Customer Reviews

Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum (10th Edition)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This cut down by more than half the time it has taken my students to learn to write summaries, integrate sources, understand argument, and write syntheses.

Many of the readings are also interesting and productive, especially those on Folklore and Obedience to Authority. I'd teach it in combination with a course reader, though, since there's almost no attention to the process of helping students find their voice and write more beautiful prose.

But no one book can do everything, and I plan to keep teaching this one. My students like it too -- with its focus on arguable ideas and the wonderful step-by-step breakdown of the writing process.

I'm currently using this for a freshman English course, and I find it is a complete mess. There are historical mistakes (claiming Cicero was the greatest writer of the Roman Empire -when Cicero wrote during the Republic), spelling errors, and even grammatical errors (take the title of Chapter 4 for instance: "Types of Synthesis: Explanatory and Argument" -has the author ever run into the term parallelism?).

The book is full of redundancies and proprietary terminology. Some of the concepts are barely explained, others are beaten to death. The writing style is not consistent, leading to the suspicion that many people had their hands in this one -perhaps "authors" in India. Some of the exercises are barely comprehensible. For instance:

"Look over the preceding readings and make a list of the ways they address the overall topics of computers, communication, and relationships. Make your list as detailed as you can. Then write several lists grouping together the readings that deal with similar aspects of the overall topics" (108).

We really don't want our students writing like this, so the last thing we should do is expose them to a textbook like this.

Some of the reading selections are good, and others are vapid, pointless, and generally worthless. Essays about dirty dorm rooms and lack of parking spaces behind the gym -oh yes, this is really provocative.

I challenge anyone to find me a worse textbook.

I have used this book in about six classes and it has come in handy several times when writing research papers in both MLA and APA citations.

Upon my colleagues' recommendations, I have been using WRAC (brief, 3rd edition)in my second semester composition class. The text is an abomination, as far as I am concerned. Yes, it has proved helpful in teaching the writing of summaries and synthesis essays. However, the individual units--e.g., marriage, obedience, the mall--have little merit. Yes, these units provide the students with essays/articles/excerpts containing information that they can incorporate into their papers in the form of summaries, paraphrases, and direct quotes. Beyond this, however, what possible benefit can be derived from reading these groups of essays, many of which contain logical fallacies. More specifically, does the unit on malls or disobedience (to use two examples) significantly enrich the student's store of knowledge? Are the writings about sleep or weight at all equivalent to, say, spending a semester reading and writing about nineteenth century Russian literature? Of course not. My time could have been much more profitably spent teaching the students about the three literary genres, a knowledge of which students could carry beyond the class. Doing so would not (because, from my experience, it has not) prevent the teaching of summaries, paraphrases, critiques, and synthesis essays. I therefore give this text two thumbs down...

The seller wanted to up hold his reputation and not have a bad review, yet his statement was false. It does not take 15 days for a refund to be processed. I have not seen any refund and want people to know that the seller gave a false statement.
"The book arrived well before they estimated!! great fast shipping. The book was in great condition. The only bad thing is that the book is an EXAM copy!! Not a student edition. This is the third time I have ordered from Amazon and the books haven't been STUDENT editions. And the post have not stated it anywhere on them!!! "
Lindsay S. (edit this name), December 11, 2011
Seller Response: "Your refund has been processed."
Date: December 12, 2011

I had to get this book for school and it was much cheaper than in our bookstore and it also came in mint-condition. I'm pleased :)

Used amazon prime. Got here in a day! Got to take it up to Massachusetts with me! Good book. Not a bad price either. Thanks again Amazon! You guys rock!

Product was exactly as described! It was received on time! No complaints and will do business again anytime, THANKS!!!! Will recommend to anyone. Great Transaction and fast procedure.

I bought this book for my son to use during his summer English course. We never noticed that there were missing pages (257-304) until I sold it on Amazon. The buyer had his first assignment on some of those missing pages and returned the book to me. There are no ripped out pages, it just appears that the book was made and sold with those missing pages. I contacted the publisher, Pearson, regarding this issue but they completely ignored me. I would not recommend buying this book until you secure from the seller that all pages are intact.

I ordered this book for an English class I am taking in college. The book came on time and arrived in wonderful condition.