Rules of Thumb

by Silverman, Jay; Hughes, Elaine; Roberts, Diana Wienbroer

• ISBN13: 9780073384009
• ISBN10: 0073384003
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-06-01
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages

Summary

Rules of Thumbis a concise, user-friendly, and affordable handbook developed around students' real writing needs. An invaluable companion for writers at all levels, it gives students the advice they need on writing, research, grammar, and style in a clear and engaging voice. Reflecting the most current APA documentation styles, the eighth edition remains the ideal handbook for improving grammar without overwhelming student writers with specialized terminology.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xiii
The Meaning of "Rule of Thumb"	p. xvi
How to Use Rules of Thumb	p. xvii
The Basics: Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar
A Word about Correctness	p. 2
Commonly Confused Words	p. 3
One Word or Two?	p. 11
Spelling	p. 13
Capitalization	p. 16
Abbreviations and Numbers	p. 18
Apostrophes	p. 20
Consistent Pronouns	p. 21
I vs. Me, She vs. Her, He vs. Him, Who vs. Whom	p. 24
Vague Pronouns	p. 26
Recognizing Complete Sentences	p. 28
Period or Comma? Run-on Sentences and Sentence Fragments	p. 31
Feature: Using But, However, Although	p. 37
Commas	p. 38
Semicolons	p. 40
Colons	p. 41
Dashes and Parentheses	p. 42
Quotation Marks	p. 44
Titles: Italics, Underlines, or Quotation Marks	p. 48
Shifting Verb Tenses	p. 49
Verb Agreement	p. 54
Word Endings: -s and -ed	p. 56
Parallel Structure	p. 58
Dangling Constructions	p. 59
Mixed Sentence Patterns	p. 60
Putting a Paper Together
What to Do When You're Stuck	p. 63
Addressing Your Audience	p. 67
Writing with a Thesis	p. 69
Finding an Organization for Your Essay	p. 72
Introductions	p. 75
Paragraphs-Long and Short	p. 77
Transitions	p. 80
Incorporating Quotations	p. 82
Conclusions	p. 84
How to Make a Paper Longer (and When to Make It Shorter)	p. 85
How to Work on a Second Draft	p. 87
Shortcuts for "Word"	p. 90
Proofreading Tips	p. 93
Format of College Papers	p. 95
Special Case: Writing an Essay in Class	p. 98
Special Case: Writing about Literature	p. 101
The Research Paper
Seven Steps to a Research Paper	p. 111
How to Conduct Research	p. 112
Feature: Sizing Up a Website	p. 117
Getting Information Online and at the Library	p. 121
Feature: When You Find Too Few or Too Many Sources	p. 125
Writing the Research Paper	p. 126
Feature: PowerPoint Presentations	p. 130
Plagiarism (Cheating)	p. 132
What Is Documentation?	p. 133
Feature: Where to Find Specific Entries for Works Cited, References, and Bibliography	p. 135
Documentation: The MLA Style	p. 136
Documentation: The APA Style	p. 150
Documentation: Footnotes, Endnotes, and Bibliography	p. 159
Style
Finding Your Voice	p. 165
Adding Details	p. 166
Repetition: Bad, Not-So-Bad, and Good	p. 168
Eliminating Inappropriate Language	p. 170
Trimming Wordiness	p. 172
Using Strong Verbs	p. 174
Varying Your Sentences	p. 176
Recognizing Cliches	p. 181
Keeping a Journal	p. 182
Postscript	p. 185
A List of Valuable Sources	p. 187
About the Authors	p. 191
Index	p. 193
Troubleshooting Guide	p. 204
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