Little, Brown Compact Handbook, The (with NEW MyCompLab with Pearson eText Student Access Code Card)

by Aaron, Jane E.

• ISBN13: 9780205746491
• ISBN10: 0205746497
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Package
• Copyright: 2009-04-20
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

The most trusted and authoritative name in handbooks,The Little, Brown Compact Handbook,7/e is an easy-to-use reference that will answer any question you may have in grammar, writing, or research. This edition offers the latest information on integrating computers as well concrete help with critical thinking and argument. It also includes further help in the form of new checklists and summary boxes to guide you in crafting clear and correct sentences. Will answer any question a writer has about grammar, the writing process, or research.The writing process, critical thinking, argumentative writing, style, grammar, mechanics, usage, the research process, how to document sources. Anyone who wants a reliable writing reference book.

Table of Contents

Preface for Students  

Preface for Instructors          

I. WRITING PROCESS

1. The Writing Situation  

a.  Assessment

b. Subject

c. Purpose

d. Audience

2. Invention  

a. Journal keeping

b. Observing

c. Freewriting

d. Brainstorming

e. Clustering

f. Asking questions

3. Thesis and Organization   

a. Thesis statement

b. Organization

4. Drafting  

a. Starting to draft

b. Maintaining momentum

c. Sample first draft

5. Revising and Editing   

a. Revising the whole essay

b. Sample revision

c. Editing the revised draft

d. Formatting and proofreading

e. Sample final draft

f. Collaborating

g. Preparing a writing portfolio

6. Paragraphs  

a. Unity

b. Coherence

c. Development

d. Introductions and conclusions

7. Document Design  

a. Academic papers

b. Principles of design

c. Elements of design

d. Illustrations

e. Readers with vision loss

II. WRITING IN AND OUT OF COLLEGE

8. Academic Skills  

a. Listening and note taking

b. Reading

c. Becoming an academic writer

d. Exams

9. Critical Thinking and Reading  

a. Techniques of critical reading

b. Critical response

c. Viewing images critically

10. Academic Writing  

a. Responding to texts

b. Purpose

c. Audience

d. Structure and content

e. Language

11. Argument  

a. Elements of argument

b. Reasonableness

c. Organization

d. Visual arguments

e. Sample argument 

12. Online Writing  

a. E-mail

b. Online collaboration

c. Web compositions

13. Oral Presentations  

a. Organization

b. Delivery

14. Public Writing  

a. Business letters and résumés

Sample letter and résumés

b. Memos, reports, and proposals

Sample memo and report  

c. Community work

Sample flyer, newsletter, and brochure  

III. CLARITY AND STYLE

15. Emphasis  

a. Effective subjects and verbs

b. Sentence beginnings and endings

c. Coordination

d. Subordination

16. Parallelism  

a. With and, but, or, nor, yet

b. With both . . . and, not . . . but, etc.

c. In comparisons

d. With lists, headings, and outlines

17. Variety and Details 

a. Sentence length

b. Sentence structure

c. Details

18. Appropriate and Exact Language  

a. Appropriate language

b. Exact language

19. Completeness  

a. Compounds

b. Needed words

20. Conciseness 

a. Focusing on subject and verb

b. Cutting empty words

c. Cutting repetition

d. Reducing clauses and phrases

e. Revising there is, here is, it is

f . Combining sentences

g. Rewriting jargon

IV. SENTENCE PARTS AND PATTERNS

Basic grammar

21. Parts of Speech  

a. Nouns

b. Pronouns

c. Verbs

d. Adjectives and adverbs

e. Prepositions and conjunctions

f. Interjections

22. The Sentence  

a. Subjects and predicates

b. Predicate patterns

23. Phrases and Subordinate Clauses  

a. Phrases

b. Subordinate clauses

24. Sentence Types  

a. Simple sentences

b. Compound sentences

c. Complex sentences

d. Compound-complex sentences

Verbs

25. Forms  

a. Sing/sang/sung and other irregular verbs

b. Sit/set, lie/lay, rise/raise

c. -s and -ed forms

d. Be, have, and other helping verbs

e. Verb + gerund or infinitive: stop eating vs. stop to eat

f. Verb + participle: look up, look over, etc.

26. Tenses  

a. Present tense: sing

b. Perfect tenses: have/had/will have sung

c. Progressive tenses: is/was/will be singing

d. Consistency

e. Sequence

27. Mood  

a. Subjunctive: I wish I were

b. Consistency

28. Voice  

a. She wrote it (active) vs. It was written (passive)

b. Consistency

29. Subject-Verb Agreement  

a. -s and -es endings

b. Intervening words

c. Subjects with and

d. Subjects with or or nor

e. Everyone and other indefinite pronouns

f. Team and other collective nouns

g. Who, which, that

h. News and other singular nouns ending in -s

i. Verb preceding subject

j. Is, are, and other linking verbs

k. Titles and words being defined

Pronouns

30. Case  

a. She and I vs. her and me

b. It was she vs. It was her

c. Who vs. whom

d. Other constructions

31. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

a. Antecedents with and

b. Antecedents with or or nor

c. Everyone, person, and other indefinite words

d. Team and other collective nouns

32. Pronoun Reference  

a. Clear reference

b. Close reference

c. Specific reference

d. Appropriate you

e. Consistency

Modifiers

33. Adjectives and Adverbs  

a. Adjective vs. adverb

b. Adjective with linking verb: felt bad

c. Bigger, most talented, and other comparisons

d. Double negatives

e. Present and past participles: boring vs. bored

f. A, an, the and other determiners

34. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers  

a. Misplaced modifiers

b. Dangling modifiers

Sentence faults

35. Fragments  

a. Tests

b. Revision

c. Acceptable fragments

36. Comma Splices and Fused Sentences  

a. Main clauses without and, but, etc.

b. Main clauses with however, for example, etc.

37. Mixed Sentences  

a. Reason is because and other mixed meanings

b. Tangled grammar

c. Repeated subjects and other parts

V. PUNCTUATION

38. End Punctuation  

a. Period

b. Question mark

c. Exclamation point

39. Comma  

a. Main clauses with and, but, etc.

b. Introductory elements

c. Nonessential elements

d. Items in a series

e. Two or more adjectives

f. Dates, addresses, place names, numbers

g. With quotations

h. Misuses 

40. Semicolon  

a. Main clauses without and, but, etc.

b. Main clauses with however, for example, etc.

c. Main clauses or series items with commas

d. Misuses  

41. Colon  

a. Concluding explanation, series, etc.

b. Salutation; title and subtitle; time

c. Misuses

42. Apostrophe  

a. Possession

b. Misuses

c. Contractions

d. Plural abbreviations, etc.

43. Quotations Marks  

a. Direct quotations

b. Within quotations

c. Dialog

d. Titles of works

e. Words used in a special sense

f. Misuses

g. With other punctuation

44. Other Marks  

a. Dash or dashes

b. Parentheses

c. Ellipsis mark

d. Brackets

e. Slash

VI. SPELLING AND MECHANICS

45. Spelling and the Hyphen  

a. Typical spelling problems

b. Spelling rules

c. The hyphen

46. Capital Letters  

a. First word of sentence 

b. Proper nouns and adjectives

c. Titles of works

d. Online communication

47. Italics or Underlining

a. Titles of works

b. Names of vehicles

c. Foreign words

d. Words or characters named as words

e. Emphasis

f. Online communication

48. Abbreviations  

a. Titles with proper names

b. Familiar abbreviations

c. BC, BCE, AD, CE, AM, PM, no., $

d. Latin abbreviations

e. Inc., Bros., Co., & 

f. Units of measurement, names, etc.

49. Numbers  

a. Numerals vs. words

b. Dates, addresses, etc.

c. Beginning sentences

VII. RESEARCH WRITING

50. Research Strategy  

a. Planning

b. Research journal

c. Researchable subject and question

d. Goals for sources

e. Working, annotated bibliography

51. Finding Sources  

a. Your library’s Web site

b. Searching electronically

c. Reference works

d. Books

e. Periodicals

f. The Web

g. Other online sources

h. Government publications

i. Images, audio, video

j. Your own sources

52. Working with Sources  

a. Evaluating sources

b. Synthesizing sources

c. Gathering information

d. Using summary, paraphrase, quotation

e. Integrating sources

53. Avoiding Plagiarism and Documenting Sources  

a. Plagiarism on the Internet

b. What not to acknowledge

c. What must be acknowledged

d. Online sources

e. Documenting sources

54. Writing the Paper  

a. Focusing and organizing

b. Drafting, revising, and formatting

VIII. WRITING IN THE DISCIPLINES

55. Goals and Requirements of the Disciplines  

a. Methods and evidence

b. Writing assignments

c. Tools and language

d. Documentation and format

56. Reading and Writing About Literature  

a. Methods and evidence

b. Writing assignments

c. Tools and language

d. Documentation and format

e. Sample literary analysis  

57. Writing in Other Disciplines  

a. Humanities

b. Social sciences

c. Natural and applied sciences

58. MLA Documentation and Format  

Indexes to models  
a. Parenthetical text citations

b. List of works cited

c. Format of paper

d. Sample MLA paper

59. APA Documentation and Format  

Indexes to models   

a. Parenthetical text citations

b. List of  references

c. Format of paper

d. Sample APA paper  

60. Chicago Documentation  

Index to models  

a. Notes and works-cited entries

b. Models

61. CSE Documentation  

Index to models  

a. Name-year citations

b. Numbered text citations

c. List of references

Glossary of Usage

Index