本书作者有着长期从事大学英文写作课教学的经验。本书的特点在于：（1）不直接给出写作中的规范，而是循序渐进地引导读者自己动手，在写作过程中学习、体会，逐步掌握论文写作要点和规范。（2）作者用一般大学生所掌握的3000左右的词汇量及生动有趣的语言，条理清楚地教给学生学习写作的自信心。为了让读者体会他所讨论的每一个写作要点，他把书中的每一章节写成一篇范文。从如何写好论文、找准题目、理清思路、组织论证、处理不同论点，到引文标注和写作规范，每一个章节都为读者做出了示范。本书第一版已经重印5次，此次新版增加了部分内容。

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PREFACE

TO THE STUDENT

TO CHINESE STUDENTS

1.Writing in the Professional World

2.Nervous Grumblings About Writing

3.What Is an Acceptable Essay?

4.Your Thesis Sentence

5.Finding Your Writing Process

6.Building a Strong Essay

7.Writing to Discover

8.The Parts of an Essay

9.Introductions Are Not All the Same

10.Something of Substance to Say

11.Speaking of Voice

12.Organizing Your Essay

13.The Chronological Approach

14.Comparing and Contrasting

15.Dealing with the Opposition

16.Look at Your Audience

17.Writing with Others

18.Standing Above Our Defenses

19.A Healthy Body Paragraph

20.Doctoring a Sickly Body Paragraph

21.Good Writing Is Good Thinking

22.Good Writing Is Good Development

23.Finding the Right Word

24.Writing Concretely

25.Mephobia: An Eye for a Ewe

26.Moving Out

EDITING MATTERS

INDEX

Proofreader's Marks

Quick Reference Guide to Editing Matters