The Little, Brown Compact Handbook with Exercises

The Little, Brown Compact Handbook with Exercises provides reliable and thorough coverage of handbook basics--the writing process, grammar and usage, research and documentation--while also giving detailed discussions of critical reading, academic writing, argument, writing in the disciplines, and public writing. Widely used by both experienced and inexperienced writers, The Little, Brown Compact Handbook with Exercises works as both a comprehensive classroom text and an accessible reference guide.

Preface for Students

Preface for Instructors           

 

PART 1   THE WRITING PROCESS

 

1          The Writing Situation  

            a          Assessment

            b          Subject

            c          Purpose

            d          Audience

            e          Genre

2          Invention  

            a          Journal keeping

            b          Observing

            c          Freewriting

            d          Brainstorming

            e          Drawing

            f           Asking questions

3          Thesis and Organization  

            a          Thesis statement

            b          Organization

4          Drafting 

            a          Starting to draft

            b          Maintaining momentum

            c          Sample first draft

5          Revising and Editing  

            a          Revising the whole essay

            b          Sample revision

            c          Editing the revised draft

            d          Formatting and proofreading

            e             SAMPLE FINAL DRAFT (RESPONSE ESSAY) 

            f           Collaborating

            g          Preparing a writing portfolio

6          Paragraphs  

            a          Relating paragraphs in the essay

b          Unity

            c          Coherence

            d          Development

            e          Introductions and conclusions

7          Presenting Writing  

            a          Academic writing

                        SAMPLE MARKETING REPORT

            b          Visuals and other media

            c          Web writing

                        SAMPLE WEB SITE

                                SAMPLE PAPER ON A BLOG

 

PART 2           WRITING IN AND OUT OF COLLEGE

 

8          Joining the Academic Community  

            a          Getting the most from college courses

            b          Becoming an academic writer

            c          Developing academic integrity

            d          Communicating in an academic setting

9          Critical Thinking and Reading  

            a          Techniques of critical reading

            b          Summarizing

c          Developing a critical response

            d          Viewing visuals critically

10        Academic Writing  

            a          Purpose, audience, and genre

b          Writing in response to texts

            c          Structure and content

            d          Language

            e          SAMPLE CRITICAL RESPONSE

11        Argument  

            a          Elements of argument

            b          Reasonableness

            c          Organization

            d          Visual arguments

            e          SAMPLE ARGUMENT 

12        Essay Exams  

            a          Preparing

            b          Planning

            c          Starting

            d          Developing

                        SAMPLE ESSAY EXAM

            e          Rereading

13        Oral Presentations  

            a          Organization

            b          Delivery

                            SAMPLE POWERPOINT SLIDES

14        Public Writing  

            a          Business letters and résumés

                        SAMPLE LETTER AND RÉSUMÉS

            b          Memos, reports, and proposals

                        SAMPLE MEMO AND REPORT  

            c          Community work

                        SAMPLE FLYER AND NEWSLETTER

 

PART 3           CLARITY AND STYLE

 

15        Emphasis  

            a          Effective subjects and verbs

            b          Sentence beginnings and endings

            c          Coordination

            d          Subordination

16        Parallelism  

            a          With and, but, or, nor, yet

            b          With both . . . and, not . . . but, etc.

            c          In comparisons

            d          With lists, headings, and outlines

17        Variety and Details  

            a          Sentence length

            b          Sentence structure

            c          Details

18        Appropriate and Exact Language  

            a          Appropriate language

            b          Exact language

19        Completeness  

            a          Compounds

            b          Needed words

20        Conciseness  

            a          Focusing on subject and verb

            b          Cutting empty words

            c          Cutting repetition

            d          Reducing modifiers

            e          Revising there is or it is

            f           Combining sentences

            g          Rewriting jargon

 

 

PART 4           SENTENCE PARTS AND PATTERNS

______________________________________

            BASIC GRAMMAR

21        Parts of Speech  

            a          Nouns

            b          Pronouns

            c          Verbs

            d          Adjectives and adverbs

            e          Prepositions and conjunctions

            f           Interjections

22        The Sentence  

            a          Subjects and predicates

            b          Predicate patterns

23        Phrases and Subordinate Clauses  

            a          Phrases

            b          Subordinate clauses

24        Sentence Types  

            a          Simple sentences

            b          Compound sentences

            c          Complex sentences

            d          Compound-complex sentences

_______________________________________________

            VERBS

25        Forms  

            a          Sing/sang/sung and other irregular verbs

            b          Sit/set, lie/lay, rise/raise

            c          -s and -ed forms

            d          Be, have, and other helping verbs

            e          Verb + gerund or infinitive: stop eating vs. stop to eat

            f           Verb + particle: look up, look over, etc.

26        Tenses  

            a          Present tense: sing

            b          Perfect tenses: have/had/will have sung

            c          Progressive tenses: is/was/will be singing

            d          Consistency

            e          Sequence

27        Mood  

            a          Subjunctive: I wish I were

            b          Consistency

28        Voice  

            a          She wrote it (active) vs. It was written (passive)

            b          Consistency

29        Subject-Verb Agreement  

            a          -s and -es endings

            b          Intervening words

            c          Subjects with and

            d          Subjects with or or nor

            e          Everyone and other indefinite pronouns

            f           Team and other collective nouns

            g          Who, which, that

            h          News and other singular nouns ending in -s

            i           Verb preceding subject

            j           Is, are, and other linking verbs

            k          Titles and words being defined

________________________________________________

            PRONOUNS

30        Case  

            a          She and I vs. her and me

            b          It was she

            c          Who vs. whom

            d          Other constructions

31        Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

            a          Antecedents with and

            b          Antecedent with or or nor

            c          Everyone, person, and other indefinite words

            d          Team and other collective nouns

32        Pronoun Reference  

            a          Clear reference

            b          Close reference

            c          Specific reference

            d          Appropriate you

            e          Consistency

__________________________________________________

            MODIFIERS

33        Adjectives and Adverbs  

            a          Adjective vs. adverb

            b          Adjective with linking verb: felt bad

            c          Comparatives (bigger) and superlatives (biggest)    

d          Double negatives

            e          Present and past participles: boring vs. bored

            f           A, an, the, and other determiners

34        Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers  

            a          Misplaced modifiers

            b          Dangling modifiers

_______________________________________

            SENTENCE FAULTS

35        Fragments  

            a          Tests

            b          Revision

            c          Acceptable fragments

36        Comma Splices and Fused Sentences  

            a          Main clauses without and, but, etc.

            b          Main clauses with however, for example, etc.

37        Mixed Sentences  

            a          Reason is because and other mixed meanings

            b          Tangled grammar

            c          Repeated subjects and other parts

 

PART 5           PUNCTUATION

 

38        End Punctuation  

            a          Period

            b          Question mark

            c          Exclamation point

39        Comma  

            a          Main clauses with and, but, etc.

            b          Introductory elements

            c          Nonessential elements

            d          Items in a series

            e          Two or more adjectives

            f           Dates, addresses, place names, long numbers

            g          With quotations

            h          Misuses 

40        Semicolon  

            a          Main clauses without and, but, etc.

            b          Main clauses with however, for example, etc.

            c          Main clauses or series items with commas

            d          Misuses  

41        Colon  

            a          Concluding explanation, series, etc.

            b          Salutation, title and subtitle, time

            c          Misuses

42        Apostrophe  

            a          Possession

            b          Misuses

            c          Contractions

            d          Plural abbreviations, etc.

43        Quotation Marks  

            a          Direct quotations

            b          Within a quotation

            c          Dialog

            d          Titles of works

            e          Words used in a special sense

            f           Misuses

            g          With other punctuation

44        Other Marks  

            a          Dash or dashes

            b          Parentheses

            c          Ellipsis mark

            d          Brackets

            e          Slash

 

PART 6           SPELLING AND MECHANICS

 

45        Spelling and the Hyphen  

            a          Typical spelling problems

            b          Spelling rules

            c          The hyphen

46        Capital Letters  

            a          First word of sentence 

            b          Proper nouns and adjectives

            c          Titles of works

            d          Online communication

47        Italics or Underlining

            a          Titles and subtitles of works

            b          Names of vehicles

            c          Foreign words

            d          Words or characters named as words

            e          Emphasis

            f           Online communication

48        Abbreviations  

            a          Titles with proper names

            b          Familiar abbreviations

            c          BC, BCE, AD, CE, AM, PM, no., $

            d          Latin abbreviations

            e          Inc., Bros., Co., & 

            f           Units of measurement, names, etc.

49        Numbers  

            a          Numerals vs. words

            b          Dates, addresses, etc.

            c          Beginning sentences

 

PART 7           RESEARCH WRITING

 

50        Research Strategy  

            a          Planning

            b          Research journal

            c          Researchable subject and question

            d          Goals for sources

            e          Working, annotated bibliography

51        Finding Sources  

            a          Your library’s Web site

            b          Searching electronically

            c          Reference works

            d          Books

            e          Periodicals

            f           The Web

            g          Social media

            h          Government publications

            i           Visuals, audio, video

            j           Your own sources

52        Working with Sources  

            a          Evaluating sources

            b          Synthesizing sources

            c          Gathering information

            d          Using summary, paraphrase, quotation

            e          Integrating sources

53        Avoiding Plagiarism and Documenting Sources  

            a          Deliberate and accidental plagiarism

            b          What not to acknowledge

            c          What must be acknowledged

            d          Obtaining permission

            e          Documenting sources

54        Writing the Paper  

            a          Focusing and organizing

            b          Drafting, revising, editing, and formatting

 

PART 8           WRITING IN THE DISCIPLINES

 

55        Goals and Requirements of the Disciplines  

            a          Methods and evidence

            b          Writing assignments

            c          Tools and language

            d          Documentation and format

56        Reading and Writing about Literature  

            a          Methods and evidence

            b          Writing assignments

            c          Tools and language

            d          Documentation and format

            e          SAMPLE LITERARY ANALYSIS  

57        Writing in Other Disciplines  

            a          Humanities

            b          Social sciences

            c          Natural and applied sciences

58        MLA Documentation and Format  

Indexes to models  
            a          Parenthetical text citations

            b          List of works cited

            c          Format of paper

            d          SAMPLE MLA PAPER  

59        APA Documentation and Format  

            Indexes to models   

            a          Parenthetical text citations

            b          List of references

            c          Format of paper

            d          SAMPLE APA PAPER 

60        Chicago Documentation  

            Index to models  

            a          Notes and bibliography entries

            b          Models

61        CSE Documentation  

            Index to models   

            a          Name-year citations

            b          Numbered text citations

            c          List of references

 

GLOSSARY OF USAGE      

INDEX    

CULTURE-LANGUAGE GUIDE