Offering accurate and comprehensive demonstrations of how writers actually write, this handbook includes a discussion of the kinds of reading and thinking required to construct a thoughtful, well—developed essay, and is based on the authors' premise that these processes are interrelated and support each other. The first part shows key relationships among the processes of writing, reading, and thinking creatively and logically, and provides strategies for developing the ideas that will make a good essay. The coverage of essay writing offers the most detailed and descriptive discussion on writing essays among composition handbooks and includes more writing samples than any other such text on the market. Separate chapters treat writing exploratory, analytical, and argumentative essays, emphasizing that good writing is within reach of any writer that is attentive throughout the process of writing and revising their work.