The College Writer's Reference

by Fulwiler, Toby; Hayakawa, Alan R.

• ISBN13: 9780130429230
• ISBN10: 0130429236
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-06-01
• Publisher: Pearson College Div

Summary

This compact, portable, no-nonsense, non-threatening reference for writers offers concise--yet thorough --coverage of all writing issues, with material organized around the stages of the writing process. It focuses on issues of style, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics as editing choices writers make in the final stage of the writing process. The book's four-color design, lay-flat spiral binding, and abundant use of writing and hand-edited examples all make information easy to find, use, and understand. The Writing Process (A Writer's Questions; Writing to Discover; Journal Writing; Recounting Experience; Explaining How Things Work; Interpreting Texts; Arguing Positions; The Revision Process; The Editing Process). The Research Process (Conducting Library, Internet, and Field Research; Evaluating Research Sources; Using Research Sources). Document Design (Principles of Design; Constructing Web Pages; Portfolios and Publishing). Editing (words and sentences; punctuation; grammar). Documentation Styles. For anyone who wants to improve their writing skills.

Table of Contents

The Writing Process

A Writer's Questions

The Writing Process

Writing to Discover

Journal Writing

Recounting Experience

Explaining Concepts

Interpreting Texts

Arguing Positions

Revising

Editing

The Research Process

Beginning Research

Conducting Library Research

Conducting Internet Research

Conducting Field Research

Evaluating Research Sources

Using Sources

Document Design

Principles of Design

Constructing Web Pages

Portfolios and Publishing

Editing: Clarity

Paragraph Structure

Strong Openings

Thoughtful Closings

Powerful Sentences

Concise Sentences

Strong Verbs

Specific Nouns, Modifiers

The Right Word

Unbiased Language

Proofreading

Editing: Punctuation

Commas

Semicolons

Colons

Apostrophes

Quotation Marks

Parentheses and Brackets

Dashes, Slashes, & Ellipsis Points

End Punctuation

Editing: Conventions of Written English

Spelling

Capitalization

Hyphens

Numbers

Abbreviations

Italics and Underlining

Editing: Grammar

Reviewing Grammar

Using Verbs Correctly

Making Subjects Agree with Verbs

Using Pronouns Correctly

Working with Adjectives and Adverbs

Positioning Modifiers

Eliminating Sentence Fragments

Eliminating Comma Splices and Fused Sentences

Eliminating Shifts and Mixed Constructions

Academic Conventions

MLA Documentation

APA Documentation

CMS and Other Documentation Styles

Writing for Work

Glossary of Usage

ESL Index

Index

Revision Symbols

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

The third edition of The College Writer's Referenceremains portable, accessible, and easy to understand. It continues to explain and illustrate the qualities of good writing as well as the logic behind the traditional conventions of grammar and usage. And it continues to insist that good writing is a mix of inventive composing, judicious revising, and rigorous editing rather than the mechanical following of formulaic prescriptions. At the same time, the new edition features include an expanded discussion of Internet research, evaluating all research sources, updated documentation conventions, fresh samples of student writing, complete information on publishing student writing, and even more clarity and grace throughout. The basic approach in all editions of The College Writer's Referenceis to focus honestly on the needs of undergraduate student writers. Presented is a process approach to the teaching of writing, examining the different but overlapping stages of writing we call planning, drafting, researching, revising, and editing. The book addresses rhetorical issues of audience, purpose, and voice as well as the more technical issues of style, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics, emphasizing the actual choices that writers make rather than arbitrary rules. We wrote the book to give students a brief, no-nonsense, non-threatening guide to improving their writing abilities. As a practicing composition teacher with 35 years experience, Fulwiler is especially aware that inexperienced writers need to gain confidence in their voices and ideas as much as practice in the technical requirements of good writing. And as a practicing journalist with 25 years of experience, Alan Hayakawa insists on the importance of conventional correctness in writing destined for the real world in which writing is published. For this reason, The College Writer's Referencedevotes equal time to the whys (the emphasis on rhetoric) as well as the hows (grammar, spelling, punctuation) of good writing. Students who know why they are doing what they are doing are more likely to slow down and learn how to master it. Pedagogical Features As a progressive alternative to traditional brief handbooks, this revised edition of The College Writer's Referencehas several important features that will continue to make this book as easy for instructors to teach from as it is for students to use on their own. Useful organization The College Writer's Referenceoffers concise yet thorough coverage of all handbook concerns, uniquely organized according to the logic of the writing process: in the opening section, we urge writers to think about planning and drafting; in the later sections, we ask them to think hard about revision and editing. Traditional topics of style, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics are thus presented as "editing" choices that writers make in the final stage of the writing process. New to this edition is the placement of the editing sections students use most often (punctuation, spelling, conventions) before that used less frequently (grammar and grammar review). Teachable treatment of the whole writing process The opening chapters of The College Writer's Referenceexamine the creative but frustrating messiness of the writing process, offering plenty of ideas and strategies to help writers shape, organize, and give voice to their work. This fully teachable treatment of the writing process discusses inventing, composing, revising, editing, and publishing. Detailed chapters cover four, common purposes for writing--recounting experiences, explaining things, interpreting texts, and arguing positions. And we believe this is the only brief handbook that includes thorough explanations of both journal writing and advanced revision techniques. This new edition of The College Writer's Referenceadds a new part ("Docu