Organizes coverage based on the stages of the writing process, with issues of style, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics presented as "editing," the final stage in the process.

Devotes entire chapters to each writing concern in the rhetoric section as well as the editing section, allowing students easy access to critical information.

Highlights the importance of critical reading as the basis for the critical thinking and writing students will perform in college.

Includes individual chapters on the various types of papers students commonly write in Freshman Composition, each chapter detailing the specific drafting needs of each particular paper.

Presents active researching as part of the normal writing process covering documentation information for the MLA style, the APA style, the CMS (Chicago) style, and the number systems commonly used in the sciences.

Discusses journals, the concept of voice in writing, collaborative writing, field research, and innovative approaches to revision.

Offers five chapters on writing across the curriculum.

Offers thorough and practical help to ESL writers, including:

• Two brief sections addressing ESL students to orient readers to the treatment of ESL material in the handbook.
• Over sixty boxes containing ESL material presented throughout the book.
• A special strand of writing suggestions allowing students to reflect and learn from their experiences as ESL writers.
• A separate ESL Index that makes ESL information particularly easy to find.

Provides ten complete student essays and many shorter examples to serve as models for students' own writing.

• Complete drafts of student essays are shown for each of the papers discussed in Part III, Drafting.
• Three complete research papers are provided in Part IV, Researching.
• Part V, Revising, shows passages from these same student papers and others being revised.

Minimizes grammar jargon, covering only the grammatical terms that students need.

Includes examples showing handwritten editing changes to illustrate problems and their corrections at a glance and offer models for students' own editing.

Integrates boxes providing overviews, summaries, checklists, guidelines, and basic information to allow for quick review and reference.

Replaces traditional exercises with innovative, activities entitled "Writing" and "Editing."

• Explorations: Students explore their own experiences as writers or examine the writing of other people.
• Practices: Students practice editing techniques on sample passages provided.
• Applications: Students apply the principles and strategies discussed in the book to papers on which they are currently working.

Features Suggestions for Writing and Research at the ends of most chapters to offer ideas for full-length essay projects.

Emphasizes collaborative writing throughout, providing...

• Guidelines for collaboration within chapters on invention, revising, and editing.
• Suggestions for collaborative writing projects at the end of most chapters in the first half of the book.
• Many "writing" and "editing" activities presented specifically as collaborative activities or designed to allow for collaboration.

NEW--Three chapters devoted to presenting your work, from designing the final document, to creating a writing portfolio, to presenting your work orally.

NEW--Improved research section contains more coverage of the concerns of the formal research paper from constructing and developing a working thesis to quoting and integrating source material.

NEW--Expanded Chapter 23 in the editing process presents a teachable introduction to major editing strategies, complete with examples and cross-references to the appropriate chapters for further explanation.

NEW--Computers and the writing process addressed in a brief section with valuable word processing tips integrated throughout text. These "WP TIPS" Offer hands-on activities for drafting, revising, and editing.

NEW--Information on using and documenting electronic sources.

NEW--New samples of student writing.

NEW--New activities and writing assignments.

NEW--Increased emphasis on thesis-based writing.

NEW-- A new chapter devoted to "creative and focused revision."