Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 032129081X, Paperback)

With its encouraging tone, careful explanations, and abundance of carefully sequenced and incrementally challenging exercise sets, Odyssey enables readers to view writing as a means of discovering more about themselves and their surroundings. The text's organization and self-contained chapters within each part ensure cumulative skill development and allow flexibility in course design. In every chapter, the book offers a progression of exercises that begin with comprehension and practice of fundamental concepts. Some exercise sets focus on invention and the writing of short pieces. Readers can then proceed to exercises that call for critical thinking, drafting, and revision. Grammar, mechanics, and punctuation chapters conclude with summary editing exercises that call upon readers to use all the grammar and sentence skills learned in the chapter. Many chapters contain a pair of Discovering Connections exercises. The first, which falls early in the chapter, is a prewriting assignment with an array of topic possibilities. The second is a drafting and revision exercise based upon the prewriting and calls for peer review. For those interested in developing their writing skills at the paragraph to essay level.