Students, teachers, businessmen, aspiring authors all have one thing in common - the need to express successfully ideas, opinions, arguments, problems, explanations, or instructionsthrough the medium of the written word.  And The Lively Art of Writing is the perfect guide to mastery of this essential skill.  It will answer all your questions, provide you with the best techniques, and offer important information about:

• Choosing a Subject
• Working with Words
• The Sound of Sentences
• The Power of Paragraphs
• Essentials of Style
• Essays, Theses, and Term Papers
• and Much, Much More!

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 What Is an Essay?
Subjects for Essays
What Is an Opinion, and How Do You Reach It?
What Makes an Opinion Interesting?
Examining the Opposition
Believe What You Say

Chapter 2 From Opinion to Thesis
"Closing In" on Your Thesis
The Five-Step Process
A Subject Close to Home

Chapter 3 The Full and Final Thesis
Elements of a Full Thesis
The Psychology of Argument
Strongest Argument Last
Form of the Full Thesis

Chapter 4 Structure
The Introduction
No Bombs, Please
The Big Middle Section
Refer to Your Full Thesis
Your Strongest Argument
The Conclusion
Back to Beginnings
Understand the Structure
Tying in the Middle Section

Chapter 5 First Steps toward Style
The First Commandment
The Second Commandment

Chapter 6 The Size and Shape of Middle Paragraphs
One Point, One Paragraph
Length of Paragraphs
Basic Paragraph Structure
Developing a Paragraph
Picture-Frame Paragraphs

Chapter 7 Connections between Paragraphs
Standard Devices
A Note on 'however"
Paragraph Hooks
The Combinations

Chapter 8 The Passive Voice
What It Is, and How to Beat It
Adrift in Nobody-Land
Making the Subject Perform
Why Passive Voice at All?
A Plan for Self-Protection

Chapter 9 The Sound of Sentences
The Rhythm of Speech
Getting Inside the Sentence
The Basic Statement
The Strung-Along Sentence
The Periodic Sentence
The Combinations
Selecting the Details
Expanding the Subject
Expanding the Verb
Expanding the Rest of the Sentence

Chapter 10 Parallel Structure
Look for the Common Denominator
The Smaller Parallels

Chapter 11 A Way with Words
Synonyms and Antonyms
Big Words and Small
The Solemn Vapors
Metaphor and Simile
Allusion

Chapter 12 Odds and Ends and Means
The Terrible Three
The Troublesome Twenty-Seven
Punctuation