Real Skills With Readings: Sentences and Paragraphs for College, Work, and Everyday Life - Softcover

Real Skills with Readings offers practical, accessible coverage of basic sentence skills and step-by-step guidance on writing paragraphs. Like the other books in the Anker series, Real Skills motivates students with its message that writing is an essential and achievable skill. Real Skills connects engaging grammar and writing instruction with an emphasis on critical thinking and reading skills — the keys to successful writing. Real-world examples, assignments, and readings show students the relevance of writing to all aspects of their lives. Real Skills with Readings is now integrated with LearningCurve — online, adaptive quizzing activities that reinforce what students learn in the book.

Susan Anker (BA, MEd, Boston University) brings a unique perspective to the teaching of the developmental writing course. She taught English and developmental writing before entering college publishing, where she worked for eighteen years: as a sales representative and English/ESL editor at Macmillan Publishing Company; as developmental English/ESL editor, executive editor, and editor in chief at St. Martin’s Press; and as vice president and editor in chief for humanities at Houghton Mifflin Company. In each of these positions, she worked with developmental writing instructors and students, maintaining her early interest in the field. Since the publication of the first edition of Real Writing in 1998, Anker has traveled extensively to campuses across the country, continuing her conversations with instructors and students and giving workshops and presentations. She believes that the writing course is, for many students, their first, best opportunity to learn the skills they will need to succeed in college and achieve their goals.