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A review by jenknox
College Writing Skills with Readings by John Langan
4.0
I used the 7th/8th Edition for my Freshman Comp course.
Overall, it was a good book. I'm not crazy about the order of chapters, but this was easy enough remedied.
There were a few typos in this book. Which, I know, I shouldn't be one to hone in on, but... it is an English textbook!
My biggest gripe with this book was the choice of Readings. I do wish there would have been more variety. It seems that there wasn't a good representation of the styles of essay that are taught at this level. I think the book could benefit from replacing a few of those readings, but again, many of them ("My Teacher is a Dropout", "College Lectures: Is Anybody Listening?", and a few others) were very, very well-directed pieces.
The assessment tests are somewhat redundant. But, I didn't use them, so that worked out.
I believe teachers should use the text as a tool, not a guide, and so for this purpose, with my style of teaching, Langan's book worked well. I may use it again, though I am very open to suggestion.
Overall, it was a good book. I'm not crazy about the order of chapters, but this was easy enough remedied.
There were a few typos in this book. Which, I know, I shouldn't be one to hone in on, but... it is an English textbook!
My biggest gripe with this book was the choice of Readings. I do wish there would have been more variety. It seems that there wasn't a good representation of the styles of essay that are taught at this level. I think the book could benefit from replacing a few of those readings, but again, many of them ("My Teacher is a Dropout", "College Lectures: Is Anybody Listening?", and a few others) were very, very well-directed pieces.
The assessment tests are somewhat redundant. But, I didn't use them, so that worked out.
I believe teachers should use the text as a tool, not a guide, and so for this purpose, with my style of teaching, Langan's book worked well. I may use it again, though I am very open to suggestion.