Customer Reviews

Webster's New World Student Writing Handbook

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This is the easiest and most useful reference available for teachers, students and parents. I have been using this book since'94 to help my children understand and exacute various kinds of writing assignments. Valuable from 4th grade through college level.

I own this book and have found it to be invaluable with the information it contains. It explains and shows various examples of types of sentences (ie: simple, compound, compound-complex), it goes on to explain how to write paragraphs and where to place the topic sentence (ie: the 1st sentence, 2nd, 3rd, last, etc.), and it explains how to combine paragraphs to form complete papers (ie: book reports, essays, literary analyses, research papers, thesis, etc.) by using a variety of methods of development (ie: analogy, cause and effect, classification, comparison and contrast, definition, description, narration, opinion, persuasion, and process analysis). It is also an excellent resource for how to write letters, e-mails, outlines, resumes, short stories, etc. Included is a section on grammar, usage, and mechanics (how nouns, verbs, agreement of subject and verb, etc) as well as punctuation. This is a thorough book for any writing endeavor, and I highly recommend it. I wish it had been in print MANY years ago when I was in college, but it is useful for junior high up through doctorate degrees. It is definitely worth its price (which isn't that high for all it contains!). It is also not hard to understand!

I brought home a stack of library books about writing to help my son with high school writing assignments and research papers. Webster's was the only one he actually used. It is laid out nicely and helpful information is available in the kind of "bites" our kids are used to. It is now part of our home library. PS. A more lengthy perusal of the guidelines for various kinds of student writing would greatly benefit any student willing to put in some time to improve their skills and their grades.

This is my second time around in college. I pulled the standard "drop-out-after-two-years-to-start-a-family" routine, and am now finishing up at 40 years of age. My writing skills had rusted slightly over the years, so this book has been an absolute life saver in college. I could not maintain my 4.0 GPA without it!

April 26, 2011. There are two types of student writers handbook. The Scott Foresman or Harbrace type. And this New World handbook by Sorenson. The first type covers grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, rhetoric, and so on. Very useful. The Sorensen book seems to be one of a kind. It covers TYPES of writing. What is an essay, a book report, a character sketch, a "comparison and contrast," a lab report, a "persuasive" speech,and many more, with examples and explanations. Young writers, from 4 to 40, will get assignments like these and very often have no idea what they are supposed to do or to aim for. Nobody else but Sorensen answers these questions. When I said "essays," did I mention that she covers school essay assignments, college application essays, contest essays, and final-exam essay questions? And who else does that? Noooobody, as the car dealer used to say. As a librarian, I get questions from adults new to on-line college - and teenagers who have to do something "persuasive" - who have the question, "What does the teacher want, do you think?" Sorensen explains. The other type of handbook tells the student where to put commas, or how to avoid passive voice (an oversold "problem" if there ever was one). I don't get asked such questions very often, except by very conscientious writers in English-as-a-second-language. Buy one of each type of handbook if you can. If not, buy Sorensen and get your grammar questions taken care of through Google. (By the way, a Google search for how to write a good answer to an essay question on a test won't get you far by comparison with Sorensen's on-the-mark examples. But "comma - grammar"? No problem.) DAVID - Indianapolis

Sorenson's skill with textbook writing derives from an understanding of people and their problems with language. Only a master teacher could have written this guide.