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Summary Table of Contents

The Writer's Brief Handbook offers student writers a wealth of essential information in a clear, concise, and user-friendly format. A new four-color design, comb-binding, and fifteen tabbed sections enable students to easily and quickly locate and access up-to-date advice on key topics in composition. The latest edition of this versatile resource continues to emphasize in-depth coverage of the writing and research processes and grammar, while adding a range of new material designed to meet the changing needs of today's students. The new edition retains a wealth of student and professional writing examples that help establish realistic expectations for students' writing, but now also includes additional coverage and examples of document design, electronic communication and Web design. The Writer's Brief Handbook's treatment of research has always provided the best information on using libraries available in any brief handbook. Now its research coverage includes even more on Internet search strategies, and evaluation of sources, and more models for citing electronic sources. In addition, its technology package has been expanded to include two new resources: The Longman ExerciseZone and Plagiarism Tutorial CD-ROM, and an Interactive Edition CD-ROM, including the full text along with video clips, Weblinks, and contextually appropriate grammar quizzes and activities. This revision includes increased attention to the writing of arguments, including coverage of Toulmin and Rogerian approaches, and to writing from sources, especially summary, synthesis, paraphrase and plagiarism. Recognizing students' needs for practical advice in communicating in both college and career, the authors have also added a new chapter on oral presentations and new coverage of scannable and online resumes. Now updated to include the latest information on APA documentation style.

Preface

xxiv

COMPOSING I

(397)

Writing with a computer

(1)

... MORE

Planning

(12)

Analyzing the writing task

(1)

Choosing a subject

(1)

Focusing on a topic

(1)

Generating ideas and collecting information

(5)

Asking questions

(1)

Brainstorming

(2)

Clustering

(1)

Keeping a journal

(1)

Freewriting

(1)

Researching

(1)

Rehearsing ideas

(1)

Visualizing topics

(1)

Thinking creatively

(1)

Determining your purpose

(2)

Writing from experience

(1)

Writing to inform

(1)

Writing to persuade

(1)

Formulating a thesis statement

(1)

Analyzing your audience

(1)

Outlining

(2)

Writing a draft

(3)

Choosing a title

(1)

Writing the body

(1)

Writing the beginning and ending

(1)

Revising

(4)

Revising the largest elements

(1)

Revising sentences and diction

(2)

Conducting peer conferences

(1)

Editing

(1)

Editing for grammar, punctuation, and mechanics

(1)

Preparing the final copy

(1)

Proofreading the final copy

(1)

Annotated student essay

(6)

PARAGRAPHS II

Unity

(4)

Topic sentence

(2)

Controlling idea

(2)

Development

(7)

Completeness

(1)

Implied strategy

(6)

Narration

(1)

Description

(1)

Exemplification

(1)

Facts, statistics, reasons

(1)

Definition

(1)

Process analysis

(1)

Comparison and contrast

(1)

Analogy

(1)

Division and classification

(1)

Cause and effect

(1)

Mixed strategies

(1)

Coherence

(7)

Effective order

(1)

Chronological order

(1)

Spatial order

(1)

Logical order

(1)

Transitional words and phrases

(2)

Key words and phrases

(1)

Parallel structure

(1)

Transitions between paragraphs

(2)

GRAMMAR ESSENTIALS III

Parts of speech

(7)

Verbs

(2)

Forms of verbs

(1)

Intransitive, transitive, and linking verbs

(1)

Verbals

(1)

Nouns

(1)

Pronouns

(1)

Adjectives

(1)

Adverbs

(1)

Prepositions

(1)

Conjunctions

(1)

Interjections

(1)

Parts of sentences

(2)

Subjects

(1)

Predicates

(1)

Objects

(1)

Complements

(1)

Phrases

(2)

Prepositional phrases

(1)

Verbal phrases

(1)

Appositive phrases

(1)

Absolute phrases

(1)

Clauses

(2)

Adjective clauses

(1)

Adverb clauses

(1)

Noun clauses

(1)

Types of sentences

(3)

Classification by structure

(1)

Classification by purpose

(2)

ESL BASICS IV

Verbs

(9)

Modals

(1)

Perfect tenses

(1)

Progressive tenses

(2)

Passive voice

(1)

Two-word verbs

(2)

Verbs followed by an infinitive or a gerund

(2)

Nouns, quantifiers, and articles

(3)

Noncount nouns

(1)

Quantifiers

(1)

Indefinite article (a/an)

(1)

Definite article (the)

(1)

Adjectives and adverbs

(3)

Cumulative adjectives

(1)

Present and past participles

(1)

Adverbs

(1)

Prepositions and prepositional phrases

(2)

Correct prepositions

(1)

Necessary prepositions

(1)

Unnecessary words in prepositional phrases

(1)

Infinitives

(1)

Compound prepositions

(1)

Adjective + preposition combinations

(1)

Parts of sentences

(2)

Omitted verbs

(1)

Omitted subjects

(1)

Expletives (there, here, it)

(1)

Special problems

(6)

Word order in questions

(1)

Questions with who, whom, and what

(1)

Word order in indirect questions

(1)

Reported speech

(2)

Conditional sentences

(2)

Confusing words and phrases

(1)

SENTENCES V

Parallelism

(1)

With coordinating conjunctions

(1)

With correlative conjunctions

(1)

With comparisons using than or as

(1)

Misplaced and dangling modifiers

(2)

Placement of modifiers

(1)

Dangling modifiers

(1)

Shifts

(4)

Shifts in person and number

(1)

Shifts in verb tense

(1)

Shifts in mood

(1)

Shifts in subject and voice

(1)

Shifts in quotation

(1)

Shifts in tone and style

(1)

Shifts in point of view

(1)

Unified and logical sentences

(3)

Relevant details

(1)

Mixed or illogical constructions

(2)

Subordination and coordination

(2)

Choppy sentences

(1)

Excessive subordination

100

(1)

Ideas of equal importance

101

(1)

Emphasis

101

(2)

Placement of important words and phrases

101

(1)

Logical order

102

(1)

Active voice

102

(1)

Repetition

102

(1)

Short, dramatic sentences

102

(1)

Periodic sentences

103

(1)

Balanced constructions

103

(1)

Sentence variety

103

(6)

Overuse of short, simple sentences

104

(1)

Sentence openings

105

(1)

Overuse of compound sentences

106

(3)

EDITING FOR GRAMMAR VI

Subject-verb agreement

109

(5)

Identifying subjects

109

(1)

Compound subjects

110

(1)

Subjects joined by either/or or neither/nor

111

(1)

Collective nouns

111

(1)

Relative pronouns

111

(1)

Indefinite pronouns

112

(1)

Subject after verb

113

(1)

Subject complements

113

(1)

Singular nouns ending in -s

113

(1)

Titles as subjects

114

(1)

Words used as words

114

(1)

Noun clauses

114

(1)

Verbs: form, tense, mood, and voice

114

(9)

Irregular verbs

114

(3)

Lay/lie and set/sit

117

(1)

Tense

118

(4)

Present tense

118

(1)

Present perfect

118

(1)

Present progressive

119

(1)

Present perfect progressive

119

(1)

Past tense

119

(1)

Past perfect

119

(1)

Past progressive

119

(1)

Past perfect progressive

119

(1)

Future tense

119

(1)

Future perfect

120

(1)

Future progressive

120

(1)

Future perfect progressive

120

(1)

Sequences of tense forms

120

(1)

Subordinate clauses

120

(1)

Infinitives

121

(1)

Participles

122

(1)

Mood

122

(1)

Active voice

123

(1)

Pronoun problems

123

(9)

Pronoun-antecedent agreement

124

(2)

Pronoun reference

126

(2)

Case of pronouns

128

(3)

Who and whom

131

(1)

Adjectives and adverbs

132

(4)

Adverbs with verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs

132

(1)

Adjectives as subject complements

133

(1)

Bad/badly and good/well

133

(1)

Demonstrative adjective-noun agreement

134

(1)

Comparative and superlative

135

(1)

Fragments

136

(3)

Phrase fragments

137

(1)

Subordinate clauses

137

(1)

Appositives

137

(1)

Compound predicates

138

(1)

Intentional fragments

138

(1)

Comma splices and fused sentences

139

(4)

Separating sentences

140

(1)

Connecting clauses with a semicolon

140

(1)

Connecting clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction

141

(1)

Restructuring sentences

141

(2)

WORD CHOICE VII

Eliminating clutter

143

(4)

Subjects and verbs

143

(1)

Redundancies

144

(1)

Empty words

145

(1)

Inflated expressions and phrases

145

(1)

Unnecessary clauses

146

(1)

Exactness

147

(5)

Denotation

147

(1)

Connotation

147

(1)

General/specific and abstract/concrete words

148

(1)

Idioms

149

(1)

Figurative language

150

(1)

Cliches

151

(1)

Appropriateness

152

(3)

Degree of formality

152

(1)

Nonstandard English, slang, and regional expressions

153

(1)

Pretentious language, euphemisms, and doublespeak

153

(1)

Jargon

154

(1)

Vogue words

155

(1)

Bias in writing

155

(2)

The dictionary

157

(3)

Spelling

157

(1)

Word division

158

(1)

Pronunciation

158

(1)

Part-of-speech and other grammatical labels

159

(1)

Word endings

159

(1)

Meanings

159

(1)

Etymology

159

(1)

Synonyms and antonyms

159

(1)

Special usage labels and usage notes

160

(1)

The thesaurus

160

(1)

Glossary of usage

161

(10)

PUNCTUATION VIII

The comma

171

(9)

Independent clauses with coordinating conjunctions

171

(1)

Introductory word groups

172

(1)

Nonrestrictive elements

173

(1)

Nonrestrictive adjective phrases and clauses

173

(1)

Nonrestrictive appositives

174

(1)

Series

174

(1)

Coordinate adjectives

175

(1)

Interruptive expressions

176

(1)

Contrasted elements

176

(1)

Speech tags

176

(1)

Mild interjections, direct address, yes and no, interrogative tags

177

(1)

Titles, names, dates, and other conventions

177

(1)

To prevent misreadings

178

(1)

To indicate omissions

178

(1)

Unnecessary commas

178

(2)

The semicolon

180

(2)

Independent clauses

180

(1)

With transitional expressions or conjunctive adverbs

181

(1)

With other punctuation

181

(1)

Misuses

182

(1)

The colon

182

(2)

Independent clauses

182

(1)

Series

182

(1)

Appositives

183

(1)

Direct quotations

183

(1)

Business letters, biblical references, titles and subtitles, bibliographic entries

183

(1)

Misuses

184

(1)

The apostrophe

184

(2)

Possessive case

184

(1)

Contractions

185

(1)

Plurals

185

(1)

Misuses

186

(1)

Quotation marks

186

(3)

Direct quotations

186

(1)

Titles

187

(1)

Words used as words

188

(1)

With other punctuation

188

(1)

Misuses

189

(1)

Other punctuation marks

189

(8)

The period

189

(2)

The question mark

191

(1)

The exclamation point

191

(1)

The dash

192

(1)

Parentheses

192

(1)

Brackets

193

(1)

The ellipsis mark

194

(2)

The slash

196

(1)

MECHANICS IX

Capitals

197

(5)

Proper nouns

197

(2)

Proper adjectives

199

(1)

Organizations, government agencies, call letters, acronyms

199

(1)

Titles, family relationships, epithets

200

(1)

Sentences, deliberate sentence fragments

200

(1)

With colons

200

(1)

Quoted sentences

201

(1)

Poetry

201

(1)

Titles, subtitles

201

(1)

Complimentary close of letter

202

(1)

Abbreviations

202

(3)

Titles with proper nouns

203

(1)

A.D., B.C., a.m., p.m., no., $

203

(1)

Organizations, corporations, government agencies, states, countries

204

(1)

Latin abbreviations

204

(1)

Numbers

205

(1)

Words vs. numbers

205

(1)

Dates, times, addresses, chapters and pages, percentages, and other conventions

205

(1)

Italics/underlining

206

(3)

Titles

207

(1)

Ships, planes, trains, spacecraft

207

(1)

Numbers, letters, words used as such

208

(1)

Foreign words

208

(1)

For emphasis

208

(1)

The hyphen

209

(3)

Compound words

209

(1)

Two or more words as a single adjective

209

(1)

With compound numbers, written fractions

210

(1)

Prefixes and suffixes

210

(1)

Word division

210

(2)

Spelling

212

(9)

Conventional spelling rules

213

(4)

Words that sound alike

217

(4)

DOCUMENT DESIGN X

Understanding the principles of design

221

(3)

Establishing direction, or flow

222

(1)

Using white space

222

(1)

Grouping related elements

222

(1)

Giving emphasis

223

(1)

Maintaining consistency

224

(1)

The elements of design

224

(5)

Margins and line spacing

225

(1)

Type styles and sizes

225

(1)

Headings and subheadings

226

(2)

Lists

228

(1)

Visuals

229

(6)

Tables, charts, and graphs

229

(2)

Diagrams

231

(1)

Illustrations and photographs

232

(1)

Clip art

233

(2)

WRITING AN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY/WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE XI

WRITING AN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

Understanding the elements of argument

235

(2)

Topics

235

(1)

Claims

235

(1)

Data, or evidence

236

(1)

Warrants, or assumptions

237

(1)

Making appropriate appeals

237

(4)

Logical appeals

237

(3)

Emotional appeals

240

(1)

Ethical appeals

240

(1)

Considering your audience

241

(2)

Audience

241

(1)

Rogerian (``common ground'') audience strategy

242

(1)

Refuting the opposition's arguments

243

(1)

Annotated student argumentative essay

244

(4)

Organizing the argumentative essay

248

(1)

WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE

Reading and analyzing a literary text

249

(2)

Observing the conventions

251

(1)

Using quotations

252

(1)

Annotated student essay about literature

253

(6)

SPECIAL KINDS OF WRITING XII

E-Communications

259

(5)

E-mail

259

(1)

E-mail attachments

260

(1)

Listservs

260

(1)

Netiquette

261

(1)

Web site design

262

(2)

Business writing

264

(10)

Business letters

264

(4)

Resumes

268

(5)

Standard resumes

268

(2)

Scannable resumes

270

(2)

E-resumes

272

(1)

Memos

273

(1)

Oral presentations

274

(4)

Outlining

275

(1)

Preparing and practicing

275

(2)

Visuals

277

(1)

Essay examinations

278

(3)

Budgeting time

278

(1)

Answering the question

278

(1)

Analyzing verbs

279

(1)

Planning

279

(1)

Proofreading

280

(1)

THE RESEARCH PAPER XIII

Conducting library and Internet research

281

(21)

Setting a schedule

281

(1)

Choosing a research topic and question

282

(2)

Determining a search strategy

284

(2)

Conducting research in the library

286

(4)

Reference books

286

(1)

Books

287

(1)

Periodicals

288

(2)

Conducting research on the Internet

290

(12)

Accessing the World Wide Web

290

(1)

Using search engines

291

(2)

Using subject directories

293

(5)

Using keyword searches

298

(4)

Selecting and evaluating sources

302

(5)

Previewing print and online sources

302

(2)

Evaluating print and online sources

304

(2)

Using interviews and questionnaires

306

(1)

Keeping track of information

307

(8)

Keeping a working bibliography

307

(2)

Reading and analyzing sources

309

(1)

Taking notes

310

(5)

Elements of a note card

311

(1)

Summary

311

(1)

Paraphrase

312

(1)

Direct quotation

313

(2)

Organizing and drafting the research paper

315

(2)

Formulating a thesis statement

315

(1)

Developing a working outline

316

(1)

Writing a first draft

317

(1)

Documenting sources and avoiding plagiarism

317

(5)

Using an accepted documentation style

317

(3)

Avoiding plagiarism

320

(2)

Quotation marks

320

(1)

Summaries and paraphrases

321

(1)

Integrating borrowed information

322

(3)

Using signal phrases

322

(2)

Appropriate signal phrases

322

(1)

With quotations

322

(1)

With paraphrases and summaries

323

(1)

Setting off long quotations

324

(1)

Revising the research paper

325

(5)

MLA DOCUMENTATION AND FORMAT XIV

MLA in-text citations

330

(5)

MLA list of works cited

335

(12)

MLA information notes

347

(1)

MLA manuscript format

347

(3)

Annotated student research paper: MLA style

350

(15)

OTHER SYSTEMS OF DOCUMENTATION AND FORMAT XV

APA style

365

(19)

In-text citations

365

(3)

References

368

(5)

APA manuscript format

373

(3)

Annotated student research paper: APA style

376

(8)

Chicago Manual style

384

(14)

Endnotes or footnotes

384

(1)

Bibliography

384

(1)

Model notes and bibliographic entries

385

(6)

Subsequent references

391

(1)

Chicago Manual manuscript format

391

(2)

Annotated pages from a student research paper: Chicago Manual style

393

(5)

Credits

398

Index

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