A Pocket Style Manual with Exercises

by Hacker, Diana; Sommers, Nancy

• ISBN13: 9781319563462
• ISBN10: 1319563465
• Edition: 10th
• Format: Spiral Bound
• Copyright: 2024-09-27
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

A Pocket Style Manual with Exercises gives you quick answers and expert advice for writing assignments in any course or work setting, including coverage of grammar, style, citing sources, and writing responsibly with AI.

Table of Contents

[[Part 0]] Becoming a College Writer: Using Academic Intelligence

and Artificial Intelligence

[[Part 1]] Clarity

1 Tighten wordy sentences.

1a Redundancies

1b Empty or inflated phrases

1c Needlessly complex structures

2 Prefer active verbs.

2a When to replace be verbs

2b When to replace passive verbs

3 Balance parallel ideas.

3a Items in a series

3b Paired ideas

4 Add needed words.

4a Words in compound structures

4b The word that

4c Words in comparisons

5 Eliminate distracting shifts.

5a Shifts in point of view

5b Shifts in tense

6 Untangle mixed constructions.

6a Mixed grammatical structure

6b Illogical connections

6c Is when, is where, and reason . . . is because constructions

7 Repair misplaced and dangling modifiers.

7a Misplaced words

7b Misplaced phrases and clauses

7c Dangling modifiers

7d Split infinitives

8 Provide sentence variety.

8a Combining choppy sentences

8b Varying sentence openings

9 Find an appropriate voice.

9a Jargon

9b Clichés

9c Slang

9d Sexist and noninclusive language

[[Part 2]] Grammar

10 Make subjects and verbs agree.

10a Words between subject and verb

10b Subjects joined with and

10c Subjects joined with or or nor

10d Indefinite pronouns such as someone

10e Collective nouns such as jury

10f Subject after verb

10g Who, which, and that

10h Plural form, singular meaning

10i Titles, company names, and words mentioned as words

11 Be alert to other problems with verbs.

11a Irregular verbs

11b Tense

11c Mood

12 Use pronouns with care.

12a Pronoun-antecedent agreement

12b Pronoun reference

12c Case of personal pronouns (I vs. me etc.)

12d Who vs. whom

13 Use adjectives and adverbs appropriately.

13a Adjectives

13b Adverbs

13c Comparatives and superlatives

14 Repair sentence fragments.

14a Fragmented clauses

14b Fragmented phrases

15 Revise run-on sentences.

15a Revision with a comma and a coordinating conjunction

15b Revision with a semicolon (or a colon or a dash)

15c Revision by separating sentences

15d Revision by restructuring the sentence

16 Consider grammar topics for multilingual writers.

16a Verbs

16b Articles (a, an, the)

16c Sentence structure

16d Prepositions showing time and place

[[Part 3]] Punctuation

17 The comma

17a Before a coordinating conjunction joining independent clauses

17b After an introductory clause or phrase

17c Between items in a series

17d Between coordinate adjectives

17e To set off a nonrestrictive element, but not a restrictive element

17f To set off transitional and parenthetical expressions, absolute phrases, and word groups expressing contrast

17g To set off nouns of direct address, the words yes and no, interrogative tags, and mild interjections

17h To set off direct quotations introduced with expressions such as he said

17i With dates, addresses, and titles

17j Misuses of the comma

18 The semicolon and the colon

18a The semicolon

18b The colon

19 The apostrophe

19a To indicate possession

19b To mark contractions

19c Conventional uses

19d Misuses of the apostrophe

20 Quotation marks

20a To enclose direct quotations

20b Around titles of short works

20c To set off words used as words

20d Other punctuation with quotation marks

20e Misuses of quotation marks

21 Other punctuation marks

21a The period

21b The question mark

21c The exclamation point

21d The dash

21e Parentheses

21f Brackets

21g The ellipsis

21h The slash

[[Part 4]] Mechanics

22 Capitalization

22a Proper vs. common nouns

22b Titles with proper names

22c Titles of works

22d First word of a sentence or quoted sentence

22e First word following a colon

23 Abbreviations, numbers, and italics

23a Abbreviations

23b Numbers

23c Italics

24 Hyphenation

24a Compound words

24b Words functioning together as an adjective

24c Conventional uses

[[Part 5]] Research

25 Asking a research question

25a Choosing a focused question

25b Choosing a debatable question

25c Choosing a question grounded in evidence

26 Finding appropriate sources

26a Using the library

26b Using the web

26c Using bibliographies and citations

26d Conducting field research, if appropriate

27 Evaluating sources

27a Evaluating the reliability and usefulness of a source

27b Reading with an open mind and a critical eye

27d Constructing an annotated bibliography

28 Managing information; avoiding plagiarism during research

28a Maintaining a working bibliography

28b Keeping track of source materials

28c Taking notes responsibly: avoiding unintentional plagiarism

29 Supporting a thesis

29a Forming a thesis statement

29b Organizing your ideas

29c Using sources to inform and support your argument

30 Avoiding plagiarism

30a Citing quotations and borrowed ideas

30b Using the MLA, APA, and Chicago citation systems to lead readers to your sources

30c Using quotation marks around borrowed language

30d Putting summaries and paraphrases in your own words

31 Integrating sources

31a Summarizing and paraphrasing effectively

31b Using quotations effectively

31c Using signal phrases to integrate sources

31d Synthesizing sources

32 Integrating literary quotations

32a Introducing quotations from literary works

32b Avoiding shifts in tense

32c Formatting and citing literary passages

[[Part 6]] MLA Style

33 MLA documentation style

33a MLA in-text citations

33b MLA list of works cited

34 MLA format; sample research essay

34a MLA format

34b Sample MLA research essay

[[Part 7]] APA Style

35 APA documentation style

35a APA in-text citations

35b APA list of references

36 APA format; sample research essay

36a APA format

36b Sample APA research essay

[[Part 8]] Chicago Style

37 Chicago documentation style

37a First and later notes for a source

37b Chicago-style bibliography

37c Model notes and bibliography entries

38 Chicago format; sample pages

38a Chicago format

38b Sample pages from a Chicago research essay

[[Part 9]] Glossaries

Glossary of usage

Glossary of grammatical terms