Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Five years ago, Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" In Good to Great Collins, the author of Built to Last, concludes that it is possible, but finds there are no silver bullets. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They finally settled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success. Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Peppered with dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so great, the book offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that any organization would do well to consider. Like Built to Last, Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for years to come. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
The Challenge
Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning.
But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?
The Study
For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?
The Standards
Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck.
The Comparisons
The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good?
Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't.
The Findings
The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include:
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Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness.
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The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence.
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A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology.
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The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap.
“Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”
Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?
Customer Reviews:
A Great Perspective.......2007-10-13
This is a business book that keeps you enthralled and reminds you of a philosophy that most of us overlook.....BE GREAT at what you do NOT GOOD. I have given this book and the book Understanding: Train of Thought to several colleagues and we have benefited by focusing on being great in all aspects of our businesses and life.
A very thought-provoking book for people trying to grow their business........2007-10-02
This was a very interesting book for me to read. I have to imagine that I am in a pretty narrow target market for this book, though the concepts may be broadly applied. I work for a small business and can see many opportunities to put this book's findings to work.
The book tells the various stories of companies that made a transition from a market participant to market leader and saw sustained success for at least 15 years. The author was able to identify a few common factors between these companies, and he and his research team present them as a model for us to follow.
I had but one small issue, which is probably not information that contributes to the rest of the research. They detail radical decisions made by upper management, sometimes completely changing the face of an established business. I figure there must be a largely disproportionate number of business that fail when they made the same or a similar move. I would have liked to see some detail behind how those successful companies came to make that decision. The decision itself was largely overlooked.
Like many "business" books, I feel that much of what was written here was largely common sense. They weren't necessarily ideas that I have had or would have come up with on my own, but as I read them they seemed mundane in analysis. It made the reading slow going, but there was a silver lining -- for instant gratification, each chapter ends with a few pages of main concepts extracted from the text.
There was some very insightful research in Good to Great. The common elements identified were relevant and practical. It would not be an easy model to follow, but if it were it would defeat its own purpose to isolate those corporate characteristics that set successful companies apart. If you have ever wondered what steps you should follow to take your company from Good to Great, this is a book you should read (even if it is just the chapter summaries).
"Good" is not "good enough"........2007-10-02
"Good" is not "good enough". When organizations and/or individuals settle for "good" as "good enough" they set themselves up to become obsolete. "Good to Great" looks at those organizations that decided never to settle for "good enough" and became "Great". How about you? Are you striving to become great at what you do, or have you settled for being good enough to get by? Does the organization that you work for have a plan to move from good to great? Are you a part of the change that will take your company to the next level or do you believe that your company is "good enough" right where it is?
I believe there is more value to be gained by pushing good organizations to become great than trying to turn mediocre organizations into good ones. The data presented in "Good to Great" shows just how much value can be gained by those willing to make the leap to Great. The book also shows you what principles of business those companies that made the leap had to adopt.
My favorite chapters are chapter two (Level 5 Leadership) and three (First Who...Then What). Level 5 Leadership address the benefits of having personal humility combined with a strong will to build something great. We have to many leaders at the top that have let their egos become more important than the organizations they run. "Good to Great" explains how the leaders of those companies that made the leap avoided the ego trap while having great ambitions for building something exceptional. Everyone who wishes to become a leader that makes a difference should read this chapter.
"First Who...Then What" does a good job of showing how great companies put "talent" at the top of the agenda. Any leader who wants to build a strong organization must put "talent" at the top of their agenda. Jim Collins address two critical issues companies need to address when it comes to recruiting and developing their talent. He shows us why it is important to get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus. And then goes on to explain how great companies get the people in the right seat. How many people in your organization are in the wrong seat? How many should be taken off the bus entirely? Companies are not good at hiring the right people and then are terrible at assigning them to the right job. This chapter is a must for anyone involved in the hiring of talent.
I also recommend spending some time at jimcollins.com. I have visited and revisited this site to get more information on the concepts presented in "Good to Great". Buy the book, then go to the website and start your own journey from good to great.
Larry Kevin Adams
theactionator.com
Good To Great.......2007-09-28
Our company is taking the advice of the book to heart. We have formed our "hedgehog" group and all are excited. We want to work in an environment of greatness. The book shows us the way. We have 7 of our employees who have agreed to "donate their time" at lunch several times a month to help us identify our circles. I would recommend this book to any company or organization that truly wants to have their maximum impact in the arena in which they operate!
My Business Bible.......2007-09-24
If I have a bible for business, this is it. First who then what is the only way to go!
Book Description
Thompson, Strickland and Gamble's, CRAFTING AND EXECUTING STRATEGY, 15e presents the latest research findings from the literature and cutting-edge strategic practices of companies have been incorporated to keep step with both theory and practice. Scores of new examples have been added to complement the new and updated Illustration Capsules. More chapter-end exercises have been included. The result is a text treatment with more punch, greater clarity, and improved classroom effectiveness. But none of the changes have altered the fundamental character that has driven the text's success over the years. The chapter content continues to be solidly mainstream and balanced, mirroring both the best academic thinking and the pragmatism of real-world strategic management. This paperback version of the text does not contain any cases, but it does include 21 readings from noted business writers that support the concepts in the main text portion. Instructors who would like to create their own case packets to go with this book should go to www.mhhe.com/primis to make their selections.
Customer Reviews:
Does not have BSG online code.......2007-05-06
Same contents as the hard cover edition but this version does not come with BSG online access code. If you will need to play the Business Strategy Game online, you will need to pay $35 extra for online access code.
Language is a bit simplistic, not the type you would expect in a business textbook.
Easy read.......2007-04-01
This book is fairly easy to read. Lots of good/useful case studies.
Exellent condition.......2007-03-23
Book was in great condition. Received exactly as described. Top class seller.
The authors should find a different editor........2007-02-05
This book contains a lot of valuable information on market strategy. The content of the book is very useful, but also very wordy and repetitive. That makes gleaning the book's "meat" a very frustrating task.
Fortunately, core concepts are listed in page margins to summarize main ideas. There are also diagrams illustrating these core concepts. These will help you to skip past the fluffy content.
I think this book shows real promise but is in serious need of copy editing.
Content of text is too repetitive.......2007-01-06
Book was required for an 8 week course. The way the text is written there is too much repetition and information for the course - some chapters are over 50 pages long (10-15 of those pages are used as examples and repetitive information). May be better suited to the standard semester class.
Customer Reviews:
Not for a Primary Teacher.......2003-06-25
This book has great info., but as a primary teacher I found the material hard to relate.
"One Source for Survival in the Classroom".......2000-09-24
One teacher that reviewed this book said that this book was the "one source for survival in the classroom." After reading this book, you will see why. The Vaccas have put together a text that is a goldmine of methods and strategies that are immediately applicable in the classroom.
One of my professors made a comment to our Content Literacy class that "one of the salient points about content area literacy and students is that we assume that because a student can read, we automatically take for granted that her interaction with the text will be a fruitful one. But as many of you know, this is frequently not the case. Especially with ESL students,students from other than white, middle class, suburban backgrounds, and students with exceptionalities. This is where content area literacy methodology comes into play, and as a teacher, you play a crucial role in helping students interact with their texts in a way that helps the student make meaning. Interaction with the printed word is at the very heart of literacy."
This text contains a wealth of practical activities and strategies designed to foster content area literacy by assisting the teacher in scaffolding instruction so that all students can become knowledgable and profficient in developing their own learning strategies.
Although the book is a little "pricey," in the end it is well worth the investment, because it is just that, an investment. I have a rich resource that I can utilize many times over, which will be a source of support and instruction for many years to come.
Still the best reading methods book around.......1999-12-15
This book by Vacca is still the best of the content-area reading books on the market. Unlike many of the others out there, this one shows splendid visual representations and step-by-step approaches to a variety of reading strategies for secondary teachers. Save yourself time. Give this one a try.
An Excellent Teaching Methods Text.......1999-12-06
I am using this book as one of the texts in a secondary methods class I am teaching to preservice teachers. While so many of the texts we encounter in these types of classes are rather simplistic, contrived "recipe books," this book is truly a breath of fresh air. It is well organized, and it covers literacy instruction very effectively. Good, practical strategies are provided to assist the teacher as lessons are developed and presented. The theoretical bases upon which the strategies are based are evident, so that the teacher isn't just presented with a handful of activities which don't really lead anywhere. I particularly like the graphic representations which preview the material covered in each chapter. These provide a great overview and a sense of organization.
As I present material on how one goes about selecting a good textbook, I use this book as an example of a text which is well prepared and very user friendly. The organizational structure of the book is excellent, from the front material through the appendices, bibliography and indices.
My only complaint about the book is its price. But the way text prices are going lately, maybe it's not too far out of line. Seventy four dollars just seems like a lot of money for 550 pages.
I highly recommend this text to anyone who needs to incorporate literacy instruction into a content area classroom. It is very practical yet has a solid theoretical base. It will be an excellent resource for the thoughtful practitioner.
Book Description
The definitive reference for reading and literacy from kindergarten through college
This comprehensive fifth edition of a bestselling classic offers an unparalleled source of timely, practical information on all aspects of reading instruction. Ready for immediate use, it offers over 190 up-to-date lists for developing instructional materials and lesson planning. The book is organized into 15 convenient sections full of practical examples, key words, teaching ideas, and activities that can be used as is or adapted to meet students’ diverse needs. New topical areas include: ideas for non-narrative reading; word walls; graphic organizer and concept development software; new literacies, such as ’zines, Internet terms, emoticons, e-mail, and chat; as well as weekly writing prompts.
Edward Bernard Fry, PhD (Laguna Beach, CA), is Professor Emeritus of Education at Rutgers University and internationally renowned inventor of his eponymous Readability Graph. Jacqueline E. Kress, EdD (Elizabeth, NJ), is Dean of Education at New York Institute of Technology.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful addition to any home/school library.......2007-07-11
We use this book with our students in school regularly. I bought a copy for my home. All four of my children (ages 10 - 17) refer to it time and again. It is a must for a home library. I keep it right next to the dictionary and thesaurus.
Indispensable resource for teachers of reading!.......2007-06-30
The Reading Teacher's Book of Lists is a wonderful resource for teachers, especially in helping develop instructional materials and lesson plans for grades K-12 & even for adult literacy. There are lists covering phonics, useful words, vocabulary, subject words, literature, writing, instruction, comprehension & study skills, assessment, spelling, the internet,ESL/language, word play, abbreviations/symbols/signs, and references. This is a highly practical and comprehensive resource for teachers of reading, but is also suitable for parents & students, and anyone interested in the subject matter. I would also recommend Jim Burke's Reading Reminders:Tools, Tips, and Techniques as a companion to this.
Great for anyone who teaches reading!.......2007-06-24
I love this book! It has any list related to reading that you can imagine!
Need to "beef up" your reading instruction?
This is the book for you!
A Must Have.......2007-01-12
Is your time worth money? If the answer is ,"Yes," well, do I have a book for you. The Reading Teacher's Book of Lists, is well worth every penny you'll spend. It's a valuable resource for all teachers, paraprofessionals, parents, and students. From locating lists of word families to sesquipedalians; this book has it all. It is a great time saver. I highly recommend this book. If in doubt, buy it ... you'll be glad you did.
2 Thumbs up and a MUST have for teachers.......2007-01-12
As a first year Reading and English teacher, I use this book almost daily. There are activities, strategies, ideas, writing prompts, and plenty of reference/trivia information. This book is packed full of bell activity material and five-minute fillers. I HIGHLY recommend it!
Book Description
In Volume III, as in Volumes I and II, the classic topics of reading are included--from vocabulary and comprehension to reading instruction in the classroom--and, in addition, each contributor was asked to include a brief history that chronicles the legacies within each of the volume's many topics. However, on the whole, Volume III is not about tradition. Rather, it explores the verges of reading research between the time Volume II was published in 1991 and the research conducted after this date. The editors identified two broad themes as representing the myriad of verges that have emerged since Volumes I and II were published: (1) broadening the definition of reading, and (2) broadening the reading research program. The particulars of these new themes and topics are addressed.
Customer Reviews:
Using Research to Accommodate Instruction.......2000-06-15
An extremely well-written compilation and synthesis of research in the field of Reading. Some areas that are explored include Early Literacy, Motivation and Achievement, Historical Perspectives of Reading Research, Comprehension, and Computers and Reading. The synthesis and meta-analysis of the research provides implications for instruction. A must have for reading specialists, Special Education specialist/teachers, and anyone who has the desire to improve their understanding of the reading process and improve their instruction.
Book Description
This is the only comprehensive reading inventory on the market to assess the "Big Five" components of reading instruction as identified by the National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.
Derived from the Flynt/Cooter Classroom Reading Inventory, this informal classroom inventory offers teachers of preschool through Grade 12 the simple, straightforward miscue analysis method for assessing their students' level of competency in reading comprehension and fluency.In addition this text provides easily administered assessment tools for discerning students' development in phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary. Additional materials are provided to help teachers to assess students' whose first language is Spanish and students who have special needs. A resource CD and an Audio case study CD are included with every copy.
Customer Reviews:
Readers Get Ready.......2007-01-07
This is an excellent resource for teachers to help identify the needs of all the readers in your classroom.
Book Description
A practical, inspirational book offering essays,lesson plans, and a remarkable collection of student writing, all rooted in an unwavering focus on language arts teaching for justice. An excellent resource for colleagues, staff development, teacher education, and school libraries.
Customer Reviews:
A must for both experienced and aspiring teachers.......2007-06-30
This was one of three required texts for my masters level Adv. Language Arts class. At first, I thought that the book would follow the pathway of others dealing with education in urban schools--focus on the "Great White Hope". Although the author is Caucasian and the majority of her students are minorities, the book didn't come off as a "Made in Hollywood" story. Christensen is completely honest in her sharing of students' attitudes, experiences, beliefs, and achievemnets as well as her own. She is explicit in her teaching methods, and openly shares what works and what doesn't. It is impossible for me to give Christensen the credit that she deserves in such a limited space. However, I encourage you to discover her on your own. Happy reading.
One of The Best Teaching Books.......2007-01-22
Linda Christensen's book is one of the most useful and rewarding books for teaching Language Arts, period. Reading, Writing, and Rising Up is totally hands on, useful, and will help any teacher figure out better, more effective ways to make learning meaningful for their students. I've used this book many times in my own classes and my students have responded well. No other Language Arts book incorporates issues of social justice so seamlessly. Thank you Linda!
Not what I expected in a text book for education.......2006-10-25
I had expected this text to be a collection of teaching ideas and suggestions for students preparing to teach language arts in school. There are some useful ideas for educational majors. There is also a ton of unuseful, uninsightful and personal ramblings of an apparent devout feminist who obliviously would more comfortable wrting about societies ills with men in charge, instead of useful educational ideas. Writer Christensen should write social commentaries, instead of professing to write useful text, when she can spew extreme left wing ideas. This should have been a book for a sociology class, not an education class.
A Very Good Read.......2006-02-25
I bought this book for a class I'm taking as an education major. This book was an asset to me when planning lessons I'd like to tackle with my students. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in giving students greater ways to to express themselves through their written work!
If you work in a multicultral classroom, a troubled youth classroom or any secondary ed school you need this book........2005-10-07
I bought this book because I thought it seemed interesting. I had no idea how useful it would be.
I work with out of school teenagers who are almost all Latino. This book has given me so many activities to use with my students. They are really starting to understand the power of their voices and how important their stories are. It was really a blessing to finally come across a book that actually addresses the population that I work with.
Book Description
With its balanced approach to reading instruction, Reading and Learning to Read, 5/e, remains a comprehensive, active learning tool that encourages students to teach reading in ways that are both meaningful and reflective. Rather than emphasizing a traditional skills-based approach, this book focuses on teaching skills within a meaning-centered approach. This includes an emphasis on literature-based reading instruction, the integration of technology into the teaching of reading, and the integration of reading and writing instruction.
This book continues to promote a contemporary, balanced approach to teaching reading and writing with a renewed emphasis on integrating technology, accommodating the needs of diverse learners, and teaching the middle school young adolescent. Given the increasingly focused interest on literacy standards in the teaching of reading world-wide, this edition also highlights practical examples and references that exemplify the International Reading Associations Standards for Reading Professionals. User friendly marginal icons highlight each of these new features, making them easy to locate for classroom discussion. Additionally, this updated edition features a new section in each chapter that discusses pertinent issues regarding struggling with readers, a recurring concern of classroom teachers. Web sites are also included at the end of each chapter that direct the reader to online practical resources on a variety topics.
Designed for anyone interested in elementary reading methods, reading in the elementary school, and developmental reading.
Customer Reviews:
Reading and Learning to Read.......2007-09-09
A concise text explaining everything an educator needs to know to develop and expand a literacy program.
refreshing and up to date.......2006-06-29
I found this book very useful. It helped me make the transition from teaching English as L1 to English as a Second Language. The text contains many strategies and activities that have proven effective and can be applied to ESL and is also useful for teachers reviewing for their certification exams.
Excellent Reading Instruction Beginners Book.......2003-10-24
This is one of the most comprehensive and interesting books I had ever come across in my educational career. The authors not only teach the basics of reading instruction, but put forth a plethora of differing strategies/methods for application in the elementary and middle grade classrooms.
Great resource for future teachers or parents!.......2000-06-03
This book is written very well and is very informative. I found this book to be a great tool for teachers. I read this book for a class and I felt that it kept my interest and made for easy reading material. This book provides parents and/or teachers with insight on how to help children learn to read. This book also includes many great activities and strategies to use to strengthen and encourage literacy (no matter what age the student is). I have tested many of the activities on students myself, and found that it made teaching and learning to read more enjoyable for everyone involved. Overall, I thought this book was great. I plan on keeping it as a resource in my classroom or even in my own home.
Book Description
Beginning to Read reconciles the debate that has divided theorists for decades over the "right" way to help children learn to read. Drawing on a rich array of research on the nature and development of reading proficiency, Adams shows educators that they need not remain trapped in the phonics versus teaching-for-meaning dilemma. She proposes that phonics can work together with the whole language approach to teaching reading and provides an integrated treatment of the knowledge and process involved in skillful reading, the issues surrounding their acquisition, and the implications for reading instruction.
A Bradford Book
Customer Reviews:
A summary is available........2004-10-28
I have 30 years of experience as an educator in the area of indigenous education. This is a wonderful and exciting book for educators and researchers, who are used to the technical terminology and academic genre, but for teachers and parents, a 148-page summary of the book has been published, which is not an easy-reading style, but is beautifully written. Unfortunately it is out of print, but it is listed on Amazon.com, and sometimes it might be available used. This unabridged version was comissioned by the US government, to evaluate all of the research in beginning reading to the date when it was written. The author did a remarkable job of pulling it all together under one cover, and a brilliant job of evaluating and applying the research. Obviously there could be one or another research project since its publication which might invalidate some conclusion in the book. However, the major questions involved in teaching beginning reading have been thoroughly researched and there ARE definitive answers to the questions that are still being debated by teachers and parents ten and twenty years after the research was done. For example, this book (and its summary edition) tells you what kind of reading methods are most effective (there is no reason to continue to debate the phonics vs. whole language issue based on how you feel about them - see what research has proven to be most effective), what kind of preschool experience can still set the students apart even when they are graduating from high school, and other important facets of education which teachers and parents ignore to the detriment of their students.
Academic Review Of Reading That Is Not Fun To Read .......2004-07-31
This book contains gems: there is no question about that. The `reading-literacy' project was given solid funding by the government and Ms. Adams has done a superlative job of surveying the literature and coming up with reasonable conclusions.
That said, there is a problem. And the problem is that "Beginning to Read" was written for bureaucrats. The straightforward language we might expect from an educator and researcher is therefore made obscure, obtuse, and overly `officious'. [No doubt pleasing to the edu-crats.]
For example, (from page 413; the summary): "It is because of the process of comprehension consists of actively searching the overlap among words for syntactic and semantic coherence that reading depends so critically on the speed and automaticity of word recognition."
[Or, in other words, reading comprehension depends on speed and automatic word recognition so that the nascent reader can make use of syntax and semantics. ]
Not incomprehensible in it's original form, Adam's verbiage is awkward and somehow embarrassing for a book that is supposed to be about `reading' and `comprehension'.
Three Stars. A comprehensive survey of current and past literature, this book attempts--and in my opinion succeeds-- in reconciling the phonics versus whole language camps. However, expect a slog of it. [Unless of course you are an edu-crat in which case the officiousness will sound very convincing indeed-lol]
Anyone else interested in this topic but with less time might find the same information in a `tastier' format in the following books: Mem Fox's "Reading Magic"; and the slightly less digestible "Raising Lifelong Learners" by Lucy McCormick Calkins.
Brilliant review.......2000-10-25
This book offers a wealth of information about reading development. It is a terrific source, as well for the scientist, as for the interested layman. Although it is biased toward the Seidenberg and McClelland model, the wealth of empirical data is more than compensating. It is an heroic attemt to synthesize different viewpoints.
The resource book on learning to read!.......2000-06-10
This is the book that other books on teaching reading refers to. It provides all of the "who, what, where, when, why, and hows" of teaching reading to children. A must-buy if you're a teacher of reading or at all interested in the topic.
Research?.......1999-12-04
Recent eye movement research by Dr. Eric Paulson refutes most of the finding in this text.
Book Description
This brief version of the best—selling cross—curricular classic retains its hallmark coverage of source—based writing skills combined with five popular readings chapters. This portable version represents a carefully—chosen selection from the original edition, with five (of the original seven) readings chapters included in their entirety. The abbreviated rhetoric section still covers the skills of summary, critique, and synthesis, taking students step—by—step through the process of writing papers based on source material. Students then put these skills to practice on thematically—linked essays on provocative topics in the discipline—specific readings chapters. A stronger focus on argumentation addresses the trend found in today's composition classrooms. Individuals interested in writing from sources and academic writing in different disciplines.
Customer Reviews:
Convoluted Nightmare -just terrible.......2007-03-02
I'm currently using this for a freshman English course, and I find it is a complete mess. There are historical mistakes (claiming Cicero was the greatest writer of the Roman Empire -when Cicero wrote during the Republic), spelling errors, and even grammatical errors (take the title of Chapter 4 for instance: "Types of Synthesis: Explanatory and Argument" -has the author ever run into the term parallelism?).
The book is full of redundancies and proprietary terminology. Some of the concepts are barely explained, others are beaten to death. The writing style is not consistent, leading to the suspicion that many people had their hands in this one -perhaps "authors" in India. Some of the exercises are barely comprehensible. For instance:
"Look over the preceding readings and make a list of the ways they address the overall topics of computers, communication, and relationships. Make your list as detailed as you can. Then write several lists grouping together the readings that deal with similar aspects of the overall topics" (108).
We really don't want our students writing like this, so the last thing we should do is expose them to a textbook like this.
Some of the reading selections are good, and others are vapid, pointless, and generally worthless. Essays about dirty dorm rooms and lack of parking spaces behind the gym -oh yes, this is really provocative.
I challenge anyone to find me a worse textbook.
Great Service.......2007-02-24
Received book within a week of purchase. Book in excellent condition. Great Service!
Good for Academics.......2006-03-27
The book provides quality information about research papers and topical essays that effectively demonstrate the many major parts of a research paper. It focuses on summary, synthesis, critique, and analysis; the inside cover gives the reader an easy to read summary of the contents. While the subject matter of writing papers is fairly dry, the information contained in the essays is somewhat interesting.
The best apparatus out there.......2002-10-24
This cut down by more than half the time it has taken my students to learn to write summaries, integrate sources, understand argument, and write syntheses.
Many of the readings are also interesting and productive, especially those on Folklore and Obedience to Authority. I'd teach it in combination with a course reader, though, since there's almost no attention to the process of helping students find their voice and write more beautiful prose.
But no one book can do everything, and I plan to keep teaching this one. My students like it too -- with its focus on arguable ideas and the wonderful step-by-step breakdown of the writing process.
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- Grandad's Prayers of the Earth
- Gundam SEED ASTRAY R Volume 2 (Gundam (Tokyopop) (Graphic Novels))
- Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
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Strategy & Competition
| Management & Leadership
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Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
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The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
