Now in it's 4th edition, Exploring Writing emphasizes writing skills and process. By referring to a set of four skills for effective writing, Exploring Writing encourages new writers to see writing as a skill that can be learned and a process that must e explored. The four skills, or bases, for effective writing are as follows: Unity: Discover a clearly stated point or topic sentence, and make sure that all other information in the paragraph or essay supports that point. Support: Support the points with specific evidence, and plenty of it. Coherence: Organize and connect supporting evidence so that paragraphs and essays transition smoothly from one bit of supporting information to the next. Sentence skills: Revise and edit so that sentences are error-free for clearer and more effective communication. The four bases are essential to effective writing, whether it be a narrative paragraph, a cover letter for a job application, or an essay assignment. Updated with 11 new readings (including works by Carol Dweck and Ta-Nehisi Coates), new content on literary analysis and updated student examples, Exploring Writing engages students in the writing process and facilitates their development as academic and professional writers. This new title is also available in a low cost rental option.

John Langan has taught reading and writing at Atlantic Cape Community College for more than 25 years. The author of a popular series of college textbooks on both writing and reading, John enjoys the challenge of developing instructive materials that are clear and lively. Before teaching, he earned advanced degrees in writing at Rutgers University and in reading at Rowan University. He also spent a year writing fiction that "is now at the back of a drawer waiting to be discovered and acclaimed posthumously." While in school, he supported himself by working as a truck driver, a machinist, a battery assembler, a hospital attendant, and an apple packer. In addition to his wife and Philly sports teams, his passions include reading and conveying to nonreaders the pleasure and power of books. Through Townsend Press, his educational publishing company, he has developed the nonprofit "Townsend Library"--a collection of more than 100 new and classic stories that appeal to readers of any age.