本书是一部全面、系统、实用的英语写作教材，适合大学英语专业学生、非英语专业高年级学生以及其他希望提高英语写作水平的学习者使用。
本书第一部分介绍作文的写作过程；第二部分列举了作文的九种写作方法，即描写、叙事、举例、过程、因果、对比、定义、分类和论述；第三部分的目的是：以前两部分为基础，提高大学生的写作能力，涉及大学阶段专门题材的写作；第四部分介绍遣词造句的技巧；最后一部分是用于写作练习的预读材料。
和前几版相比，该版进行了一些改进。首先，随着因特网的普及，在资料的检索方面更加快捷和广泛，这一版加强了这方面的指导，并配备了一些网上学习材料。其次，本版增加了避免抄袭行为的内容，是学生能够更规范地表达自己的思想。第三，在第三章加强了对“论题”的指导。第四，全书共增加了五篇新的阅读材料。

All students and professors need to write, and many struggle to finish their stalled dissertations, journal articles, book chapters, or grant proposals. Writing is hard work and can be difficult to wedge into a frenetic academic schedule. In this practical, light-hearted, and encouraging book, Paul Silvia explains that writing productively does not require innate skills or special traits but specific tactics and actions. Drawing examples from his own field of psychology, he shows readers how to overcome motivational roadblocks and become prolific without sacrificing evenings, weekends, and vacations. After describing strategies for writing productively, the author gives detailed advice from the trenches on how to write, submit, revise, and resubmit articles, how to improve writing quality, and how to write and publish academic work.

Based on the bestselling series from The Great Courses, Building Great Sentences celebrates the sheer joy of language—and will forever change the way you read and write.
Great writing begins with the sentence. Whether it’s two words (“Jesus wept.”) or William Faulkner’s 1,287-word sentence in Absalom! Absalom!, sentences have the power to captivate, entertain, motivate, educate, and, most importantly, delight. Yet, the sentence-oriented approach to writing is too often overlooked in favor of bland economy. Building Great Sentences teaches you to write better sentences by luxuriating in the pleasures of language.
Award-winning Professor Brooks Landon draws on examples from masters of long, elegant sentences—including Don DeLillo, Virginia Woolf, Joan Didion, and Samuel Johnson—to reveal the mechanics of how language works on thoughts and emotions, providing the tools to write powerful, more effective sentences.

Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
Now in its fourth edition, Writing Academic English, by Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, is the essential writing text to prepare high-intermediate and advanced college or college-bound English language learners for academic success.
Features
* A step-by-step approach guides students through the process of writing paragraphs and essays.
* Clear models and varied practice help students to develop confidence and a mature writing style.
* Examples with academic content prime students for college work.
* Appendices offer easy reference for key writing, grammar, and research information.
New to the Fourth Edition
* A chapter dedicated to each pattern of essay organization
* A chapter on argumentation and using material from outside sources
* Thought-provoking readings from authentic sources
* An expanded chapter on summary and paraphrase
* Instruction in the basics of research and documentation