Written in an informal, engaging style, this easy-to-use text takes students through all the stages of the writing process as they transition from simple to complex writing assignments. Instruction in this book--comprehensive, flexible, relevant, contemporary, and stimulating--is predicated on the ideas that reading and writing are linked and that good writing is the product of thoughtful and systematic revision. Sample student paragraphs and essays with stages exemplify the patterns of writing, while clear reading instruction offers students the opportunity to analyze readings and to practice the reading-based writing required in academic environments. Students master common writing patterns while learning to use material from reading selections as a springboard for writing in the form of summary, reaction, or two-part response. Reading-based writing helps them transition to the next level of the English program. It has been especially successful in helping students move from the developmental English program to freshman composition and beyond. Supporting that approach are more than seventy high-interest readings that are integrated throughout the Twelfth Edition for analysis and as models of good writing. Clear, explicit writing prompts underpin each reading and provide reading-based, cross-curricular, career-related, and general topics for writing. In addition, the photo/art program promotes critical thinking, lively discussion, and analytical writing. The text is flexible in its format, allowing instructors to begin at any stage of instruction and to emphasize the paragraph or the essay, or to mix assignments.