The Modern Writer's Handbook

by O'Hare, Frank; Funk, Robert W

• ISBN13: 9780205299003
• ISBN10: 0205299008
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-01-01
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

Comprehensive in coverage yet compact in size, this Fifth Edition has been thoroughly revised and is available in two formats: as an inexpensive paperback or as a durable hardcover. The Modern Writer's Handbook, while comparable with larger full-size handbooks in every respect including a full treatment of writing and research processes focuses on user-friendly features to promote student self-help in writing and revision. Innovations include revised and expanded coverage on writing arguments, critical/active reading, prewriting, revision, and ESL. This is a thoroughly up-to-date handbook for writers in the electronic era, with word-processing tips and suggestions throughout the book, and new coverage on researching, evaluating, and citing electronic sources, plus the latest MLA and APA documentation guidelines for these sources.

Table of Contents

Preface	xix
PART I THE PROCESS OF WRITING
Preparing to Write: Prewriting	2	(16)
Finding a Topic	3	(2)
Generating Content	5	(7)
Determining the Purpose	12	(2)
Identifying an Audience	14	(3)
Checklist: Analyzing Audience and Purpose	16	(1)
Considering the Writer's Role	17	(1)
Planning and Drafting	18	(15)
Focusing the Topic: A Working Thesis	18	(5)
Planning the Paper	23	(5)
Checklist: Planning the First Draft	24	(4)
Writing the First Draft	28	(2)
Checklist: Drafting Strategies	29	(1)
Sample First Draft	30	(3)
Improving the First Draft: Revision	33	(20)
Revising from the Top Down	34	(3)
Checklist: Revising Content and Organization	35	(2)
Revising for Style	37	(2)
Getting Feedback: Peer Review	39	(5)
Checklist: Reviewing a Draft	40	(4)
Editing and Proofreading	44	(4)
Checklist: Editing and Proofreading	45	(3)
Sample Final Draft	48	(5)
Building Coherent Paragraphs	53	(39)
Unity	56	(10)
Organizational Strategies	66	(4)
Patterns of Development	70	(9)
Transition	79	(4)
Transitional Paragraphs	83	(1)
Paragraphs of Introduction	84	(4)
Concluding Paragraphs	88	(4)
PART II READING CRITICALLY AND WRITING LOGICALLY
Being a Critical Reader	92	(5)
Active Reading	92	(3)
Making Inferences	95	(1)
Evaluating Texts	96	(1)
Writing Arguments	97	(21)
Building an Effective Argument	97	(6)
Sample Argument	103	(2)
Using Deductive and Inductive Reasoning	105	(2)
Avoiding Logical Fallacies	107	(11)
PART III GRAMMAR
Basic Sentence Grammar	118	(10)
Sentence Patterns	118	(2)
Subjects	120	(2)
Predicates	122	(2)
Complements	124	(4)
Word Classes: The Parts of Speech	128	(25)
Form-Class Words	129	(1)
Nouns	129	(2)
Verbs	131	(5)
Verbals	136	(2)
Adjectives	138	(1)
Adverbs	139	(2)
Structure-Class Words	141	(1)
Pronouns	141	(5)
Determiners	146	(1)
Qualifiers	147	(1)
Prepositions	147	(2)
Conjunctions	149	(2)
Expletives	151	(2)
Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences	153	(11)
Phrases	153	(1)
Prepositional Phrases	153	(1)
Verbal Phrases	154	(1)
Clauses	155	(1)
Independent Clauses	156	(1)
Dependent Clauses and Subordination	156	(3)
Sentences	159	(1)
Types of Sentences	159	(5)
PART IV SENTENCE FORM
Fragments	164	(5)
Fragments Lacking a Subject	164	(1)
Fragments Lacking a Predicate	165	(1)
Phrase Fragments	166	(1)
Dependent Clause Fragments	167	(1)
Intentional Fragments	168	(1)
Comma Splices and Fused Sentences	169	(5)
Comma Splices	170	(1)
Fused Sentences	171	(3)
Verb Forms	174	(16)
Principal Parts for Regular and Irregular Verbs	174	(4)
Verb Forms for Tense, Voice, and Mood	178	(8)
Appropriate Forms for Troublesome Verbs	186	(4)
Subject-Verb Agreement	190	(10)
Compound Subjects	191	(1)
Intervening Phrases or Clauses	192	(1)
Collective Nouns	193	(1)
Nouns Plural in Form but Singular in Meaning	194	(1)
Indefinite and Relative Pronoun Subjects	194	(3)
Titles	197	(1)
Units of Measurement, Time, and Money	197	(1)
Inverted Sentence Order	197	(1)
Agreement with Subject, Not Subject Complement	198	(2)
Pronouns: Agreement, Reference, and Usage	200	(9)
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement	201	(3)
Pronoun Reference	204	(3)
Pronoun Usage	207	(2)
Pronoun Case	209	(9)
Subjective, Possessive, and Objective	209	(9)
Adjectives and Adverbs	218	(8)
Misused Adjective Forms	218	(1)
Misused Adverb Forms	219	(3)
Comparative and Superlative Forms of Adjectives and Adverbs	222	(3)
Double Negatives	225	(1)
Shifts and Mixed Constructions	226	(10)
Shifts	226	(1)
In Number	226	(1)
In Person	227	(1)
In Voice	228	(1)
In Mood	229	(1)
In Verb Tense	230	(1)
Tense with Clauses	231	(1)
Tense with Infinitives	232	(1)
Tense with Participles	233	(1)
Mixed Constructions	234	(1)
Mixed Sentence Structure	234	(2)
Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers	236	(5)
Dangling Modifiers	236	(1)
Misplaced Modifiers	237	(2)
Squinting Modifiers	239	(2)
Sentence Completeness	241	(5)
Faulty Predication	241	(2)
False Comparisons	243	(1)
Incomplete Comparisons	244	(1)
Ambiguous Comparisons	244	(1)
Omitted Comparative Words	245	(1)
English as a Second Language	246	(26)
Nouns, Articles, and Other Determiners	247	(6)
Adjectives, Adverbs, and Qualifiers	253	(3)
Verb Forms	256	(10)
Verbs in Sentences	266	(6)
PART V CLEAR SENTENCES
Coordination, Subordination, and Parallelism	272	(10)
Coordination	272	(2)
Subordination	274	(4)
Parallelism	278	(4)
Conciseness	282	(8)
Wordiness and Repetition	283	(3)
Flowery Language	286	(1)
Directness of Assertion	287	(3)
Variety and Emphasis	290	(16)
Variety of Sentence Structure	291	(9)
Emphasizing Important Elements	300	(6)
PART VI DICTION AND STYLE
Appropriate Word Choice	306	(8)
Slang	308	(1)
Colloquialisms	309	(1)
Jargon	310	(1)
Gobbledygook	311	(3)
Sexist and Biased Language	314	(7)
Sexist Language	314	(4)
Biased Language	318	(3)
Exact Word Choice	321	(9)
Specific and General Words	321	(1)
Concrete and Abstract Words	322	(2)
Denotation and Connotation	324	(6)
PART VII PUNCTUATION, MECHANICS, AND SPELLING
End Punctuation	330	(5)
The Period	330	(2)
The Question Mark	332	(1)
The Exclamation Point	333	(2)
The Comma	335	(19)
Between Coordinate Elements	335	(4)
After Introductory Words, Phrases, and Clauses	339	(2)
Before Certain Terminal Elements	341	(2)
Around Interrupting Elements	343	(6)
Unnecessary Commas	349	(5)
The Semicolon	354	(5)
Between Independent Clauses	355	(1)
Between Items in a Series	356	(1)
Misused Semicolons	357	(2)
The Colon	359	(4)
Before Elements Introduced Formally	359	(1)
Before Formal Appositives	360	(1)
Between Two Independent Clauses	360	(1)
In Salutations and Bibliographical Entries	361	(1)
Misused Colons	361	(2)
The Dash	363	(2)
With an Introductory Series	363	(1)
With Parenthetical Elements	364	(1)
With Terminal Elements	364	(1)
Parentheses	365	(3)
With Incidental Comments and Additional Information	366	(1)
With Items in a Series	367	(1)
With Other Punctuation Marks	367	(1)
Brackets	368	(3)
With Inserted Information	368	(1)
With Parentheses	369	(2)
Quotation Marks	371	(7)
For Direct Quotations	371	(1)
Block Quotations	372	(2)
For Quotations within Quotations	374	(1)
For Titles of Short Works	374	(1)
With Other Punctuation Marks	374	(2)
Misused Quotation Marks	376	(2)
Ellipsis Points and the Slash	378	(2)
Ellipsis Points	378	(1)
The Slash	379	(1)
Italics or Underlining	380	(3)
For Titles	380	(1)
For Words	381	(2)
The Apostrophe	383	(6)
In Possessive Forms	383	(3)
In Plural Forms	386	(1)
For Omissions	387	(1)
In Contractions	387	(2)
The Hyphen	389	(5)
In Compound Nouns	389	(1)
In Compound Adjectives	389	(2)
In Compound Numbers and Fractions	391	(1)
With Prefixes and Suffixes	391	(1)
For Word Division at the End of a Line	392	(2)
Abbreviations	394	(5)
For Titles or Designations	394	(2)
For Acronyms and Organizational Abbreviations	396	(1)
In Dates and Numbers	396	(2)
Avoiding Unconventional Abbreviations	398	(1)
Numbers	399	(3)
Numbers versus Words in Sentences	399	(1)
For Conventional Identifications	400	(2)
Capitalization	402	(6)
First Words of Sentences or Verses	402	(1)
Titles, Names, and Words Based on Names	403	(3)
Conventional Capitalization	406	(2)
Spelling	408	(10)
Doubling the Final Consonant	408	(1)
Dropping or Keeping the Silent e	409	(1)
Changing or Keeping a Final y	410	(1)
Choosing between ei and ie	410	(1)
Forming Noun Plurals	411	(1)
Distinguishing among Homophones	412	(6)
PART VIII THE RESEARCH PAPER
Selecting and Limiting a Topic	418	(5)
Limiting Your Topic	419	(1)
Exploring Resources	420	(1)
Exploring Purpose	421	(1)
Exploring Scope	422	(1)
Doing Research	423	(20)
Scheduling Your Research Paper	423	(2)
Finding Information	425	(14)
Primary and Secondary Sources of Information	439	(1)
Compiling a Working Bibliography	440	(3)
Checklist: Evaluating Primary and Secondary Sources	441	(2)
Writing the Research Paper	443	(16)
Taking Notes	443	(5)
Prewriting	448	(1)
Formulating a Preliminary Thesis and Constructing a Working Outline	448	(3)
Constructing a Formal Outline	451	(1)
Writing and Revising the Paper	452	(1)
Avoiding Plagiarism	453	(6)
Checklist: Revising Your Research Paper	454	(4)
Checklist: Avoiding Plagiarism	458	(1)
Documenting Sources---MLA Style	459	(18)
Preparing the List of Works Cited	459	(3)
Sample MLA Works Cited Entries	462	(9)
Sample In-Text Parenthetical Citations---MLA Style	471	(5)
Content Notes	476	(1)
Documenting Sources---APA and Other Styles	477	(12)
Preparing the List of References	477	(2)
Sample APA References	479	(4)
Sample In-Text Parenthetical Citations---APA Style	483	(2)
Other Documentation Styles	485	(4)
Sample Research Papers	489	(39)
Sample MLA Paper	489	(17)
Sample APA Paper	506	(22)
PART IX ACADEMIC AND BUSINESS WRITING
Writing in the Humanities and about Literature	528	(13)
Writing about Literature	529	(7)
Checklist: Literary Topics	533	(3)
Sample Literary Analysis	536	(5)
Writing in the Social, Natural, and Applied Sciences	541	(11)
Writing in the Social Sciences	541	(4)
Writing in the Natural Sciences	545	(4)
Writing in the Applied Sciences	549	(3)
Writing Essay Examinations	552	(7)
Preparing for the Examination	552	(1)
Evaluating the Question and Timing Yourself	553	(1)
Deciding on a Response Strategy	554	(1)
Planning and Prewriting	555	(1)
Drafting Your Response	555	(1)
Revising	556	(1)
Sample Eassay Examination Response	556	(3)
Checklist: Strategies for Taking Essay Examinations	558	(1)
Writing for Business	559	(15)
The Memo	559	(2)
The Business Letter	561	(7)
The Facsimile Transaction	568	(1)
The Resume	569	(5)
Glossary of Usage	574	(17)
Glossary of Grammatical Terms	591	(16)
The User's Self-Help Section	607	(14)
Index	621