Brief Penguin Handbook with Exercises, The (with Pearson Guide to the 2008 MLA Updates)

Including the most current MLA citation, documentation, and style guidelines, The Brief Penguin Handbook continues to revolutionize the way handbooks present information.  The Third Edition of this extraordinary handbook continues to lead the market with complete new chapters on using database and Web sources, a new visual five-step guide to the documentation process, and updated and expanded documentation coverage. Started with ideas and suggestions from real students, this handbook gives you the information you need in the format you want.

Table of Contents:
PART 1 PLANNING, DRAFTING, AND REVISING 1 Think as a Writer             1a Think about the process of communication             1b Think about how to persuade others 1c Think about your audience             1d Think about your credibility             1e Think about your purpose 2 Plan and Draft             2a Think about the expectations of college readers 2b Establish your goals             2c Explore your topic             2d Write a working thesis 2e Plan a strategy             2f Compose a draft             2g Write as a member of a team 3 Compose Paragraphs             3a Focus your paragraphs             3b Organize your paragraphs             3c Make your paragraphs coherent             3d Consider paragraph length             3e Link across paragraphs             3f Write effective beginning and ending paragraphs 4 Rewrite, Edit, and Proofread             4a Switch from writer to reader             4b Learn strategies for rewriting             4c Respond to other writers’ drafts             4d Edit for particular goals             4e Proofread carefully             4f Learn to edit the writing of others   PART 2 WRITING FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES 5 Read and View with a Critical Eye             5a Become a critical reader             5b Read actively             5c Recognize verbal fallacies             5d Become a critical viewer             5e Recognize visual fallacies 6 Write to Analyze             6a Understand the goal of a rhetorical analysis             6b Analyze the context and the text             6c Organize and write a rhetorical analysis             6d Sample rhetorical analysis             6e Analyze images and other visual texts 7 Write to Reflect             7a Find a reflective topic             7b Identify a focus             7c Organize and write a reflection             7d Sample reflective essay 8 Write to Inform             8a Find an informative topic             8b Narrow your topic and write a thesis             8c Organize and write an informative essay             8d Sample informative essay 9 Write Arguments             9a Position arguments and proposal arguments 9b Find an arguable topic             9c Make an arguable claim 9d Organize and write a position argument             9e Sample position argument             9f Organize and write a proposal argument             9g Sample proposal arguments   PART 3 WRITING IN THE DISCIPLINES 10 Learn to Write in Academic Disciplines             10a Become an academic writer             10b What counts as evidence in the disciplines? 11 Write in Specific Genres             11a Write an essay examination             11b Write an observation             11c Write a case study             11d Write a lab report in the sciences             11e Write a letter of application             11f Write a résumé 12 Write about Literature             12a Become a critical reader of literature             12b Develop an interpretation             12c Write a literary analysis             12d Sample literary analysis   PART 4 DESIGNING AND PRESENTING 13 Communicate with Words, Images, and Graphics             13a Write in multimedia             13b Think about verbal and visual relationships             13c Know where images and graphics work best             13d Know where words work best 14 Design for Print and the Screen             14a Start with your readers             14b Design pages             14c Choose type 14d Compose images 14e Edit images 14f Create tables, charts, and graphs 14g Design a Web site 15 Design Presentations             15a Plan a presentation             15b Design visuals for a presentation             15c Deliver an effective presentation   PART 5 RESEARCHING 16 Plan Your Research 16a Analyze the research task 16b Find a topic 16c Determine what kind of research you need 16d Draft a working thesis 16e Start a working bibliography 17 Find and Evaluate Sources in Databases 17a Know the strengths of database sources 17b Find information in databases 17c Construct effective database searches 17d Evaluate database sources 17e Locate elements of a citation in database sources 18 Find and Evaluate Sources on the Web 18a Know the strengths and weaknesses of Web sources 18b Find reliable Web sources 18c Construct effective Web searches 18d Find visual sources online 18e Evaluate Web sources 18f Locate elements of a citation in Web sources 19 Find and Evaluate Print Sources 19a Know the strengths of print sources 19b Find books 19c Find journal articles 19d Evaluate print sources 19e Locate elements of a citation in print sources 20 Plan Field Research 20a Know what you can obtain from field research 20b Conduct interviews 20c Administer surveys 20d Make observations 21 Incorporate Sources and Avoid Plagiarism 21a Understand the purposes of sources 21b Incorporate sources 21c Avoid plagiarism 21d Quote sources without plagiarizing 21e Summarize and paraphrase sources without plagiarizing 22 Write and Revise the Research Project 22a Revisit your research 22b Plan your organization 22c Write a draft 22d Select and introduce quotations 22e Review your draft 22f Revise, revise, revise   PART 6 DOCUMENTING Five Steps for Documenting Sources             1 Which documentation style do I use?             2 What kind of source am I using?             3 When do I cite sources?             4 How do I cite a source in my paper?             5 How do I cite sources at the end of my paper? 23 MLA Documentation             23a In-text citations in MLA style             23b Books in MLA-style works cited             23c Journals and magazines             23d Newspapers             23e Government documents, pamphlets, dissertations, and letters             23f Library database publications             23g Online publications             23h CD-ROM, software, and unedited online sources             23i Visual sources             23j Multimedia sources             23k Informational notes 23l Sample research paper with MLA documentation 24 APA Documentation             24a In-text citations in APA style             24b Books and nonperiodical sources in the APA-style references list             24c Periodical sources             24d Online sources             24e Visual, computer, and multimedia sources             24f Sample paper with APA documentation 25 CMS Documentation             25a Books and nonperiodical sources in CMS-style citations             25b Periodical sources             25c Online and computer sources             25d Multimedia sources             25e Sample pages with CMS documentation 26 CSE Documentation             26a In-text citations in CSE style             26b Books and nonperiodical sources in CSE-style references             26c Periodical sources             26d Online sources             26e Sample pages with CSE documentation   PART 7 EFFECTIVE STYLE AND LANGUAGE 27 Write with Power 27a Pay attention to verbs 27b Stay active 27c Find agents 27d Vary your sentences 27e Give your writing personality 28 Write Concisely 28a Eliminate unnecessary words 28b Reduce wordy phrases 28c Simplify tangled sentences 29 Write with Emphasis 29a Manage emphasis in sentences 29b Forge links across sentences 29c Use parallel structure with parallel ideas 29d Use parallel structure with lists 29e Use parallel structure in paragraphs 30 Find the Right Words 30a Be aware of levels of formality 30b Be aware of denotation and connotation 30c Use specific language 30d Use effective figurative language 31 Write to Be Inclusive 31a Be aware of stereotypes 31b Be inclusive about gender 31c Be inclusive about race and ethnicity 31d Be inclusive about other differences 31e Recognize international varieties of English   PART 8 UNDERSTANDING GRAMMAR 32 Grammar Basics             32a Sentence basics             32b Word classes             32c Clauses             32d Phrases             32e Sentence types 33 Fragments, Run-ons, and Comma Splices             33a Fragments             33b Run-on sentences             33c Comma splices 34 Subject-Verb Agreement             34a Agreement in the present tense             34b Singular and plural subjects             34c Indefinite pronouns as subjects             34d Collective nouns as subjects             34e Inverted word order             34f Amounts, numbers, and pairs 35 Verbs             35a Basic verb forms             35b Irregular verbs             35c Transitive and intransitive verbs             35d Shifts in tense             35e Shifts in mood 36 Pronouns             36a Pronoun case             36b Pronoun agreement             36c Problems with pronouns and gender             36d Vague reference 37 Modifiers             37a Choose the correct modifier             37b Place adjectives carefully             37c Place adverbs carefully             37d Revise disruptive modifiers             37e Revise dangling modifiers   PART 9 UNDERSTANDING PUNCTUATION AND MECHANICS 38 Commas             38a Commas with introductory elements             38b Commas with compound clauses             38c Commas with nonrestrictive modifiers             38d Commas with items in a series             38e Commas with coordinate adjectives             38f Commas with quotations             38g Commas with dates, numbers, titles, and addresses 38h Commas to avoid confusion             38i Unnecessary commas 39 Semicolons and Colons             39a Semicolons with closely related main clauses             39b Semicolons together with commas             39c Colons in sentences             39d Colons with lists 40 Hyphens             40a Hyphens with compound modifiers             40b Hyphens with compound nouns             40c Hyphens that divide words at the ends of lines             40d Hyphens for clarity 41 Dashes and Parentheses             41a Dashes and parentheses versus commas             41b Dashes and parentheses to set off information             41c Other punctuation with parentheses             41d Other punctuation with dashes 42 Apostrophes             42a Possessives             42b Contractions and omitted letters             42c Plurals of letters, symbols, and words referred to as words 43 Quotation Marks             43a Direct quotations             43b Titles of short works             43c Other uses of quotation marks             43d Misuses of quotation marks             43e Other punctuation with quotation marks 44 Other Punctuation Marks             44a Periods             44b Question marks             44c Exclamation points             44d Brackets             44e Ellipses             44f Slashes 45 Write with Accurate Spelling             45a Know the limitations of spelling checkers             45b Distinguish homonyms 46 Capitalization and Italics             46a Capital letters             46b Italics 47 Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Numbers             47a Abbreviations             47b Acronyms             47c Numbers   PART 10 IF ENGLISH IS NOT YOUR FIRST LANGUAGE 48 Write in a Second Language             48a Understand the demands of writing in a second language             48b Use your native language as a resource             48c Use dictionaries             48d Understand English idioms 49 Nouns, Articles, and Prepositions             49a Kinds of nouns             49b Count and noncount nouns             49c Singular and plural forms             49d Articles             49e Prepositions 50 Verbs             50a Types of verbs             50b Be verbs             50c Modal auxiliary verbs             50d Verbs and infinitives             50e Verbs and -ing verbals             50f Conditional sentences             50g Participial adjectives             50h Phrasal verbs 51 English Sentence Structure             51a Subjects             51b English word order             51c Placement of modifiers 51d Adjectives with prepositions   Glossary of Grammatical Terms and Usage Index to Exercises Index