A Writer's Resource (comb-version) Student Edition

As we wrote the first edition of The McGraw-Hill Handbook, our students were in our minds, acting as our chief consultants. We knew that their perspectives on college life were different from those of previous generations of students, and so were their expectations. We understood that they needed a handbook for the twenty-first century, with state-of-the-art resources on writing, researching, and graphic design. They might be using a handbook in an English composition class at 9:00 AM, but at 10:00 AM they might be preparing PowerPoints for a speech course, and at 11:00 AM they might need the handbook to help with a history assignment. More than any other textbook, their handbook was their guide, not just to writing, but also to learning in college. In revising the second edition, we have endeavored to make it an even stronger and more varied resource for achieving excellence in the ever-changing digital environment that students confront in college.

Table of Contents:
*new to this edition 1. Learning across the Curriculum 1. Writing to Learna. Studying the world through a range of disciplinesb. Using writing as a tool for learningc. Taking responsibility for reading, writing, and researchd. Recognizing that writing improves with practice 2. Learning in a Multimedia Worlda. Becoming aware of the persuasive power of imagesb. Making effective use of multimedia elementsc. Taking advantage of online and other electronic tools for learning 3. Learning in a Multilingual Worlda. Becoming aware of cultural differences in communicationb. Using writing to learn more about Englishc. Using learning tools that are available for multilingual students 2. Writing and Designing Papers 4. Reading, Thinking, Writing: The Critical Connectiona. Reading criticallyb. Thinking criticallyc. Writing critically 5. Planning and Shapinga. Learning how to approach assignmentsb. Exploring your ideasc. Developing a working thesisd. Planning a structure that suits your assignmente. Considering visuals 6. Drafting Text and Visualsa. Using online tools for draftingb. Developing ideas and using visualsc. Writing focused, clearly organized paragraphsd. Integrating visuals effectively 7. Revising and Editinga. Getting comments from readersb. Using campus, Internet, and community resourcesc. Using online tools for revisingd. Focusing on the purpose of your writinge. Testing your thesisf. Reviewing the structure of your paper as a whole g. Revising for paragraph development, paragraph unity, and coherenceh. Revising visualsi. Editing sentences j. Proofreading carefullyk. Learning from one student’s revisions 8. Designing Academic Papers and Portfoliosa. Considering audience and purposeb. Using computer toolbarsc. Thinking intentionally about designd. Compiling a portfolio 3. Common Assignments across the Curriculum 9. Informative Reportsa. Understanding the assignmentb. Approaching writing an informative report as a processc. Student paper: Informative reportd. Writing reviews of the literature 10. Interpretive Analyses and Writing about Literaturea. Understanding the assignmentb. Approaching writing an interpretive analysis as a processc. Student paper: Interpretive analysis 11. Argumentsa. Understanding the assignmentb. Approaching writing an argument as a processc. Student paper: Argument 12. Other Kinds of Writing Assignmentsa. Personal essaysb. Lab reports in the experimental sciencesc. Case studies in the social sciencesd. Essays examse. Coauthored projects 13. Oral Presentationsa. Planning and shaping your presentationb. Drafting your presentationc. Preparing for your presentation 14. Multimedia Writinga. Learning about tools for creating multimedia textsb. Analyzing imagesc. Creating a hypertext essayd. Creating multimedia presentationse. Creating a Web sitef. Creating and interacting with blogs 4. Writing beyond College 15. Service Learning and Community-Service Writinga. Addressing the community on behalf of your organization or yourselfb. Designing brochures, posters, and newsletters 16. Letters to Raise Awareness and Share Concerna. Writing about a public issueb. Writing as a consumer 17. Writing to Get and Keep a Joba. Exploring internship possibilitiesb. Keeping an up-to-date résuméc. Writing an application letterd. Preparing for a job interviewe. Applying college writing to writing on the job 5. Researching 18. Understanding Researcha.Understanding primary and secondary researchb.Recognizing the connection between research and college writingc.Understanding the research assignmentd.Choosing an interesting research questione.Creating a research plan 19. Finding and Managing Print and Online Sourcesa. Using the library in person and onlineb. Consulting various kinds of sourcesc. Understanding keywords and keyword searchesd. Using printed and online reference workse. Using print indexes and online databasesf. Using search engines and subject directories to find Internet sourcesg. Using your library’s online catalog or card catalog to find booksh. Taking advantage of printed and online government documentsi. Exploring online communication 20. Finding and Creating Effective Visualsa. Finding quantitative data and displaying it visuallyb. Searching for appropriate images in online and print sources 21. Evaluating Sourcesa. Questioning print sourcesb. Questioning Internet sourcesc. Evaluating a source’s arguments 22. Doing Research in the Archive, Field, and Laba. Adhering to ethical principlesb. Preparing yourself for archival researchc. Planning your field research carefullyd. Keeping a notebook when doing lab research *23. Plagiarism, Copyright Infringement, and Intellectual Propertya. Understanding how plagiarism relates to copyright and intellectual propertyb. Avoiding inadvertent and deliberate plagiarismc. Using copyrighted materials fairly 24. Working with Sources and Avoiding Plagiarisma. Maintaining a working bibliographyb. Creating an annotated bibliographyc. Taking notes on your sourcesd. Taking stock of and synthesizing what you have learned e. Integrating quotations, paraphrases, and summaries 25. Writing the Papera. Planning and drafting your paperb. Revising your draftc. Documenting your sources 6. MLA Documentation Style(Foldout) Resources for Writers: MLA Documentation26. MLA Style: In-Text CitationsMLA In-Text Citations: Directory to Sample Types27. MLA Style: List of Works CitedMLA Works-Cited Entries: Directory to Sample Types28. MLA Style: Explanatory Notes29. MLA Style: Paper Format30. Student Paper in MLA Style 7. APA Documentation Style (Foldout) Resources for Writers: APA Documentation31. APA Style: In-Text CitationsAPA In-Text Citations: Directory to Sample Types32. APA Style: ReferencesAPA Reference Entries: Directory to Sample Types33. APA Style: Paper Format34. Student Paper in APA Style 8. Chicago and CSE Documentation Styles35. Chicago Documentation Stylea. Chicago style: In-text citations and notesb. Chicago style: Bibliographyc. Sample Chicago-style notes and bibliography entries 36. Sample from a student paper in Chicago style 37. CSE Documentationa. In-text citationsb. List of referencesCSE style: Directory to Sample Typesc. CSE name-year style: Sample references listd. CSE citation-name style: Sample references list 9. Editing for Clarity *(Foldout)Resources for Writers: Identifying and Editing Common Problems/Resources for Multilingual Writers 38. Wordy Sentencesa. Eliminating redundanciesb. Avoiding unnecessary repetitionc. Replacing wordy phrasesd. Reducing clauses and phrasese. Combining sentencesf. Making sentences straightforward 39. Missing Wordsa. Adding words needed in compound structuresb. Including that when it is needed for clarityc. Making comparisons cleard. Adding articles (a, an, the) where necessary 40. Mixed Constructionsa. Untangling mixed-up sentence structuresb. Making sure predicates fit subjectsc. Editing sentences with is when, is where, the reason . . . is because 41. Confusing Shiftsa. Making your point of view consistent in person and numberb. Keeping verb tenses consistentc. Avoiding unnecessary shifts in mood and voiced. Avoiding shifts between direct and indirect quotations and questions 42. Faulty Parallelisma. Making items in a series parallelb. Making paired ideas parallelc. Repeating function words as needed 43. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiersa. Putting modifiers close to the words they modifyb. Clarifying ambiguous modifiersc. Moving disruptive modifiersd. Checking split infinitives for ambiguitye. Fixing dangling modifiers 44. Coordination and Subordinationa. Using coordination to express equal ideasb. Using subordination to express unequal ideasc. Avoiding subordination of major ideasd. Combining short, choppy sentencese. Avoiding excessive subordination 45. Sentence Varietya. Varying sentence openingsb. Varying sentence length and structurec. Including cumulative and periodic sentences and rhetorical questionsd. Trying inversions 46. Active Verbsa. Considering alternatives to be verbsb. Preferring the active voice 47. Appropriate Languagea. Avoiding slang, regionalisms, and nonstandard Englishb. Using an appropriate level of formalityc. Avoiding jargond. Avoiding euphemisms and doublespeake. Removing biased or sexist language 48. Exact Languagea. Choosing words with suitable connotationsb. Including specific, concrete wordsc. Using standard idiomsd. Avoiding clichése. Creating suitable figures of speechf. Avoiding misuse of words 49. The Dictionary and the Thesaurusa. Using the dictionary as a habitb. Consulting a thesaurus50. Glossary of Usage 10. Editing for Grammar Conventions 51. Sentence Fragmentsa. Identifying sentence fragmentsb. Editing sentence fragmentsc. Phrases as fragmentsd. Dependent clauses as fragments 52. Comma Splices and Run-on Sentencesa. Identifying commas splices and run-on sentencesb. Learning five ways to edit commas splices and run-on sentencesc. Joining two clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunctiond. Joining two clauses with a semicolone. Separating the clauses into two sentencesf. Making one clause dependentg. Transforming two clauses into one clause 53. Subject-Verb Agreementa. Standard subject-verb combinationsb. A word group between subject and verbc. Compound subjects connected by conjunctions (and, but, either . . .or)d. Collective subjects (committee, jury)e. Indefinite subjects (everybody, no one)f. Subject following verbg. Subject complementsh. Relative pronouns (who, which, that)i. –ing phrases (gerund phrases) as subjectsj. Titles, company names, words considered as words 54. Problems with Verbsa. Principal forms of regular and irregular verbsb. Lay and lie, sit and set, rise and raisec. –s or –es endingsd. –d or –ed endingse. Complete verbsf. Verb tensesg. Past perfect tenseh. Special uses of the present tensei. Tense with infinitives and participlesj. Mood 55. Problems with Pronounsa. Pronoun-antecedent agreementb. Pronoun referencec. Making pronouns consistentd. Pronoun case (for example, I vs. me)e. Who vs. whom 56. Problems with Adjectives and Adverbsa. Adverbsb. Adjectivesc. Positive, comparative, and superlative adjectives and adverbsd. Double negatives 11. Editing for Correctness: Punctuation, Mechanics, and Spelling 57. CommasCommon Uses of the Commaa.Introductory word groupsb.Items in a seriesc.Independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunctiond.Series of adjectivese.Nonessential additions to a sentencef.Transitional and parenthetical expressions, contrasting comments, absolute phrasesg.Words of direct address, yes and no, mild interjections, tag questionsh.Direct quotationsi.Parts of dates, letters, addresses, people’s titles, and numbersj.Omitted words or phrases, confusing combinationsCommon Misuses of the Commak.To separate major elements in an independent clausel.In front of the first or following the final item in a seriesm.To separate compound word groups that are not independent clausesn.To set off restrictive modifiers, appositives, or slightly parenthetical elementso.Other common errors 58. Semicolonsa. Independent clausesb. Independent clauses with transitional expressionsc. Items in a series that contain commasd. Common errors 59. Colonsa. With lists, appositives, or quotationsb. With a second independent clause that elaborates on the first onec. Other conventional usesd. Common errors 60. Apostrophesa. To indicate possessionb. For missing letters in contractions and for missing numbersc. Distinguishing between possessive pronouns and contractionsd. To form plural numbers, letters, abbreviations, words used as wordse. Common errors 61. Quotation Marksa. Exact words of a speaker or writerb. Long quotations in indented blocksc. A quotation within a quotationd. Titles of short workse. A word or phrase used in a special wayf. Other punctuation marks with quotation marksg. Integrating quotations into sentencesh. Common errors 62. Other Punctuation Marksa. Periodsb. Question marksc. Exclamation pointsd. A dash or dashese. Parenthesesf. Bracketsg. Ellipsesh. Slashes 63. Capitalizationa. Names of people and derived names, including brand names, certain abbreviationsb. Titles of personsc. Titles of creative worksd. Names of areas and regionse. Names of races, ethnic groups, and sacred thingsf. First word of a quoted sentenceg. First word of a sentenceh. First word of an independent clause after a colon 64. Abbreviations and Symbolsa. Titles that precede or follow a person’s nameb. Familiar vs. unfamiliar abbreviationsc. Words typically used with times, dates, and numerals; units of measurement in charts and graphsd. Latin abbreviationse. Inappropriate abbreviations and symbols 65. Numbersa. Numbers up to one hundred and round numbers over one hundredb. Numbers that begin a sentencec. Numbers in technical and business writingd. Dates, times of day, addresses 66. Italics (Underlining)a. Titles of lengthy works or separate publicationsb. Names of ships, trains, aircraft, and spaceshipsc. Foreign termsd. Scientific namese. Words, letters, and numbers referred to as themselvesf. Overuse 67. Hyphensa. Compound wordsb. Compound adjective or noun formsc. Fractions and compound numbersd. With some prefixes and suffixese. To divide words at the ends of lines 68. Spellinga. Spelling rules and exceptionsb. Words pronounced alike but spelled differently 12. Basic Grammar Review with Tips for Multilingual Writers 69. Parts of SpeechTip: Recognizing language differencesa. VerbsTip: Using verbs followed by gerunds or infinitivesTip: Matching helping verbs (do, have, be) with the appropriate form of the main verbTip: Understanding the form and meaning of modal verbsb. NounsTip: Using quantifiers with count and noncount nounsTip: Using articles (a, an, the) appropriatelyc. Pronounsd. AdjectivesTip: Using adjectives correctlye. Adverbsf.PrepositionsTip: Using prepositionsg.ConjunctionsTip: Using coordination and subordination appropriatelyh.Interjections 70. Parts of SentencesTip: Putting sentence parts in the correct order for Englisha.SubjectsTip: Including a subject (but not two)b. Verbs and their objects or complementsTip: Including a complete verbTip: Including only one direct object 71. Phrases and Dependent Clausesa. Noun phrasesb. Verb phrases and verbalsc. Appositive phrasesd. Absolute phrasese. Dependent clausesTip: Understanding the purposes and constructions of if clauses 72. Types of Sentencesa. Sentence structuresb. Sentence purposes 13. Further Resources for LearningTimeline of World HistorySelected Terms from across the Curriculum*(Foldout) Resources for Writers across the Curriculum/World MapIndexIndex for Multilingual WritersAbbreviations and Symbols for Editing and Proofreading

About the Author :
Elaine P. Maimon is President of Governors State University in the south suburbs of Chicago, where she is also Professor of English. Previously she was Chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage, Provost (Chief Campus Officer) at Arizona State University West, and Vice President of Arizona State University as a whole. In the 1970s, she initiated and then directed the Beaver College writing-across-the-curriculum program, one of the first WAC programs in the nation. A founding Executive Board member of the National Council of Writing Program Administrators (WPA), she has directed national institutes to improve the teaching of writing and to disseminate the principles of writing across the curriculum. With a PhD in English from the University of Pennsylvania, where she later helped to create the Writing Across the University (WATU) program, she has also taught and served as an academic administrator at Haverford College, Brown University, and Queens College. Janice Haney Peritz is an Associate Professor of English who has taught college writing for more than thirty years, first at Stanford University, where she received her PhD in 1978, and then at the University of Texas at Austin; Beaver College; and Queens College, City University of New York. From 1989 to 2002, she directed the Composition Program at Queens College, where in 1996, she also initiated the colleges writing-across-the-curriculum program and the English Departments involvement with the Epiphany Project and cyber-composition. She also worked with a group of CUNY colleagues to develop The Write Site, an online learning center, and more recently directed the CUNY Honors College at Queens College for three years. Currently, she is back in the English Department doing what she loves most: research, writing, and full-time classroom teaching of writing, literature, and culture. Kathleen Blake Yancey is the Kellogg W. Hunt Professor of English and Distinguished Research Professor at Florida State University. She has held several national leadership positions, including as President of the Council of Writing Program Administrators (CWPA), Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), President of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and President of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA). She also co-edited the journal Assessing Writing for seven years, and she is the immediate past editor of College Composition and Communication. Her scholarship ranges from reflection and ePortfolios to writing transfer and digital literacies. Previously, she taught at UNC Charlotte and at Clemson University, where she directed the Pearce Center for Professional Communication and created the Class of 1941 Studio for Student Communication, both of which are dedicated to supporting communication across the curriculum.