Practical English Handbook

by Unknown

• ISBN13: 9780618043019
• ISBN10: 0618043012
• Edition: 11th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-10-31
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Table of Contents

Preface	xvii
A Memo to Writers	xix
Accuracy and Logic	2	(12)
Reliable sources	3	(1)
Accurate information	3	(1)
Sweeping generalizations	4	(1)
Exaggeration	5	(1)
Circular reasoning	5	(1)
False comparisons	6	(1)
Sticking to the point	7	(1)
Appeals to prejudice	7	(1)
Cause and effect	8	(1)
The either...or fallacy	9	(5)
Writing and Revising	14	(46)
Finding a worthy subject	14	(4)
Developing your ideas and planning your paper	18	(4)
Organizing systematically	22	(3)
Adapting to your audience	25	(1)
Using an appropriate tone	26	(1)
Choosing appropriate tense and number	27	(1)
Stating your thesis	28	(1)
Writing an appropriate length paper	28	(1)
Writing a first draft	29	(7)
Revising your draft	36	(8)
Model papers	44	(12)
Composing and revising on a computer	56	(4)
Writing Paragraphs	60	(22)
Writing a topic sentence	62	(2)
Unifying paragraphs	64	(2)
Developing paragraphs	66	(3)
Trimming, tightening, or dividing paragraphs	69	(1)
Using appropriate development methods	69	(9)
Using transitional devices	78	(4)
Grammar	82	(27)
The Parts of Speech	83	(1)
Nouns	83	(1)
Pronouns	83	(3)
Verbs	86	(3)
Adjectives	89	(1)
Adverbs	89	(2)
Conjunctions	91	(2)
Prepositions	93	(2)
Interjections	95	(1)
The Parts of Sentences	96	(1)
Simple subjects, complete subjects, compound subjects	96	(2)
Simple predicates, complete predicates, compound predicates	98	(1)
Complements	99	(2)
Phrases	101	(3)
Clauses	104	(2)
Kinds of sentences	106	(3)
Sentence Errors	109	(58)
Sentence Fragments	110	(2)
Comma Splices and Fused Sentences	112	(5)
Verb Forms	117	(6)
Tense and Sequence of Tenses	123	(5)
Present tense	123	(1)
Past tense	124	(1)
Future tense	124	(1)
Progressive tenses	124	(1)
Perfect tenses	125	(1)
Present infinitive	126	(1)
Consistency	127	(1)
Voice	128	(3)
Subjunctive Mood	131	(1)
Subject and Verb: Agreement	132	(11)
Singular verb with a singular subject	133	(1)
Plural verb with a plural subject	133	(1)
Compound subject	133	(1)
Compound subject with or, nor, etc.	134	(1)
Phrases and clauses between a subject and a verb	134	(1)
Collective nouns	135	(1)
Nouns plural in form, singular in meaning	135	(1)
Indefinite pronouns	136	(1)
All, some, part, etc.	136	(1)
There, here	137	(1)
Agreement with subject, not predicate nominative	138	(1)
After a relative pronoun	138	(1)
With titles or words used as words	138	(1)
Expressions of time, money, measurement, etc.	139	(4)
Pronouns and Antecedents: Agreement, Reference, and Usage	143	(8)
Singular pronoun with a singular antecedent	143	(1)
Plural pronoun with a plural antecedent	143	(1)
Compound antecedent with and	143	(1)
Compound antecedent with or, nor, etc.	144	(1)
Collective noun as antecedent	144	(1)
Each, either, etc.	144	(2)
Vague and ambiguous antecedents	146	(3)
Which, who, that	149	(1)
Pronouns ending in -self, -selves	150	(1)
Case	151	(8)
Subjects and subjective complements	152	(1)
Direct objects, indirect objects, objects of prepositions	153	(1)
Subjects and objects of infinitives	153	(1)
Appositives	154	(1)
After than or as	154	(1)
Who, Whom	154	(2)
Apostrophe or of phrase for possession	156	(1)
Words preceding a gerund	156	(3)
Adjectives and Adverbs	159	(8)
Adverbs modifying verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs	160	(1)
After linking verbs be, become, seem, etc.	160	(1)
After a verb and its object	161	(1)
Comparative and superlative degrees	162	(1)
Avoiding double comparatives and superlatives	162	(1)
Absolute concepts and absolute modifiers	163	(1)
Avoiding double negatives	163	(4)
Sentence Structure	167	(36)
Choppy Sentences and Excessive Coordination	168	(2)
Subordination	170	(3)
Subordination of less important ideas	170	(1)
Avoiding overlapping subordination	171	(2)
Completeness	173	(1)
Omission of verbs and prepositions	173	(1)
Omission of that	174	(1)
Comparisons	174	(4)
Illogical comparisons	174	(1)
Using the word other	175	(1)
Awkward and incomplete comparisons	175	(3)
Consistency	178	(5)
Avoiding shifts in grammatical forms	178	(3)
Avoiding faulty predication	181	(1)
Avoiding constructions is when, is where, or the reason is because	181	(2)
Position of Modifiers	183	(6)
Dangling	183	(2)
Misplaced	185	(1)
Limiting	186	(1)
Squinting	186	(3)
Separation of Elements	189	(3)
Subject and verb, parts of a verb phrase, or verb and object	189	(1)
A sentence containing a quotation	190	(1)
Split infinitives	190	(2)
Parallelism	192	(4)
With coordinating conjunctions	192	(1)
With correlative conjunctions	193	(1)
With and who, and which, or and that	194	(2)
Variety	196	(7)
Punctuation	203	(52)
Commas	204	(18)
Between two independent clauses	204	(1)
In a series	204	(3)
Between coordinate adjectives	207	(2)
After introductory phrases and clauses	209	(1)
With nonessential elements	210	(5)
With sentence modifiers, conjunctive adverbs, and elements out of order	215	(1)
With degrees, titles, dates, places, addresses	216	(1)
For contrast or emphasis	217	(1)
With mild interjections and yes or no	217	(1)
With direct address and salutations	217	(1)
With expressions like he said, she remarked	217	(1)
With absolute phrases	218	(1)
To prevent misreading or to mark an omission	218	(4)
Unnecessary Commas	222	(7)
Between subject and verb, verb and object, adjective and word it modifies	223	(1)
Before coordinating conjunctions	224	(1)
Not with essential clauses, phrases, or appositives	224	(1)
After coordinating conjunctions	224	(1)
Before subordinating conjunctions	225	(1)
After the opening phrase of an inverted sentence	225	(1)
Before the first or after the last item in a series	225	(1)
Before than	225	(1)
After like or such as	226	(1)
With period, question mark, dash, exclamation point	226	(1)
Before parentheses	226	(3)
Semicolons	229	(5)
Between independent clauses not connected by a coordinating conjunction	230	(1)
To separate independent clauses	231	(1)
In a series between items that have internal punctuation	231	(1)
Not between elements that are not grammatically equal	231	(3)
Colons	234	(3)
After formal introduction of a quotation	234	(1)
After formal introduction of a series of items	234	(1)
After formal introduction of an appositive	234	(1)
Between two independent clauses	235	(1)
In salutations, times, bibliographical entries	235	(1)
Not after linking verbs or prepositions	235	(2)
Dashes	237	(1)
Parentheses	238	(1)
Brackets	239	(1)
Quotation Marks	240	(9)
Direct quotations and dialogue	240	(1)
Quotation within a quotation	241	(1)
Titles of short works	241	(1)
Not with titles of your own papers	241	(1)
Not for emphasis, slang, irony, humor	242	(1)
Not with block quotations	242	(1)
With other punctuation marks	243	(6)
End Punctuation	249	(6)
Period at end of a sentence	250	(1)
Periods after abbreviations	250	(1)
Ellipsis points for omission	250	(1)
Punctuation of titles	251	(1)
Question mark after direct question	251	(1)
No question mark within parentheses or exclamation point for humor	252	(1)
Exclamation point	252	(3)
Mechanics	255	(36)
Manuscript Forms, Business Letters, and Resumes	256	(8)
Manuscripts	256	(4)
Business letters and applications	260	(1)
Resumes	260	(4)
Italics	264	(4)
Titles	264	(1)
Names of ships and trains	265	(1)
Foreign words	265	(1)
Words, letters, figures	266	(1)
Rarely use for emphasis	266	(1)
Not for titles of your own papers	266	(2)
Spelling	268	(8)
Spell-checking	268	(1)
Proofreading	269	(1)
Distinguishing homonyms	269	(1)
Spelling strategies	270	(6)
Hyphenation and Syllabication	276	(2)
Compound words	276	(1)
Compound adjectives	276	(1)
Compound numbers	276	(1)
Dividing a word at the end of a line	277	(1)
Apostrophes	278	(3)
For possessive nouns not ending in s	278	(1)
For possessive of singular nouns ending in s	279	(1)
Without s for possessive of plural nouns ending in s	279	(1)
For possessive of indefinite pronouns	279	(1)
For joint possession	279	(1)
For omissions and contractions	279	(1)
For acronyms and words being named	280	(1)
Capital Letters	281	(5)
First word of sentence	281	(1)
In titles	281	(1)
First word of direct quotations	281	(1)
Titles with names	282	(1)
Title of head of nation	282	(1)
Proper nouns	282	(1)
Family names	283	(1)
The pronoun I and the interjection O	283	(1)
Months, days of the week, holidays	283	(1)
B.C., A.D., deities, religions, sacred books	284	(1)
Specific courses	284	(2)
Abbreviations and Symbols	286	(1)
Days, months, measurement, states, countries	286	(1)
Acceptable abbreviations	286	(1)
Acceptable symbols	287	(1)
Numbers	287	(4)
Spelled out	287	(1)
Consistency	288	(1)
For complete dates, addresses, page and chapter references, percentages, hours	288	(3)
Diction and Style	291	(32)
Diction	292	(17)
Frequently using a dictionary	293	(3)
Precise meaning	296	(2)
Connotation	298	(2)
Colloquialisms and contractions	300	(1)
Slang	301	(1)
Dialect	302	(1)
Words used as the wrong part of speech	302	(1)
Idioms	303	(3)
Specialized vocabulary	306	(1)
Building your vocabulary	307	(2)
Style	309	(14)
Conciseness	309	(4)
Repetition	313	(3)
Flowery language	316	(1)
Clarity	317	(2)
Triteness and cliches	319	(1)
Figures of speech	320	(3)
Literature	323	(20)
Writing About Literature	324	(19)
Choosing a subject	324	(4)
Kinds of literary papers
Using a precise paper title	328	(1)
Not beginning with broad philosophical statements	329	(1)
Appropriate development	329	(1)
Paraphrasing and plot summary	330	(1)
Original thinking	330	(1)
Not writing about yourself of ``the reader''	331	(1)
Providing sufficient evidence	331	(1)
Using quotations	332	(1)
Not moralizing	332	(1)
Acknowledging sources	333	(1)
Writing about a story	333	(3)
Writing about a poem	336	(7)
Model Paper	337	(6)
Research	343	(104)
Writing a Research Paper	344	(103)
Choosing a subject	344	(4)
Major research tools	348	(4)
General reference aids	352	(1)
Specialized reference aids	353	(3)
Evaluating sources	356	(1)
Taking notes	357	(6)
Quoting and paraphrasing accurately; avoiding plagiarism	363	(5)
Producing an outline	368	(1)
Following a system of documentation	369	(1)
MLA style of documentation	370	(14)
Model research paper, MLA style	384	(27)
APA style of documentation	411	(9)
Model research paper, APA style	420	(27)
Glossary of Usage	447	(14)
Glossary of Exactness and Usage	448	(13)
English as a Second Language (ESL)	461	(8)
English as a Second Language (ESL)	462	(7)
ESL checklist	462	(2)
ESL lists	464	(5)
Glossary of Terms	469	(16)
Glossary of Terms	470	(15)
Index	485