The St. Martin-s Guide to Writing Description:

The St. Martin's Guide to Writing review:
4 stars (Much better than other texts) - I have used this text in my College Writing class for roughly 4 years, and I continue to like the text overall. I disagree with some other views about the quality of the essays in the texts. The readings on argument are quite good, and they evoke discussion in my classes without prompting. I also like the fact that the text does not have a decidedly liberal bias. IE. They have one essay in favor of same sex marriage and one against it. The end of chapter prewriting activities are also good as are the peer review activities.



What the text lacks is a section on annotated bibliographies, which my students have to write as part of their research assignment. It also lacks a good section on comparison and contrast; some sample essays would be essential in this area.



Overall, this is a good text. It is much better than the dreadful Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing, which is written in a language that most college students do not understand.
4 stars (Could be worse, but could be more thought-provoking) - I agree that the included articles could be better. They are dry & I find that they don't encourage a lot of discussion without prompting. They seem like "safe" choices designed not for thought but sheer modelling. What I DO really like is the prewriting activities included at the end of each chapter. My students always appreciate all of the writing they have done by the time the draft is due, though I have added to the exercises to make the more in-depth and individualized. Not the ideal Comp 1 book, but certainly not the worst I've used.
4 stars (Useful for writing papers) - A lot of the examples in this book can be quite boring. If you don't know a lot of about editing, this is a good book to read through a couple of the examples. I use it for as a reference guide when I'm writing my Works Cited page. I often get confused on the difference for scholarly journals, web articles, and the various ways to list books.