From Idea to Essay: A Rhetoric, Reader, and Handbook - Softcover

Novice writers need this book trusted and successful composition book as they begin their writing careers not as prepared as they often should be. This systematic rhetoric-reader-handbook carefully leads readers through the process of essay writing. It provides numerous samples of writing through readings, specific guidelines on how to approach each rhetorical mode, writing assignments for each mode, and student and professional models of completed assignments. The book covers nine rhetorical modes and includes a complete unit on the research paper and a comprehensive handbook section. Pre-reading, prewriting, and writing exercises offer guidance in the fundamentals of reading and writing. New material has been added on database searches, research on the Internet, and documenting electronic sources. An ideal tool for the novice writer or teacher.

Born in Belgium, the daughter of an American minister, Jo Ray McCuen-Metherell had moved from Brussels to Paris to Bern, Switzerland, by the time she was seven years old. In Bern, she attended the Freies Gymnasium and spoke not only fluent French and German but also English, which was the language spoken to her by her American parents. After enduring World War II, Jo Ray's parents sent her and her brother to Pacific Union College (in the Napa Valley), where Jo Ray received a B. A. in English. After teaching English and French in high school for several years, Jo Ray started to take night classes at the University of Southern California in order to earn an M.A. and Ph.D., which would allow her to teach in college. While working on her doctorate, she was first hired to teach English at Glendale Community College and later to serve as Dean of the Evening College. A chance meeting in 1973 with Anthony C. Winkler, a successful novelist, led to a literary partnership that has produced 15 coauthored textbooks used at colleges and universities across the United States.