Patterns Plus: A Short Prose Reader with Argumentation

Arranged rhetorically, this anthology of short essays and paragraphs suits both essay-level developmental writing and low-level freshman composition courses. Each chapter focuses on a different rhetorical mode, including narration, description, and process writing. The Eighth Edition features an engaging mix of nonfiction, fiction, and student essays that reflect careful consideration of cross-cultural issues. Pedagogical tools have been updated to offer developmental students exactly what they need to master the content, including pre-reading, vocabulary, and post-reading questions that test comprehension and encourage critical analysis of each selection.

• The introductory chapter lays the foundation for the entire text, offering an in-depth presentation of the writing process and the structure of paragraphs and essays. Conlin also touches on two key themes that appear consistently throughout the text: the importance of revising and the process of collaborative writing.
• Two alternate tables of contents (Thematic and Writing Across the Curriculum) provide instructors with the flexibility to choose readings according to their own lesson plan and schedule of assignments.

Mary Lou Conlin completed her education at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, earning a B.A. and M.A. in English, and a Ph.D. in education with concentrations in special education, reading, and curriculum. Conlin worked for over twenty-five years teaching English Composition and developing curriculum for developmental reading and writing at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio. She developed individualized reading and writing instruction, and also established a Learning Center staffed with instructional assistants and tutors who provided both individual and small group instruction. In addition, Conlin developed computer-assisted instruction and tracking in the early 1980s.Her publications include PATTERNS, PATTERNS PLUS, CONCEPTS OF COMMUNICATION: WRITING, and CONCEPTS OF COMMUNICATION: READING. The Concepts texts, a modular series, became the basis for the individualized program provided through the Learning Center. Other publications include SIMON PERKINS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE, a biography of an early land agent of the Western Reserve published by the Western Reserve Historical Society.