CONTENTS
A Personal Message . . . vi
To the Instructor vii
Hints for Using This Book xvi
Question and Correct
& Compare and Correct
Question and Correct: Some
of the Most Commonly Asked Questions About Writing qc1
Compare and Correct cc1
The Writing Process
1 Purposes and Audiences 1
a Purpose 1
b Topic 1
c Thesis 2
d Audience 2
2 Writing Processes and Strategies 4
a Planning 4
b Drafting 10
c Organizing 11
d Collaborating 12
e Revising 16
f Editing and Proofreading 18
3 Paragraphs 20
a Unity 20
b Coherence 20
c Development 21
d Introductions and Conclusions 21
e Patterns of Organization 21
4 Argument 28
a Writing and Reading Arguments 28
b Considering the Audience 29
c Finding a Topic 32
d Developing Your Arguments 33
e Organizing Your Arguments 36
5 Visual Argument 39
a Similarities and Differences Between Verbal and Visual Argument 41
b Reading Visual Arguments 45
c Writing Visual Arguments 47
Revising Sentences for Accuracy, Clarity, and Variety
6 Comma Splices and Fused Sentences 49
a Comma Splices 50
b Fused or Run-On Sentences 50
7 Subject-Verb Agreement 52
a Singular and Plural Subjects 53
b Buried Subjects 53
c Compound Subjects 54
d Or and Either/Or Subjects 54
e Clauses and Phrases
as Subjects 55
f Indefinites as Subjects 55
g Collective Nouns and Amounts as Subjects 56
h Plural Words as Subjects 56
i Titles, Company Names, Words, and Quotations as Subjects 56
j Linking Verbs 57
kThere (is/are), Here (is/are) andIt 57
l Who/Which/That and One of as Subjects 57
8 Sentence Fragments 59
a Unintentional Fragments 60
b Intentional Fragments 63
9 Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers 65
a Dangling Modifiers 65
b Misplaced Modifiers 67
10Parallel Constructions 69
a Parallel Structure 69
b Faulty Parallelism 70
11Consistency (Avoiding Shifts) 72
a Shifts in Person or Number 72
b Shifts in Verb Tense 73
c Shifts in Tone 74
d Shifts in Voice 74
e Shifts in Discourse 75
12Faulty Predication 76
13Coordination and Subordination 78
a Coordination 78
b Subordination 80
14 Sentence Clarity 83
a Moving from UnKnown (Old)
to known (New) Information 83
b Using Positive Instead of
Negative Statements 84
c Avoiding Double Negatives 84
d Using Verbs Instead of Nouns 85
e Making the Intended Subject
the Sentence Subject 85
f Using Active Instead of Passive
Voice 86
15Transitions 87
a Repetition of a Key Term or Phrase 87
b Synonyms 87
c Pronouns 87
d Transitional Words and Phrases 88
e Transitions in and Between Paragraphs 89
16 Sentence Variety 93
a Combining Sentences 93
b Adding Words 94
c Changing Words, Phrases,
and Clauses 95
Parts of Sentences
17Verbs 99
a Verb Phrases 100
b Verb Forms 100
c Verb Tense 103
d Verb Voice 111
e Verb Mood 111
f Modal Verbs 113
18Nouns and Pronouns 114
a Nouns 114
b Pronouns 117
19Pronoun Case and Reference 122
a Pronoun Case 122
b Pronoun Reference 127
20Adjectives and Adverbs 132
a Adjectives and Adverbs 132
b A/An/The 135
c Comparisons 137
21Prepositions 140
a Common Prepositions 141
b Idiomatic Prepositions 141
c Other Prepositions 142
22 Subjects 143
23 Phrases 146
24 Clauses 148
a Independent Clauses 148
b Dependent Clauses 151
25Essential and Nonessential Clauses and Phrases 155
a Essential Clauses and Phrases 155
b Nonessential Clauses
and Phrases 156
26Sentences 158
a Sentence Purposes 161
b Sentence Structures 161
Punctuation
27Commas 165
a Commas in Compound
Sentences 166
b Commas After Introductory Words, Phrases, and Clauses 168
c Commas with Essential
and Nonessential Words,
Phrases, and Clauses 171
d Commas in Series and Lists 173
e Commas with Adjectives 175
f Commas with Dates, Addresses, Geographical Names,
and Numbers 177
g Other Uses for Commas 179
h Unnecessary Commas 181
28Apostrophes 183
a Apostrophes with Possessives 183
b Apostrophes with Contractions 184
c Apostrophes with Plurals 184
d Unnecessary Apostrophes 185
29Semicolons 189
a Semicolons in Compound
Sentences 189
b Semicolons in a Series 191
c Semicolons with Quotation
Marks 191
d Unnecessary Semicolons 192
30Colons 193
a Colons to Announce Elements
at the End of a Sentence 193
b Colons to Separate Independent Clauses 194
c Colons to Announce
Quotations 194
d Colons in Salutations and Between Elements 195
e Colons with Quotation Marks 19
f Unnecessary Colons 195
31 Quotation Marks 197
a Quotation Marks with Direct
and Indirect Quotations 197
b Quotation Marks for Minor Titles and Parts of Wholes 199
c Quotation Marks for Words 199
d Use of Other Punctuation with Quotation Marks 200
e Unnecessary Quotation Marks 200
32 Hyphens 202
a Hyphens to Divide Words 202
b Hyphens to Form Compound Words 202
c Hyphens to Join Word Units 203
d Hyphens to Join Prefixes, Suffixes,and Letters to a Word 203
e Hyphens to Avoid Ambiguity 204
33 End Punctuation 205
a Periods 205
b Question Marks 207
c Exclamation Points 209
34 Other Punctuation 210
a Dashes 210
b Slashes 212
c Parentheses 214
d Brackets 215
e Ellipsis (Omitted Words) 217
Mechanics and Spelling
35 Capitals 219
36 Abbreviations 223
a Abbreviating Numbers 223
b Abbreviating Titles 223
c Abbreviating Place Names 224
d Abbreviating Measurements 224
e Abbreviating Dates 224
f Abbreviating Initials Used
as Names 224
g Abbreviating Latin
Expressions 225
h Abbreviating Documentation 225
37 Numbers 227
38 Underlining/Italics 230
a Underlining for Titles 230
b Other Uses of Underlining 231
39 Spelling 233
a Proofreading 233
b Using Spell-Checkers 235
c Some Spelling Guidelines 235
d Plurals 241
e Sound-Alike Words (Homonyms) 243
Style and Word Choice
40 Sexist Language 247
a Alternatives to Man 247
b Alternative Job Titles 247
c Alternatives to the Male or Female Pronoun 248
41 Unnecessary Words 250
a Conciseness 250
b Cliches 253
c Pretentious Language 254
42 Appropriate Words 255
a Standard English 255
b Colloquialisms, Slang, and Regionalisms 255
c Levels of Formality 257
d Jargon and Technical Terms 260
e General and Specific Words 261
f Concrete and Abstract Words 262
g Denotation and Connotation 264
h Offensive Language 264
ESL Concerns
43 American Style in Writing 267
44 Verbs 268
a Helping Verbs with Main Verbs 268
b Two-Word (Phrasal) Verbs 270
c Verbs with -ing and to + Verb
Forms 271
45 Omitted Words 274
a Verbs 274
b Subjects and There or It 274
46 Repeated Words 275
a Subjects 275
b Pronouns and Adverbs 275
47 Count and Noncount Nouns 276
48 Adjectives and Adverbs 279
a Placement 279
b Order 279
c A/An/The 280
d Some/Any, Much/Many, Little/Few,
Less/Fewer, Enough, No 283
49 Prepositions 284
50 Idioms 286
Research
51 Finding a Topic 289
a Deciding on a Purpose 290
b Understanding Why Plagiarism Is Wrong 292
c Deciding on a Topic 296
d Narrowing the Topic 297
e Formulating a Research Question 299
f Formulating a Thesis 300
52 Searching for Information 302
a Choosing Primary and Secondary Sources 302
b Searching the Internet 305
c Searching Libraries 312
d Searching Other Sources 315
53 Using Web Resources 318
a Web Site Bibliographic
Information 318
b Useful Web Sites 321
54 Evaluating Sources 326
a Getting Started 327
b Evaluating Internet Sources 328
c Evaluating Bibliographic Citations 335
d Evaluating Content 337
55 Collecting Information 340
a Keeping Notes on a Computer 340
b Printing and Annotating Photocopies and Printouts 341
c Starting a Working Bibliography 344
d Writing Notecards 346
56 Using Sources and Avoiding
Plagiarism 346
a Recognizing Plagiarism 346
b Summarizing Without Plagiarizing 352
c Paraphrasing Without Plagiarizing 354
d Using Quotation Marks to Avoid Plagiarizing 356
e Using Signal Words and Phrases
to Integrate Sources 361
57 Writing the Research Paper 367
a Getting Started 367
b Planning and Organizing 368
c Writing a Draft 370
d Reviewing the Draft 371
e Revising, Editing, and Checking the Format 371 MLA Documentation
58 Documenting in MLA Style 374
a In-Text Citations 375
b Endnotes 378
c Works Cited List 379
d Sample MLA-Style Research
59 Documenting in APA Style 422
a In-Text Citations 423
b Footnotes 426
c References List 426
d Sample APA-Style Research Paper 435
60 Documenting in Other Styles 462
a Chicago Manual of Style (CM) 462
b Council of Science Editors (CSE) 471
c Columbia Online Style (COS) 475
d Resources for Other Styles 482
Document Design, Public Writing, and Writing About Literature
61 Document Design 485
a Principles of Document Design 486
b Visual Elements 488
c Web Page Design 490
d Paper Preparation 497
62 Public Writing 504
a Public Documents 505
b Resumes 514
63 Writing About Literature 527
a Ways to Write About Literature 527
b Writing the Assignment 529
c A Glossary of Literary Terms 531
d Conventions in Writing
About Literature 531
e Sample Paper 533
Glossary of Usage 539
Glossary of Grammatical Terms 550
Index 570
