bookreview

Our textbook which we use in the composition class of this semester is Steps to Writing Well, written by Jean Wyrick. In this book, we have learned different kinds of writing styles from the beginning of writing an essay to more advanced categories, such as literature, research paper, visual arts, and film. The classification of different forms of writing is very clear for readers to understand the context. Though some concepts of the chapters might be theoretical, it also provides us with some funny pictures, which would make it more interesting and understandable to read. Next, we are going to give some brief introduction about the book.
In the book” Steps to Writing Well”, the author makes her ideas organized. All contents are divided into four parts. In part1, it mentions some basic and necessary knowledge like the frame of writing, including “The Body Paragraph” and “Beginnings and Endings.” As for part2, the author requires readers to consider the reason they want to write. Additionally, the training of finding enough information and figuring out the whole structure of the article are also needed. These requirements will support the topic or genre in your essay. Except for the abilities we have talked about in part1 and part2, there are many different and special forms of essays showed in part3. We think this part is the most interesting one. What this part talks about is not only attractive but useful. It offers us different types of writing to learn. These advanced categories which we have never learned or heard before, now it is all in this book and with examples. In the last part, the writer reminds readers of some errors which we might have in out articles.
The book is useful and its introduction which the author writes is persuasive for teachers and students. For example, if we do not have the right attitude to write as the author says, our readers would not believe the facts and concepts we want to present to them. Furthermore, there are some interpretations which lay aside from the articles to remind us how to use the skills we have learned in each chapter.
On the other hand, here are various practices and examples in this book, and these also have relations with every chapter it has talked of. In the Practicing What You’ve Learned, there are questions which request readers to pick out the mistakes and correct them. Some of them just need readers to write in the requested form which has been displayed in the previous articles. For examples, they provide us with practical usage of writing abilities. Take the 19th chapter, “Writing in the World of Work”, for instance, there are illustrations and comments (the blue words in the margien) of each type of business work. They give us clear explanation of each paragraph. Through these ways of learning, students can get more details about the main theory of each writing skills, and make connection between what we learned and life experiences.
Following each steps the book tells us, we can gradually know how to begin and compose the article. Even still not knowing how to write the content, we have already owned a general structure of an appropriate essay. Writing is not an easy thing. Of course we could not make great progress by only reading this book. In addition to studying, practicing plays more crucial role; thus, we should keep the habit of regular writing. By this way, we can know our writing problems or bad habits and correct them. Therefore, our writing skill will improve and become better and better.