Writer's Brief Handbook, The, MLA Update Edition

by Rosa, Alfred; Eschholz, Paul W

• ISBN13: 9780205744060
• ISBN10: 0205744060
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-05-29
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

A compact, easy-to-use guide, The Writer's Brief Handbookoffers clear definitions, helpful explanations, and up-to-the-minute reference tools to answer any question you may have about grammar, the writing process or research. Using clear, non-technical language, The Writer's Brief Handbookhas gained a reputation for being student-friendly, and the easy-to-use. It provides four different ways for students to diagnose a problem and find an answer, making the text ideal as a stand-alone reference.

Table of Contents

The Writing Process

Writing with a Computer

Planning

Analyzing the writing task

Choosing a subject

Focusing on a topic

Generating ideas and collecting information

Determining your purpose for writing

Establishing a thesis statement

Analyzing your audience

Making an outline

Writing a Draft

Choosing a good title

Writing the body of your composition

Writing the beginning and ending

Revising

Revising the largest elements first

Revising your sentences and diction

Conducting peer conferences

Editing

Editing for grammar, punctuation, and mechanics

Preparing the final copy

Proofreading the final copy

Student Sample: Annotated Student Essay

Designing a document

Understanding the principals of design

Understanding the elements of design

Using visuals

Formatting academic manuscript

Writing in College and Beyond

Academic writing

Study skills

Time management

Note-taking in class

Reading effectively

Essay examinations

Critical thinking and active reading

Writing arguments

Understanding the elements of argument

Making appropriate appeals

Considering your audience

Refuting the opposition's argument

Student Sample: An ANNOTATED ARGUMENT ESSAY

Online writing

E-communications

Composing online

Oral presentations

Outlining

Preparing and practicing

Using visuals

Public writing

Business letters

Resumes

Memos

Letters to the editor

Paragraphs Unity

Writing a topic sentence

Relating all sentences to the controlling idea

Development

Developing paragraphs fully

Using the strategy implied in your topic sentence to develop your paragraph

Coherence

Arranging sentences in the most effective order

Using transitional words and phrases

Repeating key words and phrases

Using parallel structure

Using transitions to link paragraphs

Beginnings and endings

Clarity and Sentence Style

Parallelism

Use parallel constructions with coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so)

Use parallel constructions with correlative conjunctions (either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also, both/and, whether/or)

Use parallel constructions in comparisons with than or as

Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

Place modifiers where they will be most effective

Connect a dangling modifier to the main part of the sentence

Shifts

Use pronouns that are consistent in person and number

Maintain the same verb tense

Maintain the same mood

Keep subject and voice consistent

Avoid unnecessary shifts from direct to indirect quotation

Keep tone and style consistent

Maintain the same point of view

Unified and Logical Sentences

Use only relevant details

Avoid mixed or illogical constructions

Subordination and Coordination

Use subordination to group short, choppy sentences into larger units of thought

Do not subordinate excessively

Use coordination to put ideas of equal importance in grammatical structures of equal weight

Emphasis

Achieve emphasis by placing the most important words and phrases at the beginning or end of a sentence

Place ideas that occur in a series in a logical and climactic order

Use the active rather than the passive voice

Repeat important words for emphasis

Occasionally use a short, dramatic sentence

Achieve emphasis by using periodic sentences

Achieve emphasis by using balanced constructions

Sentence Variety

Avoid the overuse of short simple sentences

Vary your sentence openings

Do not overuse compound sentences

Word Choice

Eliminating Clutter

Focus on subjects and verbs

Eliminate redundancies

Delete empty words and phrases

Reduce inflated expressions to their core meanings

Convert clauses to phrases

Exactness

Choose words that accurately denote what you want to say

Choose words whose connotations suit your purpose

Use specific and concrete words

Use idioms correctly

Use figurative language

Replace clichés with fresh language

Appropriateness

Choose an appropriate degree of formality

Use standard English

Avoid pretentious language

Use technical language only where appropriate

Avoid vogue words

Bias in Writing

The Dictionary

The Thesaurus

Sentence Parts and Patterns

Grammar Essentials

Parts of Speech

Parts of Sentences

Phrases

Clauses

Types of Sentences

Subject-Verb Agreement

To choose the correct verb form, identify the subject of the sentence

Use a plural verb with most compound subjects joined by and

With subjects joined by or or nor, make the verb agree with the subject that is closest to it

Treat most collective nouns as singular

The relative pronouns who, which, and that take verbs that agree with their antecedents

Treat most indefinite pronouns as singular

Make the verb agree with the subject even when the subject comes after the verb

Make a verb agree with its subject, not with a subject complement

Use a singular verb with most singular nouns ending in -s

When the title of a work is the subject of a sentence, use a singular verb

When a word used as a word is the subject, use a singular verb

When the subject of a sentence is a noun clause, use a singular verb

Verbs: Form, Tense, Mood, and Voice

Use the principal parts of irregular verbs correctly

Use lay and lie and set and lsit correctly

Use the correct verb tense to convey your meaning

Use sequences of tense forms that are logically related

Use verbs in the correct mood

Use the active voice

Pronoun Problems

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in gender, number, and person

Be sure a pronoun's antecedent is clear

Use pronouns in the correct case

Use who or whom according to how the word functions in its own clause

Adjectives and Adverbs

Use adverbs, not adjectives, to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs

Use an adjective, not an adverb, as a subject complement

Use bad/badly and good/well correctly

Use the demonstrative adjective that agrees with the noun it modifies

Use the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs correctly

Fragments

Join a phrase fragment to an existing sentence, or rewrite it as a sentence

Join a subordinate clause fragment to an existing sentence, or rewrite it as a sentence

Make an appositive fragment part of a sentence

Keep a compound predicate within a single sentence

Use sentence fragments intentionally to add emphasis and to write realistic dialog

Comma Splices and Run-On Sentences

Separate clauses into two sentences with a period

Connect clauses with a semicolon

Connect clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet)

Restructure the sentence by subordinating one of the clauses

Punctuation

The Comma

Use commas with independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction

Use commas with introductory words or word groups

Use commas with nonrestrictive elements

Use commas to separate items in a series

Use commas to separate coordinate adjectives

Use commas with parenthetical and transitional expressions

Use commas with contrasted elements

Use commas to set off speech tags such as she said

Use commas with mild interjections, words of direct address, the words yes and no, and interrogative tags

Use commas according to accepted practice

Use commas to prevent confusion or misreading

Use commas to indicate an omitted word or words

Avoid unnecessary commas

The Semicolon

Use a semicolon to join closely related main clauses not joined by a coordinating conjunction

Use a semicolon to join main clauses when a transitional expression or conjunctive adverb introduces the second main clause

Use semicolons to join items in a series containing other punctuation

Do not use the semicolon to join structures of unequal grammatical rank

The Colon

Use a colon to link independent clauses when the second clause serves to explain the first

Use a colon to introduce a series

Use a colon to draw attention to an appositive

Use a colon to introduce a direct quotations

Use a colon to mark conventional separations

Do not misuse colons

The Apostrophe

Use an apostrophe to mark the possessive case

Use an apostrophe to indicate contractions

Use an apostrophe to pluralize letters, numbers, abbreviations, and words cited as words

Do not misuse apostrophes

Quotation Marks

Use quotation marks with direct quotations

Use quotation marks to indicate the titles of short works

Use quotation marks to indicate words used as words

Follow convention when using other marks of punctuation in combination with quotation marks

Do not misuse quotation marks

Other Punctuation Marks

The period

The question mark

The exclamation point

The dash

Parentheses

Brackets

The ellipsis mark

The slash

Mechanics

Capitals

Capitalize proper nouns

Capitalize proper adjectives

Capitalize abbreviations

Capitalize titles with names

Capitalize the first word of a sentence or a deliberate sentence fragment

Capitalize the first word of an independent clause after a colon

Capitalize the first word of a quoted sentence

Capitalize poetry exactly as the poet has

Capitalize the first and last words and all other important words in the titles of works

Capitalize only the first word in the complimentary close of a letter

Abbreviations

Abbreviate titles before and after proper nouns

Use the conventional abbreviations

Use conventional abbreviations for organizations, corporations, and countries

Use scholarly Latin abbreviations sparingly

Numbers

Spell out numbers of one or two words use figures for all other numbers and amounts

Follow convention in using figures

Italics/Underlining

Underline or italicize the titles of long works

Underline or italicize the names of ships, planes, trains, and spacecraft

Underline or italicize numbers, letters, and words referred to as such or used as illustrations

Underline or italicize foreign words and phrases

Underline or italicize a word or words for emphasis sparingly

The Hyphen

Use a hyphen with compound words

Use a hyphen to join two or more words serving as a single adjective before a noun

Use a hyphen with compound numbers from twenty-one through ninety-nine and with written fractions

Use a hyphen with the prefixes all-, ex-, great-, and self-, and with the suffix -elect

Use a hyphen to signal that a word is divided and continued on the next line

Spelling

Learn the basic spelling rules

Distinguish between words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings

Research Writing

Developing a research strategy

Planning a work schedule

Choosing a topic and research question

Determining what you already know about your topic

Finding sources

Determining a search strategy

Learning to use keyword searches

Locating books

Locating articles

Locating Internet sources

Using reference books

Using interviews and questionnaires

Selecting and Evaluating Sources

Previewing your print and online sources

Evaluating your print and online sources

Keeping Track of Information

Keeping a working bibliography

Reading and analyzing your sources

Taking complete and accurate notes without plagiarizing

Documenting Sources

MLA in-text citations

APA in-text citations

CMS footnotes or endnotes

CSE in-text citations

Writing the research paper

Determining a thesis and organizing the evidence

Avoiding plagiarism

Integrating quotations, paraphrases, summaries, and visuals into your text

Revising and formatting a research paper

Writing in the Disciplines

Overview of writing in the disciplines

Understanding writing assignments

Methodology and evidence

Discipline-specific resources

Language and stylistic conventions

Documentation and format guidelines

Reading and writing about literature

Writing assignments for literature

Reading and analyzing a literary text

Library and Web resources for literary study

Observing the conventions of writing about literature

Documentation and format

Annotated student essay about literature

Writing in the humanities

Writing assignments

Methodology and evidence

Literary and Web resources for the humanities

Documentation and format

Writing in the social sciences

Writing assignments

Methodology and evidence

Library and Web resources for the social sciences

Documentation and format

Writing in the natural and applied sciences

Writing assignments

Methodology and evidence

Library and Web resources for the sciences

Documentation and format

MLA Style Documentation and Format

MLA-Style documentation

MLA in-text citations

Directory to MLA in-text citation models

MLA information footnotes or endnotes

MLA list of works cited

Directory to MLA list of works cited models

MLA manuscript format

Student Sample: Annotated student MLA research paper

APA Style Documentation and Format

APA-style documentation

APA in-text citations

Directory to APA in-text citations

APA references

APA manuscript format

Student Sample: Annotated student APA research paper

CMS Documentation Format / CSE Documentation Format

CMS documentation

CMS endnotes or footnotes

CMS bibliography

CMS note and bibliography models

Directory to CMS note and bibliography models

CMS manuscript format

Student Sample: Annotated student CMS research paper

CSE documentation

CSE in-text references

CSE list of references

Directory to CSE list of references

ESL Basics

Verbs

Modals

Perfect tenses

Progressive tenses

Passive voice

Two-word verbs

Verbs followed by an infinitive or a gerund

Nouns, Qualifiers, and Articles

Noncount nouns

Quantifiers for noncount and count nouns

Indefinite article (a or an)

Definite article (the)

Adjectives and Adverbs

Cumulative adjectives

Present and past participles

Adverbs

Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

Correct prepositions

Necessary prepositions

Unnecessary words in prepositional phrases

Remember that infinitives cannot be used as the objects of prepositions

Learn some common compound prepositions

Learn some common adjective + preposition combinations

Parts of Sentences

Omitted verbs

Omitted subjects

Expletives (there, here, it)

Special Problems

Word order for questions

Questions with who, whom, and what

Indirect questions

Reported speech

Conditional sentences

Confusing Words and Phrases

Glossary of Usage / Index

Credits

Correction Symbols

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