on 10/10/18

    The table of contents is very detailed, and a helpful glossary is included at the end of the book. A chapter on using logic and reasoning and avoiding logical fallacies would be helpful. There is no index. read more

    Table of Contents

    • Chapter One: Why Write?
    • Chapter Two: A Writing Process for Every Writer
    • Chapter Three: Defining Audience and Purpose
    • Chapter Four: Exploring: Finding a Topic
    • Chapter Five: Writing a Thesis
    • Chapter Six: Organizing
    • Chapter Seven: Drafting
    • Chapter Eight: Revising
    • Chapter Nine: Editing
    • Chapter Ten: Proofreading
    • Chapter Eleven: Research Process

    Ancillary Material

    Submit ancillary resource

    About the Book

    This text is meant to be used in any first year College Composition class or as a general guide to college writing. The book focuses on writing as a process, not a product. The goal is to help students discover their own writing process, tryin g out different methods and strategies to find what works best for them

    About the Contributors

    Authors

    Alexandra Glynn has been teaching English for about ten years. She holds an M.A. in English Literature from St. Cloud State University. She sometimes publishes about teaching English in the Minnesota English Journal. She also translates lyrics into English as well.

    Kelli Hallsten-Erickson has been teaching developmental writing, Composition I and II, and a variety of literature courses at the two-year level for fifteen years. She is currently at Lake Superior College, encouraging student s to stay warm during the long winter by keeping their fingers burning across their keyboards, constructing interesting essays.

    Amy Jo Swing has been teaching writing and English since 1993. She holds a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from Purdue University and an M.F.A. in Poetry Writing from Texas State University San Marcos. She teaches all manner of writing at Lake Superior College in Duluth, Minnesota, where she is also a writer of poetry and middle grade fiction

    Contribute to this Page

    Suggest an edit to this book record