Writing guides abound, but The Simple Math of Writing Well is one of a kind. Readers will find its practical approach affirming, encouraging, and informative, and its focus on the basics of linguistic structure releases 21st-century writers to embrace the variety of mediums that define our internet-connected world. As Harrop reminds us in the opening chapters of her book, we write more today than ever before in history: texts, emails, letters, blogs, reports, social media posts, proposals, etc. The Simple Math of Writing Well is the first guide that directly addresses the importance of writing well in the Google age.
Write Essays, Reports, Emails-Anything-Better, Easier, and Faster A friend once told me, "I hate writing. I prefer math because there's one right answer." Trust me, it's not the first time I've heard those sentences as an English teacher. For so many people, writing is a difficult, time-consuming, stressful chore. But what if I gave you the "right answers" that other teachers never knew to tell you? "How to Write an Essay like an Equation: Write Better, Easier, Faster" is the perfect book for busy students and professionals who want short, practical solutions to their writing challenges. This concise writing guide will help you: Understand the types of audiences every writer faces; Establish an engaging sense of purpose in everything you write; Grasp the main genres of academic and professional writing; Get a main idea across more clearly and persuasively; Support main ideas with compelling evidence and clear structure; Link ideas to each other, creating "flow;" Edit sentences for greater clarity; and Use simple strategies for improving your writing process. Learning about these topics would usually require enrolling in a 16-week course and paying hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in tuition. You're frugal and busy, though, so I save you all of that money, time, and effort. "How to Write an Essay like an Equation offers writers of all levels an engaging read and an innovative step-by-step approach to writing. I especially appreciate the thought-exercises and activities at the end of each chapter-reflection and application! This book has become my go-to recommendation for student writers." - Jennifer Weiss, Director of an university writing center "The book will teach you how to highlight your main ideas, link thoughts and sentences, and edit your own work. You want this book if you find writing to be a fuzzy, amorphous activity and want clear steps to follow for creating solid written work." - Rebecca Helton, Edge for ScholarsI can teach only so many students in a class, but by publishing this book, I'm able to offer my best writing instruction in a much cheaper, faster, easier package. If you improved your writing, how would your life improve? What are you waiting for?
This classic guide contains four essays on writing mathematical books and papers at the research level and at the level of graduate texts. The authors are all well known for their writing skills, as well as their mathematical accomplishments. The first essay, by Steenrod, discusses writing books, either monographs or textbooks. He gives both general and specific advice, getting into such details as the need for a good introduction. The longest essay is by Halmos, and contains many of the pieces of his advice that are repeated even today: In order to say something well you must have something to say; write for someone; think about the alphabet. Halmos's advice is systematic and practical. Schiffer addresses the issue by examining four types of mathematical writing: research paper, monograph, survey, and textbook, and gives advice for each form of exposition. Dieudonne's contribution is mostly a commentary on the earlier essays, with clear statements of where he disagrees with his coauthors. The advice in this small book will be useful to mathematicians at all levels.
The wise and witty guide to researching and writing a thesis, by the bestselling author of The Name of the Rose—now published in English for the first time. Learn the art of the thesis from a giant of Italian literature and philosophy—from choosing a topic to organizing a work schedule to writing the final draft. By the time Umberto Eco published his best-selling novel The Name of the Rose, he was one of Italy’s most celebrated intellectuals, a distinguished academic, and the author of influential works on semiotics. Some years before that, Eco published a little book for his students, in which he offered useful advice on all the steps involved in researching and writing a thesis. Since then, it has been translated into 17 languages—and is now for the first time presented in English. Eco’s approach is anything but dry and academic. He not only offers practical advice but also considers larger questions about the value of the thesis-writing exercise in six different parts: • The Definition and Purpose of a Thesis • Choosing the Topic • Conducting the Research • The Work Plan and the Index Cards • Writing the Thesis • The Final Draft Eco advises students how to avoid “thesis neurosis” and he answers the important question “Must You Read Books?” He reminds students “You are not Proust” and “Write everything that comes into your head, but only in the first draft.” Of course, there was no Internet in 1977, but Eco’s index card research system offers important lessons about critical thinking and information curating for students of today who may be burdened by Big Data. Irreverent and often hilarious, How to Write a Thesis is unlike any other writing manual and belongs on the bookshelves of students, teachers, writers, and Eco fans everywhere.
Using concepts from algebra and relating them to life, Tess navigates the waters of friendship, popularity, and family. Math lover Tess has always used mathematical concepts to help her understand things in her life. She is surprised to find out how much math—and life—can change in eighth grade. She also has to learn about injustice and ethics when a family friend mysteriously dies, and when she witnesses a cheating episode at her school and realizes that keeping silent about it, even to get in the good graces of the cutest boy in school, only leads to more trouble. Are theorems and axioms about life fail-safe? Is there an absolute answer to everything, just as there are absolute numbers? In the end, Tess decides that her life, like the infinity sign, is always changing, but that as long as she sticks to some key principles for herself, she can handle life’s uncertainties.
An important challenge to what currently masquerades as conventional wisdom regarding the teaching of writing. There seems to be widespread agreement that—when it comes to the writing skills of college students—we are in the midst of a crisis. In Why They Can't Write, John Warner, who taught writing at the college level for two decades, argues that the problem isn't caused by a lack of rigor, or smartphones, or some generational character defect. Instead, he asserts, we're teaching writing wrong. Warner blames this on decades of educational reform rooted in standardization, assessments, and accountability. We have done no more, Warner argues, than conditioned students to perform "writing-related simulations," which pass temporary muster but do little to help students develop their writing abilities. This style of teaching has made students passive and disengaged. Worse yet, it hasn't prepared them for writing in the college classroom. Rather than making choices and thinking critically, as writers must, undergraduates simply follow the rules—such as the five-paragraph essay—designed to help them pass these high-stakes assessments. In Why They Can't Write, Warner has crafted both a diagnosis for what ails us and a blueprint for fixing a broken system. Combining current knowledge of what works in teaching and learning with the most enduring philosophies of classical education, this book challenges readers to develop the skills, attitudes, knowledge, and habits of mind of strong writers.
How to Write Law Essays and Exams provides law students with a practical and proven method of analysing and answering essay and exam questions. The book focuses on those questions that give students the most trouble, namely problem questions, but its techniques are equally applicable to othertypes of essays.In addition to providing a framework for analysing and writing law essays, the book teaches students how to identify relevant legal authorities, distinguish and harmonise conflicting legal precedents and evaluate the applicability of the law to the facts of the question at hand. The book alsocontains specific law-related revision techniques and general writing tips.Designed for law students of all levels, including those on A-level, university, conversion, and vocational courses, the text helps students understand their substantive courses while at the same time teaching vital writing and analytical skills.Digital formats and resourcesThe sixth edition is available for students and institutions to purchase in a variety of formats, and is supported by online resources.-The e-book offers a mobile experience and convenient access along with functionality tools and navigation features: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks http://www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks.-The book is accompanied by online resources: a case breakdown to help students with reading cases, frequently asked questions, and some tips on citation styles and conventions.
Are you looking for a short, simple, systematic approach to writing? Pick up any other writing book, for any ability level, and you'll find a labyrinth of options, nuances, and caveats when straight-forward explanations would better serve most writers. In "How to Write an Essay like an Equation," Eric Sentell (PhD, Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse Studies) distills over a decade of experience teaching college writing into covering only writing's essentials with only the necessary amount of detail and explanation. In this book, you will learn about the types of audiences every writer faces, the power of purpose in writing, the main genres of academic and professional writing, the BLUF and how to find it, PEE Paragraph Structure, Content-Lexical Ties, editing for clarity and concision, using sentence boundaries, a short and practical style guide, the power of diction, and simple strategies for improving the writing process. Each chapter concludes with thought-exercises and writing activities to reinforce and build on what you learn. This is a book for busy people who need practical, straight-forward solutions to the challenges of writing: people who write at work; students who struggle with writing; students whose professors don’t (or can’t) teach writing; students preparing for college entrance exams; international students who need to prepare for Western writing; high school teachers preparing students for college; home-schooling parents who want to provide excellent instruction; and anyone who craves the “one right answers” of writing. Customer and Editorial Reviews: “The book will teach you how to highlight your main ideas, link thoughts and sentences, and edit your own work. You want this book if you find writing to be a fuzzy, amorphous activity and want clear steps to follow for creating solid written work.” — Rebecca Helton, Edge for Scholars “An essay can be quite similar to an algebra equation in terms of development and structure.” This statement helped me to realize that I was actually making writing an essay harder than it needed to be. If you pick up any other book on writing it is long and drawn out. It complicates things and you leave not understanding what you just read. This book isn’t like that. Not only is it short, but it is easy to comprehend. Eric Sentell also states in the very beginning that this book is for those who are busy and need a straight-forward explanation. I am a college student and I don’t have time to scour the internet for an explanation of how to write the essay that I waited until the last minute to write (don’t pretend you haven’t done it). This book is easy to read and comprehend, short and cheap. It is totally worth the money. My only complain is that I didn’t have this earlier in my college journey!! -- Sherry Peppers As a homeschool mom of 4, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the basics of writing as well as to anyone who wants to improve their writing. The book covers a broad range of writing topics that help in understanding who you’re writing to, how to develop a paragraph, and how to make your paragraph more interesting and concise. Most of the paragraphs are short which helps the reader understand and retain the information better. I also liked the use of bullet points. It made the material direct, concise, and easier to learn. I personally learned different writing tricks with this book, and I gained a better understanding of basic concepts and writing techniques that I had heard over and over in traditional English books but never fully grasped before. Good writing still takes time and practice, but this book helps lay a good foundation of how to get started and how to develop skills to improve your writing. -- Lisa Reavey This was excellent for me. I felt like it created simple, direct way to write professionally. Would definitely recommend. -- Kristin McKinnis
Builds writing skills. Models good writing. Strengthens writing proficiency through practice. Demystifies the writing process. Includes assessment rubrics.
The remarkable story of the Algebra Project, a community-based effort to develop math-science literacy in disadvantaged schools—as told by the program’s founder “Bob Moses was a hero of mine. His quiet confidence helped shape the civil rights movement, and he inspired generations of young people looking to make a difference”—Barack Obama At a time when popular solutions to the educational plight of poor children of color are imposed from the outside—national standards, high-stakes tests, charismatic individual saviors—the acclaimed Algebra Project and its founder, Robert Moses, offer a vision of school reform based in the power of communities. Begun in 1982, the Algebra Project is transforming math education in twenty-five cities. Founded on the belief that math-science literacy is a prerequisite for full citizenship in society, the Project works with entire communities—parents, teachers, and especially students—to create a culture of literacy around algebra, a crucial stepping-stone to college math and opportunity. Telling the story of this remarkable program, Robert Moses draws on lessons from the 1960s Southern voter registration he famously helped organize: “Everyone said sharecroppers didn't want to vote. It wasn't until we got them demanding to vote that we got attention. Today, when kids are falling wholesale through the cracks, people say they don't want to learn. We have to get the kids themselves to demand what everyone says they don't want.” We see the Algebra Project organizing community by community. Older kids serve as coaches for younger students and build a self-sustained tradition of leadership. Teachers use innovative techniques. And we see the remarkable success stories of schools like the predominately poor Hart School in Bessemer, Alabama, which outscored the city's middle-class flagship school in just three years. Radical Equations provides a model for anyone looking for a community-based solution to the problems of our disadvantaged schools.
