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Read more about Let's Get Writing!

Let's Get Writing!

(18 reviews)

Elizabeth Browning

Kirsten DeVries

Kathy Boylan

Jenifer Kurtz

Katelyn Burton

Copyright Year: 2018

Publisher: Virginia Western Community College

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of Use

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CC BY-NC-SA

Reviews

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Reviewed by Kelly Clasen, Professor of English, Hutchinson Community College on 12/20/21

The text presents standard composition content in language that is accessible to its target audience, and key concepts are arranged in a logical fashion. The book contains sufficient information, along with supplemental exercises and links to... read more

Reviewed by Julia Cafritz, Adjunct Professor, Holyoke Community College on 6/29/21

Let's Get Writing! is the typical freshman composition textbook, covering all the basics in a methodical but lively way. Some chapters feel long, particularly Chapters 2 - Rhetorical Analysis and Chapter 3- Argument. It's all good material but I... read more

Reviewed by Ashley Ott, Adjunct Assistant Professor, College of DuPage on 4/23/21

Let's Get Writing! offers a standard menu of first-year writing topics, presented in 10 discrete chapters. Instructors and students will universally benefit from the canonical rhetorical situation discussion and the book's homage to critical... read more

Reviewed by Cara Miller, Associate Professor of English, Anderson University on 3/18/21

The book is excellent in its beginning chapters about reading critically, understanding the rhetorical situation, analyzing arguments, and working through the writing process. These chapters provide a lot of depth in terms of key terms, underlying... read more

Reviewed by Zaragoza Maricela, English Adjunct Instructor, California State University, Dominguez Hills on 8/13/20

The text provides key information on Critical Reading, The Writing Process, Rhetoric, Citing Sources, and Grammar with appropriate examples and illustrations. This book is convenient in that it is concise but to the point, which is very convenient... read more

Reviewed by Mandy Geddes, Faculty, Community College of Aurora on 8/10/20

The text covers foundational topics such as writing process and rhetorical analysis really well. There are excellent explanations and visual examples to help students make sense of each of the main ideas. The information about how and why to use... read more

Reviewed by Rachel Hawley, Adjunct Professor, Community College of Aurora on 7/17/20

This book is fairly comprehensive. It includes sections on reading, argument, the writing process, revision and research and citation. It has the most extensive section on logical fallacies I have ever encountered. The only thing missing is really... read more

Reviewed by Patrick Lochelt, Adjunct Professor, Middlesex Community College on 6/28/20

This book covers a great amount of information on writing in a small amount of space. It is very comprehensive in getting through a number of different styles and techniques needed for college success as a writer, and would serve as an effective... read more

Reviewed by Emily Doherty, Adjunct Faculty, Northern Essex Community College on 5/28/20

Let's Get Writing! offers a comprehensive textbook for teaching introductory college writing. Instructors and students will find chapters containing the main elements in learning composition. Particularly useful is the Argument chapter which... read more

Reviewed by Christopher Chandler, Instructor of English and Literature, NTCC on 4/27/20

Let's Get Writing is a terrific text for teaching introductory college writing. The content is comprehensive and the writing is concise. There are no unclear terms and links are provided for further reading. There is no index, but the table of... read more

Reviewed by Stephanie Walker, Instructor, Marshall University on 3/12/20

This textbook is very comprehensive and easy to navigate. It provides excellent coverage of the main elements of writing academic essays, and includes chapters on Rhetoric and well as Research. There is no evident index or glossary, which I feel... read more

Reviewed by Cheryl McKearin, Lecturer, University of Illinois at Chicago on 1/8/20

This book covers many different writing topics at great depth. For students new to college composition classes, it's a strong primer to college writing. The rhetorical modes chapter (5) is lengthy and well done. This would be an adequate textbook... read more

Reviewed by Amanda O'Sullivan, Adjunct Faculty, Community College of Denver on 12/9/19

The content of the text is very applicable to first-semester college students, especially students in need of more guidance. Chapter 1: Critical Reading sets the stage for the text, as it shows students how to approach a text before they start... read more

Reviewed by Travis McDonald, Adjunct Instructor , Colorado State Board of Higher Education on 11/29/19

I thought the textbook was very comprehensive in terms of dealing with all of the pertinent aspects of composition including critical reading, rhetorical analysis, citation, punctuation and much more. It covers all of the basics of the main... read more

Reviewed by Neecee Matthews-Bradshaw, CCD Writing Zone Coordinator, Colorado State Board of Higher Education on 11/29/19

Let’s Get Writing offers a great overview of material for the first-year writing student. Many introductory texts for academic writing struggle to cover the breadth and depth of possible scenarios instructors want to present to their classes. This... read more

Reviewed by Candice Marshall, English Language Learning Instructor, Earlham College on 11/25/19

The book attempts to cover a lot of subjects related to writing, and does so in a sense. However, since degree of comprehensiveness is subjective, it is up to the reader to decide. For my purposes, this book was comprehensive in areas I did not... read more

Reviewed by Patrick Gilligan, Associate Professor, Aims Community College on 7/31/19

While this textbook addresses all the main areas and ideas surrounding an entry-level composition course, I find the different sections to be uneven. For example, Chapter One: Critical Reading, contains a lengthy section on annotation, yet only... read more

Reviewed by Roberto Forns-Broggi, Professor of Spanish, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 7/17/19

This book attempts to cover basically key rhetorical aspects of writing and basic tools as a start point. Each chapter covers a key component in a way that includes basic notions, tips, key takeaways, exercises, assignments, and useful external... read more

Table of Contents

  • Chapter 1 - Critical Reading
  • Chapter 2 - Rhetorical Analysis
  • Chapter 3 - Argument
  • Chapter 4 - The Writing Process
  • Chapter 5 - Rhetorical Modes
  • Chapter 6 - Finding and Using Outside Sources
  • Chapter 7 - How and Why to Cite
  • Chapter 8 - Writing Basics: What Makes a Good Sentence?
  • Chapter 9 - Punctuation
  • Chapter 10 - Working With Words: Which Word is Right?

Ancillary Material

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About the Book

This introduction is designed to exemplify how writers think about and produce text. The guiding features are the following:

  • Every good piece of writing is an argument.
  • Everything worth writing and reading begins with a specific question.
  • Improving skills takes practice, feedback, and re-thinking, redoing, revising.

The layout of our book implies there is a beginning, middle, and end to a writing course, but because writing is both an art and a skill, people will find their own processes for learning, improving, and using these skills. Writing processes differ because we are each looking for a workable schemata that fits our way of thinking. Try out a variety of writing processes and strategies, and find what works for you. If you are not uncomfortable on this journey, you simply are not stretching yet. Learning is prickly, awkward, and risky, so if it does not feel a bit unnerving, push harder and farther.

About the Contributors

Authors

Elizabeth Browning

Kirsten DeVries

Kathy Boylan

Jenifer Kurtz

Katelyn Burton

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