Becoming an Active Reader

Essays by Theme
Preface
From the Publisher
Part I: Writing
1: Essay Writing Basics
From Blank Page to Thesis
- Step One: Pre-writing Techniques
- Step Two: Finding Support
- Step Three: Organizing
- Step Four: Composing
- Step Five: Revising and Editing
Drafting the Essay
- Writing an Introduction
- Writing Middle Paragraphs
- Writing a Conclusion
2: Writing Summaries
Times and Places for Summaries
- Summarizing and Research
The Stand-Alone Summary: The Précis
- Pointers for Précis Writing
- A How-To of Précis Writing
A Sample Summary
3: Rhetorical Analyses
Analyzing Texts
Rhetorical Analysis and Essay Type
- Analysis of Literary Works
- Analysis of Arguments
Organizing a Rhetorical Analysis
- The Introduction
- The Body Paragraphs
- The Conclusion
Sample Rhetorical Analysis of an Argument
Sample Student Essay: "A Rhetorical Analysis of 'The Science of Fake News,'" by Emma Doucette
4: The Art of Argument
Argument and Aristotle
Two Modern Models of Argument: Rogers and Toulmin
- Carl Rogers' Approach to Argument
- Stephen Toulmin's Approach to Argument
Purposes for Arguing
Opinions versus Arguments
Claims in Argument
- Effective Argumentative Claims
Kinds of Evidence in an Argumentative Essay
- Experts
- Examples and Illustrations
- Anecdotal Evidence
- Personal Experience
- Facts, Statistics, and Scientific Studies
Two Kinds of Reasoning
- Using Reason in Arguments
- Failures in Reasoning
Argumentative Strategies
- Visual Arguments
Rebuttal Strategies
Organizing Your Argument
Sample Student Argumentative Essay (APA Style)
Sample Student Essay: "Student Mental Health: College Support and Awareness," by Jaime Stehlik
5: Writing the Research Paper
Coming up with a Topic
Preparing for Research
Research Proposals
- 1. Description
- 2. Methodology
Sample Proposal
Sample Proposal: Research Proposal for "The Impacts of Relational Bullying on School-Age Children in Comparison to Physical Bullying" by Bethany Truman
Recording Important Information
- Organizing Research Notes
Research Resources for Today's Student
The Research Topic
- Selecting Resources for Your Research Topic
Search Strategies
Using Credible Sources
Writing the Rough Draft: Integrating Sources
- Summary and Paraphrase
- Direct Quotation
- Combining Summary/Paraphrase with Direct Quotation
- Integrating Quotations
- Using Commas and Periods with Quotations
- Making Changes to Direct Quotations
Writing the Final Draft: Documenting Sources
- Plagiarism
- Documenting Your Sources
Major Documentation Styles
- APA (American Psychological Association) Style
- APA Sample Formats on References Page
- MLA (Modern Language Association) Style
- MLA Sample Formats
Sample Student Expository Essay (MLA Style)
Sample Student Essay: "Online Self-Diagnosis: A Cure or a Cautionary Tale?", by Tara Mathur
Part II: Reading
6: Interacting with Texts
Active Reading
Reading Purpose
Selective Reading: Scanning and Focused Reading
- Scanning
- Focused Reading
Word Meanings
- Connotations and Denotations
- Determining Word Meanings through Context
- Family Resemblances
- Specialized Language
7: Critical Thinking
Inferences and Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking as a Process
- Breaking Down Critical Thinking: An Example
Critical Situations for Critical Thinking
8: An Introduction to Academic and Non-Academic Texts
Kinds of Texts
The Reading-Writing Connection
Academic versus Non-Academic Writing
- Formats and Audience
- Purposes
- Other Differences
Breaking Down and Putting Together
9: Conventions of Academic Writing
What Is Academic Writing?
Audience: Who Reads Academic Writing?
Features of Academic Writing
- Length and Complexity
- Research Sources
- Voice and Style
Language
Finding Information in Academic Essays
- Stage 1: "Pre-reading" or Previewing Content
- Stage 2: After "Pre-reading"-Introductions in Academic Writing
- Stage 3: Reading Conclusions
- Stage 4: Reading Paragraphs
10: Conventions of Non-academic Writing
Analysis or Synthesis?
- Analysis
- Synthesis
Personal Experience in Non-academic Writing
Features of Non-Academic Writing
- Interest-Grabbing Introductions
- Using a Thesis
- Organization
- Language
- Tone
- Stylistic and Rhetorical Techniques
Journalistic and Scholarly Writing: A Symbiotic Relationship
Readings
Section I
Robert Gibson, "Bullshit"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Sam Wineburg and Sarah McGrew, "Why Students Can't Google Their Way to the Truth"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Crawford Kilian, "'Health Populism': A Hazard to Public Health-and Yours"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
David M.J. Lazer et al., "The Science of Fake News"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Karen M. Douglas, Robbie M. Sutton, & Aleksandra Cichocka, "The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Shannon Rupp, "I'll Take My Coffee with Fiction, Thanks"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Section II
Dorothy Woodend, "Generation Velcro"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Adrian Mack and Miranda Nelson, "Vancouver Hockey Riot Is a Symptom of a Larger Problem"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Ulinka Rublack, "The Birth of Power Dressing"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Renée Wilson, "In Defence of the iGeneration"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Drew Hayden Taylor, "Unsportsmanlike Names and the Time for Change"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Section III
Jim Harris, "The UnAtomic Age"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Scott Feschuk, "The Future of Machines with Feelings"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Aviva Romm, "Stop Killing the Good Guys!"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Jon Cohen, "How a Horror Story Haunts Science"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Rob Salkowitz, "Ready Reader One: Game Developers Look Toward Comics"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Jeffrey Oberman, "The End of Peak TV"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Section IV
Steven J. Tepper, "Thinking 'Bigger than Me' in the Liberal Arts"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Joanna Pachner, "Do You Have the Brain of a CEO?"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Joe Castaldo, "Steal Your Success"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Merna Forster, "Women of Worth"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Paul Zehr, "Are We Prepared for Humans to Become Real-Life Superheroes?"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Section V
Doug Saunders, "When a Cellphone Beats a Royal Flush"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Robert J. Sternberg, "Slip-Sliding Away, Down the Ethical Slope"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
Danny Chivers, "Debunking the Myths"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Mary Midgley, "The Selfish Metaphor"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Ian Mosby, "Canada 150 and the Truth about Reconciliation"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Richelle Dubois and Michelle Stewart, "Colonial Courts and Settler Justice"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Section VI
Steve Loughnan, Brock Bastian, and Nick Haslam, "The Psychology of Eating Animals" (Annotated Essay)
Li Zhao et al., "Praising Young Children for Being Smart Promotes Cheating"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Simine Vazire and Erika N. Carlson, "Others Sometimes Know Us Better than We Know Ourselves"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Jenna L. Clark, Sara B. Algoe, & Melanie C. Green, "Social Network Sites and Well-Being: The Role of Social Connection"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Daniel Rosenfield et al., "Canadian Lifestyle Choices: A Public Health Failure"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
Mathias Wullum Nielsen et al., "Gender Diversity Leads to Better Science"
- Setting the Context
- Comprehension
- Organization and Style
- Critical Thinking
PART III: Handbook
11: Grammar Fundamentals
The Parts of Speech and Their Functions
- The Take-Charge Nouns
- The Understudy Pronouns
- The Busy Verbs
- The Informative Adjectives
- The Versatile Adverbs
The Overlooked Prepositions
- The Workhorse Conjunctions
Sentences
- What Is a Sentence?
- Phrases and Clauses
- Sentence Fragments: Errors of Incompletion
- Errors of Joining
12: Punctuation and Apostrophes
Joining Independent Clauses
- 1. Comma (,) + Coordinating Conjunction (cc)
- 2. Semicolon (;)
- 3. Semicolon (;) + Adverbial Conjunction (ac)
- 4. Colon (:)
Punctuation within Sentences (Internal Punctuation)
- 1. Items in a Series (Three or More Items)
- 2. Sentence Introductions
- 3. Non-Essential Information
Miscellaneous Uses of the Comma
- Direct Quotation
- Adjectives
- Dates, Addresses, and Numbers
Other Punctuation: Question Marks, Dashes, and Parentheses
- Question Marks
- Dashes and Parentheses
Apostrophes
- 1. Apostrophe Showing Possession and Other Relationships
- 2. Apostrophe for Contractions
13: Agreement, Pronoun, Modifier, and Parallelism Errors
Subject-Verb Agreement
- Finding the Subject
- Intervening Nouns
- Rules for Compound Subjects
- Indefinite Pronoun Subject
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
- Finding the Antecedent
- Main Problems in Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Pronoun Reference, Consistency, and Case
- Pronoun Reference
- Pronoun Consistency
- Pronoun Case
Modifier Errors
- Misplaced Modifiers
- Dangling Modifiers
Parallelism
- Parallelism in a Compound (Two Items)
- Parallelism in a Series (More than Two Items)
Appendix A: An Academic Writing Checklist for EAL Writers
Appendix B: Answers to Exercises
Glossary
Subject Index
Index

Instructor's Manual
- Answers to post-reading questions in the reader section
- Answers to Part III exercises
- Answers to exercises appearing in the book
PowerPoint slides
For each chapter
- 10-15 lecture outline slides
Student Study Guide
- Interactive quizzes
- Activities to address writing challenges
- Supplemental grammar exercises
- Additional exercises for Appendix A: EAL Checklist

Eric Henderson is an active author with Oxford University Press Canada, where his other books include The Active Reader, 4e (2018), The Empowered Writer, 3e (2017), Writing by Choice, 3e (2015), and Short Fiction & Critical Contexts (co-edited with J. Hancock, 2010). He teaches in the Department of English at the University of Victoria, where his teaching interests include composition, rhetoric, and style.

The Empowered Writer - Kathleen M. Moran and Eric Henderson
The Canadian Writer's Handbook - The late William E. Messenger, Jan de Bruyn, The late Judy Brown and Ramona Montagnes
The Concise Canadian Writer's Handbook - William E. Messenger, Jan de Bruyn, Judy Brown and Ramona Montagnes
Essay Do's and Don'ts - Lucia Engkent and Garry Engkent
Making Sense - Margot Northey
Writing with Style - Heather Pyrcz
Practical Grammar - Maxine Ruvinsky

Special Features

• Canadian readings and examples make this an ideal text for teaching post-secondary reading and writing in this country.
• Focus on critical thinking encourages students to reflect on the choices they make when reading and writing rather than following set rules.
• Readings on a range of interesting topics - such as fake news, climate change, social media, discrimination, personality, and health - model solid writing and make the text ideal for students with varying interests and academic backgrounds.
• Covers both academic and non-academic reading and writing, preparing students for any writing situation.
• Annotated sample essays help students recognize the strengths and weaknesses in their own work.
• Demonstrates the value of summarizing beyond its function in research, and prompts students to explore different types of academic summaries. (Ch. 2)
• Student-friendly pedagogy encourages active learning of key concepts.
• - Headnotes and pre- and post-reading questions provide helpful context and encourage critical thinking.
• - Marginal glossary defines key terms and concepts on the same page they are first mentioned, helping students fully understand the material.
• - Individual and collaborative exercises help students strengthen their communication skills while encouraging participation and active learning.
• - Special topic boxes and in-chapter exercises, including checklists, review tools, FAQs, and how-to guides, offer students valuable guidance.

New to this Edition

• 15 new readings provide accessible, timely selections on issues that are relevant to students - such as fake news and conspiracy theories, truth and reconciliation in Canada, and gender diversity.
• A list of essays by theme identifies essays with similar subject matter, promoting comparative analyses among essays.
• Full-colour design provides students with a modern, accessible, and visually appealing resource.
• New colour coding of in-text and reference citations helps students visualize and understand the common elements in citations. (Ch. 5)
• A new appendix for EAL writers includes practice exercises and offers a clear explanation of common concerns for students for whom English is an additional language.