Keys for Writers: A Brief Handbook (English Composition College)

Ann Raimes has successfully blended grammatical construction, error correction methods, and easy usage into a 6x8 ring-bound writer's handbook. It is fascinating how, in one book, entry level college writers, graduate writers, and even multilingual writers can learn to write with poise, insight and comfort, successfully. Everything from writer's block to punctuation is addressed. In fact, if a writer doesn't know 'how to address,' Keys for Writers addresses that also.

The book begins by detailing the writing process. The most important steps in any successful paper are to:
Define your purpose, Assess your audience, Choose your topic, and
Generate a thesis. Generating a thesis is one of the most important steps. A weak thesis will not define the purpose of the paper, a broad thesis will take away from the main facts. Keys for Writers walks the writer through the processes.

The next section of the text explains the writing procedure. Creating an argument and taking a stand is vital. If an argument is not present the writer may be less formal, writing figurative language, essays, oral reports or poetry. I am a lover of poetry and Keys for Writers really spoke to my passion.
Common errors are remedied in the sentence structuring section. Sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and subject-verb agreement errors are conquered. It is quite helpful for a beginner. Even a graduate, at times, may have trouble.

The book is very careful to address the learning student's needs. It clearly identifies all of the key in the writing process. It also points out the importance of revision. Proofing and revising a paper before submitting it may further remedy and errors. During revision a writer can add any last minute changes, rephrase, and even outline. Outlining the paper may help the student decide if the ideas in the paper flow.

The most amazing fact about Keys for Writers is it's section for multilingual writers. Few other books address these student's needs. Anne Raimes' effort to help each student is commendable. This may even make it possible for multilingual students to engage in learning together at equal levels.

One of the facts that has been pointed out is the cost of the book. Some think that it is too expensive. I do agree to some extent that it is very expensive, but when 'what is learned' is weighed against 'cost' the purpose is obvious. This book is a must have.

Every student should have a copy of Keys for Writers. The book is great for English speaking students, Multilingual students, students unfamiliar with the writing process and even professionals. Ann Raimes has done an excellent job in preparing this resource. The money for the book will be well spent. It is the perfect gift for a student and with Christmas right around the corner the time to buy
is now.

Keys for Writers, written by Ann Raimes, was a very useful book. Any college student would find this a very helpful tool. I felt the book had very thorough information that I will be able to use in all of my English classes. I liked the construction, organization, and content of the book. It covered all aspects of writing that an English student will need to know.
Yes, this book was very informational, but I must mention one minor downfall-price! I felt a little under $40.00 was a bit pricey for how small it was. Yes, it did provide very good information, but the price was too high for the quality of the book. Many college students have to pay for everything with their own money, and I think a resource book like this could have been found at a much cheaper price. Maybe if an exercise book had been provided at no extra cost, the price would have been more reasonable.
Although the book was a bit on the expensive side, it was very well constructed. I enjoyed the tab-style dividers. These made looking for certain information a lot easier and faster. For example, when I wanted to know how to document an anthology MLA style, I did the following: flipped to tab #3: "MLA Documentation," and looked under section E: "Work in an Anthology." This was a very quick and efficient way to locate how to document sources of information. The laminated front cover provided a nice finish so that the book will stay in-tact. The back cover was designed the same way to keep the book in place. The plastic spiral-bound side was also a nice touch. This made turning the pages easy. The book will hold in places and the pages will not tear or "fray." The pages consisted of very durable paper, so that they also will not rip out. This was a nice added touch to the book.
Along with construction, another positive aspect of this book was the way in which it was organized. All the information I needed was right at my fingertips. It had all the information in a logical order, which made accessing things easy. Each numbered section was organized with sub numbers and sub divisions. Locating certain things I needed was very convenient. I also liked the white "Keytabs" in the back of the book. To use these, one can just pull a Keytab out and insert it wherever needed. I used several of these as bookmarks while reading, and also to write reminders on. I had never seen this in a reference book before, but it was very helpful.
The last thing I'd like to comment on is the content of the book. It was written very thorough and concise. All types of documenting sources were given. It covered every aspect of what students need help with in English. It contained grammar and information about punctuation, sentence problems, mechanics, and even spelling words. I thought one specific bit of information was very neat-the section for multilingual/ESL writers. I had never seen that in a resource book before either. This would definitely be helpful to those writers with English as their second language. The book takes into account that there may be users who do not speak or use English as their primary vernacular. Along with helping ESL students, this feature can also help native English speakers.
Keys for Writers is a book that will carry an English student through all of his or her classes. Everything one needs to know about writing is just a page-flip away! Remember to consider cost when purchasing this book. Although it does cost a lot, the investment is worth it. All-in-all, Keys for Writers was a very knowledgeable and useful book. Out of all the resource books I have used, I found this one to be the most useful and helpful. I would recommend it to anyone in need of an English reference book.

I have used many writing textbooks through all of my years of schooling, but none have been like Keys for Writers. This book is significantly different than any other writing handbook that I have ever read. The organization, content, and language make this book easy to use. Of all the writing handbooks that I have encountered, this is by far the most useful I have ever used.
Whether you are a beginner to writing, or an expert, this book is for you. The content of this book is outstanding. The explanation of the writing process and grammar is very impressive.
The first section of the book details the writing process. It starts by giving many good ideas as to how to start your paper. The book explains that it is necessary to define your purpose, assess your audience, find a topic, and then generate a thesis. The book provides brilliant examples of how to overcome writers block. One of the main ideas discussed is to map your topic. I have tried this in some of my papers and found this to be an excellent way to generate ideas to write about.
The text then goes on explaining how to write, edit, and create an argument. The book lays down a key foundation to support any level writer. One thing that I especially like about the book is that it gives ideas of how to write for many different purposes such as: prose works, poetry, essay, oral reports and figurative language.
After the writing process, the book explains how to evaluate a source, a necessity for writing a research paper. The book not only explains how to evaluate books, but also tells of online articles. Keys for Writers also shows how to document sources. Though the documentation list may be brief, focusing on text and electronic media, it provides many pages of examples that anybody can use to figure out how to follow MLA format. The book also touches other documentation styles, like APA, CBE, Chicago, and CGOS styles.
The section on grammar is particularly helpful. This section begins with sentence construction, explaining what fragments are and how to correct them. The book provides a list of the top ten sentence problems on pages 282-284. These problems include such troubles as fragments, run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement, and pronouns. In addition to listing the problems, the book even provides a few examples for each topic. Within the sentence construction section, there is a whole sector devoted to passive voice. This section is very helpful.
The sentence section continues on, defining nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, relative clauses, and relative pronouns. Numerous examples are given throughout the discussion of these topics.
The punctuation and mechanics section is very thorough. It addresses my most common grammatical error of how and when to use commas. There is a chart telling when to use a comma and another chart telling when not to use them. Following the charts are about six pages of examples and an in depth explanation of the key points mentioned in the charts. The rest of the section tells of any other problems that one may run into with punctuation, ranging from apostrophes to abbreviations.
The organization of this book makes it easy to follow. As mentioned before, the book opens with a section on the writing process. I feel that this was an appropriate introductory lesson for a writing class. This is a critical topic that must be understood when attempting to write a paper. All people can benefit from reading this section. The flow to the next lessons is incredibly easy to follow. Moving into types of research and citation formats, the first three sections provide a beneficial groundwork to writing any paper. I feel that the authors of the book organized it in such a way that they assume students have less skill and knowledge of the first few lessons. I think they there are underlying assumptions that most students have studied grammar, and this is why the grammar lessons are toward the back of the book.
The book makes use of tabs that designate particular sections of the book. This is very helpful and allows for "quick-access" when finding a particular area under discussion. The dividers make the index of this book pretty much irrelevant. The design makes me feel like it were a class binder with dividers. I have never seen this before in a book, but it makes the book just that much more useful.
The language of the book is suitable for the audience. Being a writing textbook, the audience will typically be English students who have general knowledge and skills in composition. The authors of this book realize this and do not use highly technical words to create their points. They use easily identified words that are sure to be in everyone's vocabulary. As opposed to a science text where inadequate jargon will harm the explanations of certain topics or may insult the intelligence of reader, the exclusion of jargon in this text actually helps the learning experience. Somebody who is referring to this book to understand writing does not need to read a complicated piece of writing.
Keys for Writers also employs a "special feature," with an entire section for multilingual readers to use. This section has a very useful guide to transfer errors. This guide includes sample transfer errors to many languages in such issues as article use, word order, nouns, and verbs. The text continues in the multilingual section with basic rules of the English language. Though I myself am not multilingual, and therefore have not made particular use of this section in the book, I feel that it would be helpful for those students whose first language is not English.
Though Keys for Writers may be a little expensive, selling for about $45, and does not have any practice problems, the book is a good investment. It employs many useful techniques and rules for writing in an easily accessible spiral-bound book. The "easy-access" tabs that divide the book into its focus points eliminate the use of the index and allows for very quick references. The organization is enormously advantageous. The authors chose a very good layout for this textbook. All in all, this is the best composition book that I have ever read.

I have to look at dozens of these books every semester, and frankly mostly of them are less that impressive. Most lack organization or detail that make them useful or user friendly.

This is one of the few books that I find myself referring to and recommending repeatedly. Students from 16-60 tell me that this books is easy to follow. The book is well organized, clear, and consistent. For instance, if you need to find out how to do a Works Cited Page, this book walks you through it in a nearly fool-proof example.

After using this book for awhile, I found not only did I prefer using it, but I didn't have to keep explaining to my students how to do basic writing skills. I would tell them where to find something and they would pick it up.

Besides basic research information there are a number of tips on writing, structure, and organizing that my students have found helpful. It might be silly, but one of the things I like best about this book is it is small, ring bound, and is tabbed to its major parts. It seems someone finally figured out the key to a good writing reference guide is "easy access".

I'm a professional technical writer and editor, specilaizing in online documents. Consequently, I have a library of about 50 reference books regarding style, usage, grammar, etc.
I use this book more than any other because it is the ONLY book with a section for Multilingual writers or for people who speak / write English as a second language. Ann Raimes has masterfully crafted a chart of common transfer errors from the foreign language into English. Though I use this chart infrequently, the fact that Keys HAS such a chart is indicitave of the in-depth treatment that Ms. Raimes accords each topic.
In addition, I like the tabbed references in the spiral-bound edition. I also bought this book on CD for ready-reference on my compuyuter desktop.