LB Brief provides students of varying skills and interests with clear, reliable, and accessible explanations of handbook basics–the writing process, grammar and usage, and research writing. Concise and easy to use it focuses on 3 main emphases: writing in and out of college, visual literacy, and research writing. LB Brief helps writing students find what they need and then use what they find.
Table of Contents:
PART ONE: WRITING PROCESS
1 The Writing Situation
a Analysis
b Subject
c Audience
d Purpose
2 Invention
a Journal keeping
b Observing
c Freewriting
d Brainstorming
e Clustering
f Asking questions
g Reading
3 Thesis and Organization
a Thesis statement
b Organization
Sample Essay
4 Drafting
a Starting
b Maintaining momentum
c Sample First Draft
5 Revising and Editing
a Revising the whole essay
b Sample revision
c Editing
d Formatting; proofreading
e Sample Final Draft
f Collaborating
g Preparing a writing portfolio
6 Paragraphs
a Unity around a central idea
b Coherence
c Development
d Introductions and conclusions
e Linking paragraphs
7 Document Design
a Academic papers
b Principles of design
c Elements of design
d Illustrations
e Papers submitted online
f Readers with disabilities
PART TWO: WRITING IN AND OUT OF COLLEGE
8 Academic Writing
a Academic habits
b Audience
c Purpose
d Structure and content
e Language
9 Study Skills
a Time management
b Listening and note taking in class
c Reading
d Exams
Sample Essay Exams
10 Critical Reading and Writing
a Critical reading
b Critically viewing images
c Critical writing
Sample Critique of a Text
11 Writing Arguments
a Elements of argument
b Writing reasonably
c Organizing an argument
d Sample Argument
12 Reading and Writing About Literature
a Writing while reading
b Critical reading
c Sample Works and Papers
13 Public Writing
a Business letters and résumés
Sample Letter and Résumés
b Memos
Sample Memo
c Electronic mail
Sample E-mail Message
d Community work
Sample Newsletter and Brochure
e Web composition
Sample Web Page
14 Oral Presentations
a Purpose and audience
b Organization
c Delivery
Sample Powerpoint Slides
PART THREE: CLARITY AND STYLE
15 Emphasis
a 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, etc.
c In comparisons
d In lists, headings, and outlines
17 Variety and Details
a Sentence length
b Sentence structure
c Details
18 Appropriate and Exact Words
a Appropriate words
b Exact words
19 Completeness
a Compounds
b Needed words
20 Conciseness
a Focusing on subject and verb
b Cutting empty words
c Cutting repetition
d Tightening clauses and phrases
e Cutting there is or it is
f Combining sentences
g Avoiding jargon
PART FOUR: 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 Subject and predicate
b Predicate patterns
c Alternative 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 Irregular verbs
b Sit/set; lie/lay; rise/raise
c -s and-ed forms
d Helping verbs
e Verb + gerund or infinitive
f Verb + particle
26 Tense
a Present tense: sing
b Perfect tense: have/had/will have sung
c Progressive tense: is/was/will be singing
d Consistency
e Sequence
27 Mood
a Subjunctive: I wish I were
b Consistency
28 Voice
a Active vs. 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 Inverted word order
j Is, are, and other linking verbs
k Titles; words being defined
Pronouns
30 Case
a She and I vs.her and me
b It was she vs.It was her
c Who vs.whom
d Other constructions
31 Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
a Antecedents with and
b Antecedents 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 Definite it and they
e Appropriate you
f Consistency
Modifiers
33 Adjectives and Adverbs
a Adjective vs. adverb
b Adjective with linking verb: felt bad
c Comparisons
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 Sentence 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 Mixed meaning
b Tangled grammar
c Repeated subjects and other parts
PART FIVE: 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 series
e Two or more adjectives
f Dates, addresses, etc.
g With quotations
h Misuses
40 Semicolon
a Main clauses without and, but, etc.
b Main clauses withhowever, 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 quotations
c Titles of works
d Words used in a special sense
e Misuses
f With other punctuation
44 Other Marks
a Dash or dashes
b Parentheses
c Ellipsis mark
d Brackets
e Slash
PART SIX: SPELLING AND MECHANICS
45 Spelling
46 Hyphen
47 Capital Letters
48 Underlining or Italics
49 Abbreviations
50 Numbers
PART SEVEN: RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION
51 Research Strategy
a Planning
b Research journal
c Subject and question
d Goals for sources
e Working, annotated bibliography
52 Finding Sources
a Searching electronically
b Reference works
c Books
d Periodicals
e The Web
f Other online sources
g Government publications
h Images
i Your own sources
53 Working with Sources
a Evaluating sources
b Synthesizing sources
c Gathering information
d Using summary, paraphrase, quotation
e Integrating sources into your text
54 Avoiding Plagiarism and Documenting Sources
a Plagiarism and the Internet
b What not to acknowledge
c What must be acknowledged
d Online sources
e Documenting sources
55 Writing the Paper
a Focusing and organizing
b Drafting, revising, and formatting
56 MLA Documentation and Format
a Parenthetical text citations
b List of works cited
c Format of paper
d SAMPLE MLA PAPER
57 APA Documentation and Format
a Parenthetical text citations
b List of references
c Format of paper
d SAMPLE APA PAPER
Glossary of Usage
Answers to Selected Exercises
Index
