Book Reviews

Great Writing 2: Great Paragraphs (4thed.)

Keith Folse, April Muchmore-Vokoun, Elena Vestri Solomon.
National Geographic Learning/Cengage Learning, (2014)(302 pages). ISBN: 978-1-285-19490-5 Price: 2,960 yen
Reviewed by Nevitt Reagan
Kansai Gaidai University
Textbooks rarely get through four editions without doing something right,and Great Writing 2 certainly does a lot well. However, this latest edition, theintermediate-level volume in a six-level academic writing series, often attempts todo too much and gets some of it wrong for the Japanese market.
The first two units of Great Writing 2 present the main features of aparagraph, provide suggestions for peer editing, and briefly introduce thebrainstorming process. The following three units familiarize students withthe basic components of the academic paragraph (topic sentence, supporting
sentences, and concluding sentence). After a brief paragraph review unit, thenext five units focus in turn on five common rhetorical modes: Definition,Process, Description, Opinion, and Narrative. These modes are presented
roughly in order of complexity and difficulty for students (though the unit on
Narrative might come earlier or even be omitted). The final unit begins workon developing five-paragraph essays, which is the focus of the next level in thetextbook series.
Each unit opens with several model paragraphs, moves on to grammar andvocabulary exercises, and finishes with peer editing and timed writing activities.
86

Great Writing 2: Great Paragraphs, OnCUE Journal, 10(1), pages 86-90

The book has enough material for 60-80 hours of instruction, or a year-longcourse meeting twice a week; however, the authors suggest that the material
can be completed in 40 hours, which would fit a course meeting once a week if
writing assignments are completed outside of class.
The two units on topic sentences and supporting sentences are especially
useful. Through a series of careful and well-ordered exercises, students learn
to write topic sentences that are specific and control paragraph content. The
concepts of topic vs. topic sentence, controlling idea, and adequate support
can be difficult, as they are a bit rigid and artificial; moreover, they are rarely
used in more common non-academic forms of English prose writing (such as
popular essays and journalism) that Japanese students might have read. Someacademic writing textbooks (e.g., the NorthStar: Reading & Writing series andthe Longman Academic Writing Series) describe the topic sentence merely asa sentence at the beginning of a paragraph which gives the topic or main idea.
Further, they do not discuss or give very much practice to the functions of anddifferences between topic, topic sentence, and controlling idea until the thirdor fourth volumes in their series, at a point where students are already workingon full essays. Other non-academic writing textbooks, such as the Writing from
Within series, do not deal with the distinction at all.
The grammar points selected for most units are well motivated, for example,
using adjective clauses in definition paragraphs and employing prepositionsof location in descriptive writing. However, the accompanying grammar
exercises are often too brief and require supplementation. Each unit also has
two vocabulary activities, one on synonyms and antonyms and another on
collocations. However, this attempt to develop vocabulary skills seems better
suited for a reading textbook than for a writing one.
A “Brief Writer’s Handbook” at the end of the book provides guidance in thewriting process, editing, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, citation of source
material, and avoidance of plagiarism. It also offers valuable lists of words/phrases
commonly used in the five rhetorical modes covered. Somehow, however, phrase
lists for two other modes (cause/effect and comparison/contrast), which are notpart of the main textbook material, are also included. The handbook ends with a87

Reaganseries of sentence-combining exercises for each unit, which should help improvestudents’ ability to write longer and more complex sentences.
A variety of supplementary materials is available, some free and some forpurchase. The most valuable is the free textbook companion Web site, which
offers useful online materials for both teachers and students. The “Instructor
Downloads” section provides an Answer Key, Peer Editing Sheets, and Teacher’sNotes. “Student Resources” include Flashcards, a Glossary, and Peer Editing
Sheets. However, most of the peer editing worksheets need to be adapted inorder to review and reinforce points studied in previous units.
There is also a wide array of optional resources, including a CD-ROM
containing numerous interactive activities. An “Online Workbook” also
provides extra grammar, vocabulary, and editing exercises. A software program
allows teachers to use the textbook material on an interactive whiteboard or witha computer and projector. The textbook is also available in eBook format, which
will probably not be suitable for most students since eBook readers have yet tocatch on in Japan.
So, what is new in the 4th edition? Primarily, the impressive graphics and thelayout. Each unit begins with discussion-prompting questions based on a striking
National Geographic photograph. Many more pages throughout the book arehalf filled with large photos, some quite dramatic and others merely charming,
related to paragraph topics. In addition, the “Grammar for Writing” sections
have been slightly redesigned and, in some cases, expanded. For instance, anactivity on two common sentence errors, comma splices and sentence fragments,
now also deals with run-on sentences. Finally, this new edition includes
Coxhead’s (2000) Academic Word List.
Unfortunately, some of the model paragraph topics are unduly obscure. For
example, Unit 3 (Topic Sentence) opens with a paragraph on the benefits ofdriving a car with a manual transmission, which is something that few students
are familiar with. Unit 6 (Definition Paragraphs) previews its opening model
paragraph about gumbo, the spicy seafood dish, with the following questions:“What do you know about the people of Louisiana? Do you know anything
about the Cajun people?” For most Japanese students, these prompts will not88

Great Writing 2: Great Paragraphs, OnCUE Journal, 10(1), pages 86-90

elicit much discussion or provide any schema building. In addition, all units
have more model paragraphs than are necessary at this level. I have found thattwo or three model paragraphs per unit are sufficient, rather than the six to ten
provided. Most teachers will find it more productive and time saving to limit
the number of model paragraphs and, on occasion, substitute more accessible
topics (e.g., the benefits of a new smartphone app). Furthermore, teachers whowish to focus purely on expository writing can easily skip the units on descriptiveand narrative paragraphs, as these two modes are not very common in academic
writing.
A final caveat concerns the textbook’s size and weight. The 4th editionis only slightly longer (19 pages) than the 3rd; however, due to its thick paper
stock, it is much heavier. This has been a complaint among my students, who areaccustomed to books that are easier to carry.
Finally, it should be noted that Great Writing 2 definitely seems to havebeen designed for lower-intermediate level students in an ESL environment
rather than an EFL one, such as Japan. However, I have found it completely
usable and effective in my upper-intermediate level required first-year writing
courses (average class size of 25-30 students, meeting twice per week) for Global
Communication majors at a Japanese university. The National Geographic
color photographs are much more appealing and motivating to students than
the simple, dull graphics found in the average writing textbook. In addition,
the amount of supplementary material and resources is impressive, allowing forconsiderably more flexibility and variety in lesson planning and presentation
than is normal with most textbooks. By the end of the year, I find that themajority of my students have thoroughly learned the basics of paragraphorganization, produced multiple drafts of paragraphs in five different rhetoricalmodes, and begun exploring how these paragraph structures can be expanded
into five-paragraph essays.
Although comprehensive and valuable, Great Writing 2 does offer a rather
heavy instructional diet for Japanese students, who are used to smaller portionsin their lessons. With a certain amount of reduction (model paragraphs andvocabulary exercises) and supplementation (grammar points and peer editing
89Reaganworksheets), Great Writing 2 will help students learn to produce coherent,
complete paragraphs and get them on the path to writing full academic essays.

References

Boyd, F., & Numrich, C. (Eds.). (2015). NorthStar: Reading & Writing (4thed.). White Plains, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.
Butler, L., Oshima A., Hogue A., & Meyers A. (2014). Longman Academic
Writing Series (5th ed.). White Plains, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.
Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213238.
Kelly, C., & Gargagliano, A. (2011). Writing from Within. (2nd ed.).
Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Author bio

Nevitt Reagan has taught EFL/ESL, Film Studies, and Film History in the UnitedStates, Korea, and Japan. He is a Professor in the School of Global Communicationand Language at Kansai Gaidai University, where he regularly teaches writing
courses. nevittathens@yahoo.com
Received: March 7, 2016
Accepted: April 20, 201690