Anker Susan. Real Essays with Readings with 2009 MLA Update
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WRITING ESSAYS
Chapter 2 • Reading and Writing in College and Beyond 37
■ TEACHING TIP
A good writing as-
signment (or a good
discussion topic) is to
ask students to discuss
their daily hassles
and the behaviors or
physical symptoms that
result from them. They
can also discuss the
validity of the gender
differences identifi ed in
the passage.
Summary
A summary is a condensed version of a piece of writing. It presents the
main points and key support in a brief form and in your own words. Think
of a summary as making a long story short.
Hockenbury and Hockenbury tell us that daily hassles often cause more
stress than major problems do. According to several studies, men and
women report different kinds of daily stress and react to stress differently,
though both experience psychological and physical symptoms. Some
research shows that daily hassles produce stress because their effects are
cumulative — that is, they add up over time to create major stress.
[The example identifi es the main point and lists the factors that support that main
point.]
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WRITING ESSAYS
38 Part One • How to Read and Write in College
Analysis
An analysis breaks down the points of a piece of writing and considers
how they relate to each other. For a writing assignment, you might choose
one particular point to analyze.
We’ve all read a lot about stress, but Hockenbury and Hockenbury
have something new and interesting to say about it: It’s not the big life
crises but the million petty hassles we face every day that get to us. They
mention a number of different studies on hassles and their effects on us.
Two of these studies explore gender differences, and they conclude that
men and women report different kinds of daily hassles and respond to
them differently.
These studies seem to involve only married men and women, how-
ever, which raises areas for further exploration. Do all men and women
really experience and respond to hassles differently? For example, would
unmarried male and female students be affected in the same ways that
married men and women are? In a future paper, I would like to examine
the kinds of daily hassles my college friends — both male and female —
react to and what symptoms those hassles produce. The subject of has-
sles and how we react to them seems particularly relevant to students,
whose lives are full of stress.
[The writer discusses one of the major points in the passage and some questions
the work raises for her.]
Synthesis
A synthesis pulls together information from two or more sources to make
a new point that the individual sources have not provided. For example,
the student who wrote the above analysis interviewed her male and female
student friends and wrote a paper that compared her fi ndings to those
of the studies cited in Discovering Psychology. Because she wanted to un-
derstand the hassles that people experience and the symptoms that they
cause, she incorporated additional information from published research.
In Discovering Psychology, Hockenbury and Hockenbury present
evidence that males and females react to different sources of stress and
respond differently to them. The studies they use as evidence discuss
only married couples, however, and they provide few details about the
actual kinds and symptoms of stress. Several other studies, as well as
original research done among unmarried college students, provide some
additional insights into these questions.
In an article on stress published in Encarta, Gramling and Auerbach
provide many examples of daily hassles that they claim affect adults in
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WRITING ESSAYS
Chapter 2 • Reading and Writing in College and Beyond 39
general, including “living in a noisy neighborhood, commuting to work
in heavy traffi
c, disliking one’s fellow workers, standing in long lines, and
worrying about owing money.” The Web site Diabetes at Work gives a list
of the “Top 10 Daily Hassles,” among them illness of a family member,
home repairs, too many things to do, and crime. Neither of these sources
mentions gender differences in the types of hassles reported.
Gramling and Auerbach list many symptoms of stress. These
include nail biting, cold or sweaty hands and feet, dry mouth, and
increased heart rate. Diabetes at Work adds muscle tension, upset stom-
ach, shortness of breath, and back pain to the list of physical symptoms
and forgetfulness, trouble concentrating, trouble making decisions, and
short temper to the psychological symptoms. Again, though, neither
source mentioned gender differences.
To these sources, I added interviews with eight friends — four men
and four women — who all reported these top fi ve daily hassles: worries
about money, transportation problems, waiting in lines, unfair bosses,
and automated phone systems that take forever and never get you an
answer.
The only signifi cant difference in the kind of hassles reported by
the men and women I talked to was that several women (but not men)
mentioned worries about physical safety (for example, while traveling
home from school at night). When I asked my friends to report how
they dealt with their stress, they seemed to confi rm the Hockenburys’
claim that women’s stress spills into the family and men tend to with-
draw. Two men reported no psychological symptoms of stress, whereas
the remaining six people (four women and two men) emphasized both
psychological and physical symptoms.
These sources suggest that there might be some gender differences
in the hassles that people experience and the symptoms that result
from these hassles, but they might not be as major as the Hockenburys’
passage led me to expect. Most of the stresses mentioned seem to be
caused by having to do too much in too little time. Perhaps this is a
comment on the quality of modern life, which affects both men and
women equally.
Works Cited
Gramling, Sandra E., and Stephen Auerbach. “Stress (Psychology).” MSN
Encarta: Online Encyclopedia. Microsoft, 2007. Web. 4 Sept. 2007.
Hockenbury, Don H., and Sandra E. Hockenbury. Discovering Psychology.
New York: Worth, 2007. Print.
United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services. National Diabetes
Education Program. Diabetes at Work. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human
Services, 27 May 2007. Web. 31 Aug. 2007.
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WRITING ESSAYS
40 Part One • How to Read and Write in College
Evaluation
An evaluation is your informed judgment about a reading or an issue. It
considers the reading or issue independently and also in terms of what else
you have learned about it. When you evaluate, you build on what you have
discovered through summarizing, analyzing, and synthesizing.
Hockenbury and Hockenbury present important information and
raise some interesting questions about how daily hassles affect our
lives. In a few paragraphs, they present a great deal of information on
the subject of daily hassles — what they are, who developed the scale
of daily hassles, how men and women differ in their reactions to daily
hassles, and how the stress of daily hassles negatively affects people.
They provide numerous credible references to support their points.
Other sources — such as Gramling and Auerbach’s entry in Encarta,
the Web site Diabetes at Work, and a gender-based poll I conducted —
provide more details about some aspects of daily hassles and raise
questions about the extent to which women and men are differently
affected by them. However, the Hockenburys present a good overview
of the subject in a short piece of writing. I think the authors do a great
job of pulling together good information for students.
Critical Reading and Writing:
Key College Skills
SKILL DEFINITION YOU KNOW THIS
Summarizing Briefl y recapping the
main points in your own
words
You tell someone what
a movie is about.
Analyzing Closely examining some-
thing to understand its
parts and the ways they
work together
You explain how the
music, the look of the
fi lm, and the acting
worked together to
create suspense.
Synthesizing Bringing together in-
formation from several
sources to make a new
point
You relate the effect
the movie had on you
to something you read
about in a psychology
course.
Evaluating Making an informed and
supported judgment
You tell the person why
you loved the movie.
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WRITING ESSAYS
Chapter 2 • Reading and Writing in College and Beyond 41
PRACTICE 5 SUMMARIZING, ANALYZING, SYNTHESIZING,
AND EVALUATING
According to your instructor’s directions or your own preference, choose one
of the following.
1. Summary: Summarize the plot of a movie or television program in one
paragraph.
2. Analysis: Read a letter to the editor in a newspaper or a blog posting on
a particular issue. Whether you agree or disagree with the writer, write a
paragraph analyzing the points he or she presents.
3. Synthesis: Read three letters to the editor or three blog postings on the
same subject. In one paragraph, state your position on the subject accord-
ing to your reading of the letters or blog postings, and explain the range
of opinions on the subject.
4. Evaluation: Consider your performance in a recent activity, such as a
sport, an exam, a party, or a task at work, and write a paragraph evaluat-
ing how well you performed in the situation.
As you write in response to reading assignments, you may want to
refer to the following Critical Thinking guide.
CRITICAL THINKING: WRITING ABOUT READINGS
FOCUS
• Carefully read the writing assignment.
ASK
• Does the assignment include any words that indicate the type of
writing required (summarize, analyze, describe, give examples of,
compare, and so on)?
• Is the writing supposed to be in response to the reading alone, or
are you supposed to bring in other sources and points of view?
• Are you supposed to quote from the reading to support your point?
• Does the assignment ask you to evaluate the reading?
WRITE
• Apply your critical reading skills to the reading, and write a re-
sponse to the reading that fulfi lls the requirements of the writing
assignment.
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WRITING ESSAYS
42 Part One • How to Read and Write in College
Documenting Sources
Look back at the example of synthesis on page 38. The writer includes
ideas from three sources: a Web site (Diabetes at Work), an online ency-
clopedia entry (Gramling and Auerbach), and a book (Hockenbury and
Hockenbury). She introduces her sources in her paper and at the end gives
a full citation for each.
College writers have to follow specifi c rules to document all works they
have referred to or quoted from. The writer of the synthesis example uses
the documentation system of the Modern Language Association (MLA),
which is used in most English courses. Other courses may use other sys-
tems, such as that of the American Psychological Association (APA). In
this book, assignments that ask you to use an outside source to support
your points will require the MLA documentation system, which is detailed
in Chapter 21. You can use that chapter to fi nd ways to acknowledge
sources within your paper (called citing sources) and in a list at the end of
your paper (called Works Cited ).
PRACTICE 6 DOCUMENTING A SOURCE
For practice, write an entry for Real Essays in a Works Cited list. To do this,
look at page iv.
Reading and Writing beyond College
Critical reading and writing are not limited to college classes: In many
ways, they are even more important outside of college. For example, in
2007, a warning was issued that counterfeit Colgate toothpaste made in
China contained a deadly ingredient. The only way that people who used
Colgate could tell if their product was genuine was to read the box care-
fully. Counterfeit tubes had misspellings. Although no one will be grading
you when you read real-world documents like these, your ability to un-
derstand and act on key information could in this case literally mean the
difference between life and death.
Less dramatic examples abound. The following are just some of the
documents that you will be expected to read carefully and perhaps write
responses to:
• Credit-card applications and statements
• Job applications
■ For more on
documenting
sources, go to
bedfordstmartins
.com/rewritingbasics.
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WRITING ESSAYS
Chapter 2 • Reading and Writing in College and Beyond 43
AnyBank Card
Statement
Nov. 10–Dec. 13, 2008
SEND PAYMENTS TO:
Box 54321
Anycity
NAME: Josephine Student ACCOUNT #: 54-32-1
CREDIT LIMIT: $2,000 AVAILABLE CREDIT: $1,894.00
NEW BALANCE: $105.97 MINIMUM AMOUNT DUE: $20.00
Activity Since Last Statement
Trans Posted Description Amount
11/18 Payment – THANK YOU –152.43
11/11 11/11 Campus Cafe 12.14
11/20 11/20 Bradley’s Hardware 8.00
11/20 11/20 Bradley’s Hardware 8.00
11/24 11/24 DiscKing Music 32.59
12/11 12/11 Howard’s Books and Stationery 53.24
Total Standard Purchases: $105.97
Cash Advances: $ 0.00
NEXT PAYMENT DUE: January 3, 2009
Account Summary
Previous Balance 152.43 New Balance 105.97
Purchases 105.97 Minimum Payment 20.00
Cash Advances 0.00 Amount Past Due 0.00
Payments 152.43 Amount Over Credit Line 0.00
Late Charges* 0.00 Finance Charges* 0.00
Finance Charge Information
Purchases Cash Advances
Periodic Rate .04381% .05477%
Annual Percentage Rate 15.990% 19.990%
*See the reverse of this statement for an explanation of how fi nance charges and late
charges are calculated.
Questions? Call Customer Service at 800-XXX-XXXX
Two charges for the
curtain rod I bought.
Must be a mistake!
Wow! This is a
lot lower than my
balance. But maybe
I’ll pay more interest
this way?
I pay more if I
pay late.
I read the back and I
still don’t understand
these charges. Better
ask customer service.
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WRITING ESSAYS
44 Part One • How to Read and Write in College
• Loan or refi nance applications
• Forms for setting up a checking account
• Car or apartment leases
• Employment contracts (or other contracts)
• Health insurance forms
• Wills or living wills
Reading such documents carefully is crucial because they are fi nancially
or legally binding.
You might want to make notes on important documents, asking ques-
tions as they arise. If you need to keep a document free of marks, put
your notes on a photocopy or on a separate sheet of paper. The example
on page 43 shows some notes that one customer made on one of her fi rst
credit-card statements.
PRACTICE 7 READING REAL-WORLD DOCUMENTS
Bring into class any document such as the ones listed previously. In a small
group, highlight the parts of the document that contain important information
that could easily be overlooked without critical reading. Then, share what you
have found with the rest of the class.
■ TEACHING TIP
Encourage students to
bring in a variety of
documents. You might
arrange groups by type
of document.
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Most college courses require writing. So do most jobs, which may surprise
you. Good communication skills, including good writing, will help you
achieve success in life.
Four elements are key to good writing. Keep them in mind through-
out the writing process.
3
Writing Basics
Audience, Purpose, and Process
You Know This
You write almost every day, for
many reasons.
• You write a note to explain your
child’s absence from school.
• You e-mail a friend or coworker
to ask a favor.
• You text friends
to make plans
or just to keep
in touch.
■ IDEA JOURNAL
Think of something
you do well and how
you got to be good
at it.
■ For more on
making a point, see
Chapter 5. For more
on supporting a point,
see Chapter 6.
FOUR BASICS OF GOOD WRITING
1.
It considers the needs and knowledge of the audience.
2. It fulfi lls the writer’s purpose.
3. It includes a clear, defi nite point.
4. It provides support that explains or proves the main point.
This chapter discusses audience and purpose fi rst because they are es-
sential to effective writing. Purpose determines what a writer’s main point
is, and audience determines how the writer makes that point.
The chapter shows you how to structure your writing to meet the four
basics of good writing and outlines the steps of the writing process. It also
explains the criteria your instructor may use to grade your writing and
gives you advice on how to create a writing portfolio.
■ TEACHING TIP
Bring in or have stu-
dents fi nd a letter
to the editor from a
newspaper or maga-
zine. As a class, discuss
the letter writer’s
original audience,
and then ask how the
letter might have to
be changed for vari-
ous other audiences.
Choose one of these,
and have students form
small groups to revise
the letter with this au-
dience in mind.
45
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WRITING ESSAYS
46 Part One • How to Read and Write in College
Understand Audience and Purpose
Audience
Your audience is the person or people who will read what you write.
Whenever you write, always have at least one real person in mind as a
reader. Think about what that person already knows and what he or she
will need to know to understand your main idea. In most cases, assume
that readers will know only what you write about your topic and main
point.
Your writing may be very different for two different audiences. Read
the following two examples, which describe the same situation but are
written for different audiences. Notice both the tone and the content of
each paragraph.
SITUATION: Christiane went to a big party over the weekend. She had a
great time and met an interesting guy. She later describes the party in a
letter to her grandmother (A) and in a text message to her friend (B):
Hey, went to GR8
prty @ Mike’s!!
Got waaasted,
stayed out L8.
Met SME1!!!
Jon, total QT,
drives a BMW!
How RU? TTYL
A. B.
■ DISCUSSION: You
might want to have a
class discussion about
whether text-messaging
shorthand has affected
students’ college writ-
ing. This is also a good
opportunity to note
why different Englishes
are used for different
contexts and why learn-
ing “academic, formal
English” is important
for certain contexts.
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