Practical English Handbook

by Watkins, Floyd C.

• ISBN13: 9780395733332
• ISBN10: 0395733332
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-07-01
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

The Practical English Handbook includes concise explanations, abundant examples and models, ample practice opportunity, and help with all stages of the writing process. A coding system breaks down topics and facilitates student use. The book's compact size allows it to fit comfortably in the hand, while the durable sewn binding will withstand constant use. The MLA and APA documentation guidelines thoroughly reflect the most recent changes.

Table of Contents

Preface	xviii
Grammar	1	(28)
The Parts of Speech	2	(1)
Nouns	3	(1)
Pronouns	3	(3)
Verbs	6	(2)
Adjectives	8	(1)
Adverbs	9	(2)
Conjunctions	11	(1)
Prepositions	12	(2)
Interjections	14	(1)
The Parts of Sentences	15	(1)
Simple subjects, complete subjects, compound subjects	15	(2)
Simple predicates, complete predicates, compound predicates	17	(1)
Complements	18	(3)
Phrases	21	(3)
Clauses	24	(2)
The Kinds of Sentences	26	(3)
Sentence Errors	29	(58)
Sentence Fragments	30	(2)
Comma Splices and Fused Sentences	32	(6)
Verb Forms	38	(5)
Tense and Sequence of Tenses	43	(5)
Present tense	43	(1)
Past tense	44	(1)
Future tense	44	(1)
Progressive tenses	44	(1)
Perfect tenses	45	(1)
Present infinitive	46	(1)
Consistency	47	(1)
Voice	48	(3)
Subjunctive Mood	51	(1)
Subject and Verb: Agreement	52	(11)
Singular verb with a singular subject	53	(1)
Plural verb with a plural subject	53	(1)
Compound subject	53	(1)
Compound subject with or, nor, etc.	54	(1)
Phrases and clauses that come between a subject and a verb	54	(1)
Collective nouns	55	(1)
Nouns plural in form, singular in meaning	55	(1)
Indefinite pronouns	56	(1)
All, some, part, etc.	56	(1)
There, here	57	(1)
Agreement with subject, not predicate nominative	58	(1)
After a relative pronoun	58	(1)
With titles or words used as words	58	(1)
Expressions of time, money, measurement, etc.	59	(4)
Pronouns and Antecedents: Agreement, Reference, and Usage	63	(8)
Singular pronoun with a singular antecedent	63	(1)
Plural pronoun with a plural antecedent	63	(1)
Compound antecedent with and	63	(1)
Compound antecedent with or, nor, etc.	64	(1)
Collective noun as antecedent	64	(1)
Each, either, etc.	64	(1)
Vague and ambiguous antecedents	65	(4)
Which, who, that	69	(1)
-Self, -selves	70	(1)
Case	71	(8)
Subjects and subjective complements	72	(1)
Direct objects, indirect objects, objects of prepositions	72	(1)
Subjects and objects of infinitives	73	(1)
Appositives	73	(1)
After than or as	73	(1)
Who, Whom	74	(1)
Apostrophe or of phrase for possession	75	(1)
Words preceding a gerund	75	(4)
Adjectives and Adverbs	79	(8)
Adverbs modifying verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs	79	(1)
After linking verbs be, become, seem, etc.	80	(1)
After a verb and its object	80	(1)
Comparative and superlative degrees	81	(1)
Avoiding double comparatives and superlatives	82	(1)
Absolute concepts	82	(1)
Avoiding double negatives	83	(4)
Sentence Structure	87	(36)
Choppy Sentences and Excessive Coordination	88	(2)
Consolidating brief sentences in succession	88	(1)
Independent clauses	88	(2)
Subordination	90	(3)
Subordination of minor thoughts	90	(1)
Overlapping surbordination	91	(2)
Completeness	93	(2)
Omission of verbs and prepositions	94	(1)
Omission of that	94	(1)
Comparisons	95	(3)
Illogical comparisons	95	(1)
The word other	95	(1)
Awkward and incomplete	96	(2)
Consistency	98	(6)
Shifts in grammatical forms	98	(4)
Faulty predication	102	(1)
Avoid constructions is when, is where, or the reason is because	102	(2)
Position of Modifiers	104	(6)
Dangling	104	(2)
Misplaced	106	(1)
Limiting	107	(1)
Squinting	107	(3)
Separation of Elements	110	(3)
Subject and verb, verb and object	110	(1)
A sentence with a quotation	111	(1)
Split infinitives	111	(2)
Parallelism	113	(4)
With coordinating conjunctions	113	(1)
Repetition of function words	114	(1)
With correlatives	114	(1)
With and who and and which	115	(2)
Variety	117	(6)
Overuse of one kind of sentence structure	118	(2)
Varying the openings of sentences	120	(3)
Punctuation	123	(50)
Commas	124	(16)
Between two independent clauses	124	(1)
In a series	124	(3)
Between coordinate adjectives	127	(2)
After introductory phrases and clauses	129	(1)
With nonessential elements	130	(2)
With sentence modifiers, conjunctive adverbs, elements out of order	132	(2)
With degrees, titles, dates, places, addresses	134	(1)
For contrast or emphasis	134	(1)
With mild interjections and yes or no	135	(1)
With direct address and salutations	135	(1)
With expressions like he said, she remarked	135	(1)
With absolute phrases	135	(1)
To prevent misreading or to mark omission	136	(4)
Unnecessary Commas	140	(6)
Between subject and verb, verb and object	140	(1)
Before coordinating conjunctions	140	(1)
Essential clauses, phrases, or appositives	141	(1)
Between adjectives that are not coordinate, between an adverb and an adjective, or between an adjective and a noun	141	(1)
After coordinating conjunctions	142	(1)
Before subordinating conjunctions	142	(1)
After the opening phrase of an inverted sentence	142	(1)
Before the first or after the last item in a series	142	(1)
Before than	143	(1)
After like and such as	143	(1)
With period, question mark, dash, exclamation point	143	(1)
Before parentheses	143	(3)
Semicolons	146	(5)
Between independent clauses not connected by a coordinating conjunction	147	(1)
To separate independent clauses	148	(1)
In a series between items that have internal punctuation	148	(1)
Not between elements that are not grammatically equal	148	(3)
Colons	151	(4)
After an independent clause that introduces a quotation	151	(1)
After an independent clause that introduces a series of items	152	(1)
After an independent clause that introduces an appositive	152	(1)
Between two independent clauses	152	(1)
In times, saluations, bibliographical entries	152	(1)
Not after linking verbs or prepositions	153	(2)
Dashes	155	(1)
Parentheses	156	(1)
Brackets	157	(1)
Quotation Marks	158	(8)
Direct quotations and dialogue	158	(1)
Titles of short works	159	(1)
Quotation within a quotation	159	(1)
Not with titles of your own papers	160	(1)
Not for slang, irony, humor	160	(1)
Not with block quotations	160	(1)
With other punctuation	161	(5)
End Punctuation	166	(7)
Period at end of sentence	167	(1)
Period after abbreviations	167	(1)
Ellipsis points for omissions	167	(1)
Punctuation of titles	168	(1)
Question mark after direct question	169	(1)
Not a question mark within parentheses for humor	169	(1)
Exclamation point	169	(4)
Mechanics	173	(38)
Manuscript Forms, Business Letters, and Resumes	174	(9)
Manuscripts	174	(4)
Business letters	178	(1)
Resumes	178	(5)
Italics	183	(4)
Titles	183	(1)
Names of ships and trains	184	(1)
Foreign words	184	(1)
Words, letters, figures	185	(1)
Rarely for emphasis	185	(1)
Not for titles of your own papers	185	(2)
Spelling	187	(8)
Spell-checking	187	(1)
Proofreading	188	(1)
Distinguishing homonyms	188	(1)
Spelling strategies	189	(6)
Hyphenation and Syllabication	195	(2)
Compound words	195	(1)
Compound adjectives	195	(1)
Compound numbers	196	(1)
Dividing a word at end of line	196	(1)
Apostrophes	197	(3)
For possessive of nouns not ending in s	198	(1)
For possessive of singular nouns ending in s	198	(1)
Without s for possessive of plural nouns ending in s	198	(1)
For possessive of indefinite pronouns	198	(1)
For joint possession	199	(1)
For omissions and contractions	199	(1)
For acronyms and words being named	199	(1)
Capital Letters	200	(5)
First word of sentence, I, O	200	(1)
In titles	200	(1)
First word of quotations	201	(1)
Titles used with names	201	(1)
Title of head of nation	201	(1)
Proper nouns	202	(1)
Family names	202	(1)
The pronoun I and the interjection O	202	(1)
Months, days of the week, holidays	202	(91)
B.C., A.D., deities, religions, sacred books	293
Specific courses	203	(2)
Abbreviations and Symbols	205	(1)
Days, months, measurement, states, countries	205	(1)
Acceptable abbreviations	205	(1)
Acceptable symbols	206	(1)
Numbers	206	(5)
Spelled out	207	(1)
Consistency	207	(1)
For complete dates, addresses, page and chapter references, percentages, hours	207	(4)
Diction and Style	211	(36)
Diction	212	(21)
Frequent use of a dictionary	212	(2)
Precision	214	(4)
Connotation	218	(1)
Colloquialisms and contractions in formal writing	219	(2)
Slang	221	(1)
Dialect	221	(1)
Words used as the wrong part of speech	222	(1)
Idioms	222	(3)
Specialized vocabulary	225	(1)
Building a vocabulary	226	(7)
Style	233	(14)
Wordiness	233	(3)
Repetition	236	(4)
Flowery language	240	(1)
Clarity	240	(2)
Triteness and cliches	242	(1)
Figures of speech	243	(4)
Accurate Thinking and Writing	247	(12)
Accuracy and Logic	248	(11)
Reliable sources	249	(1)
Accurate information	250	(1)
Sweeping generalizations	251	(1)
Exaggeration	252	(1)
Circular reasoning	252	(1)
False comparisons	252	(1)
Sticking to the point	253	(1)
Appeals to prejudice	254	(1)
Cause and effect	255	(1)
The either ... or fallacy	255	(1)
Illogicalities and careless wording	256	(3)
Paragraphs	259	(24)
Writing Paragraphs	260	(23)
Topic sentence	263	(2)
Unifying paragraphs	265	(2)
Developing paragraphs	267	(3)
Trimming, tightening, dividing paragraphs	270	(1)
Appropriate methods	270	(9)
Transitional devices	279	(4)
Papers	283	(42)
Writing Papers	284	(41)
Generating ideas	284	(4)
Thesis statement	288	(1)
Effective organization	289	(3)
Audience	292	(1)
Appropriate tone	293	(1)
Rough draft	294	(7)
Unfinished draft	301	(1)
Revising	302	(10)
Model paper: ``Conduct and the Inner Self''	312	(3)
Writing about yourself	315	(5)
Learning from your mistakes	320	(1)
Writing on a computer	321	(4)
Literature	325	(28)
Writing About Literature	326	(27)
Choosing a subject	327	(1)
Kinds of literary papers	328	(3)
Titling the paper	331	(1)
Not beginning with broad philosophical statements	331	(1)
Appropriate development	332	(1)
Paraphrasing and summary	333	(1)
Originality	333	(1)
Not writing about yourself or the reader	333	(1)
Sufficient evidence	334	(1)
Quotations	335	(1)
Not moralizing	336	(1)
Acknowledging sources	336	(17)
Research	353	(172)
Writing a Research Paper	354	(133)
Selecting a subject	354	(3)
Following a search strategy in the library	357	(12)
Primary and secondary sources	369	(1)
Taking notes	370	(8)
Producing an outline	378	(1)
Acknowledging sources	379	(4)
Following a system of documentation	383	(2)
MLA Style of Documentation	385	(15)
Model research paper, MLA style: ``Illusions in the Mail: Magazine Sweepstakes''	400	(54)
APA Style of Documentation	454	(8)
Model research paper, APA style: ``Spring Break''	462	(25)
Glossary of Usage	487	(18)
English as a Second Language	505	(8)
ESL checklist	506	(3)
ESL lists	509	(4)
Glossary of Terms	513	(12)
Index	525