Little, Brown Compact Handbook with Exercises, The (Book Alone)

The most trusted and authoritative name in handbooks, The Little, Brown Compact Handbook is an easy-to-use reference that will answer any question you may have in grammar, writing, or research.  This edition offers the latest information on writing with computers, writing online, analyzing visuals, and researching effectively on the Internet.  With clear explanations, a wealth of examples, and quick reference checklists and boxes, The Little, Brown Compact Handbook will makes it easy to find what you need and use the information you find.

Table of Contents:
I. WRITING PROCESS 1. The Writing Situation a. Assessment b. Subject c. Audience d. Purpose. 2. Invention a. Journal keeping b. Observing c. Freewriting d. Brainstorming e. Clustering 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  f. Collaborating g. Preparing a writing portfolio 6. Paragraphs a. Unity b. Coherence c. Development d. Introductions and conclusions 7. Document Design a. Academic papers b. Principles of design c. Elements of design d. Illustrations e. Readers with disabilities II. WRITING IN AND OUT OF COLLEGE 8. Academic Writing. a. Becoming an academic writer b. Audience c. Purpose d. Structure and format e. Language 9. Study Skills a. Time management b. Listening and note taking in class c. Reading d. Exams 10. Critical Thinking and Reading a. Reading texts b. Viewing images 11. Argument a. Elements of argument b. Reasonableness c. Organization d. Visual arguments e. Sample argument 12. Online Writing a. Electronic mail b Online collaboration c. Web compositions 13. Oral Presentations a. Organization b. Delivery 14. Public Writing a. Business letters and résumés Sample letter and résumé b. Memos, reports, and proposals Sample memo, report, and proposal c. Community work: flyers, newsletters, brochures Sample flyer, newsletter, and brochure III. 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 clauses and phrases e. Cutting there is or it is f. Combining sentences g. Rewriting jargon IV. 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 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. Inverted word order 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 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. Bigger, most talented, and other 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. 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 V. 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, 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 quotations 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 VI. 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. Underlining or Italics a. Underlining vs. italics b. Titles of works c. Names of vehicles d. Foreign words e. Words or characters named as words f. Emphasis g. 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 VII. 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. 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 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. Plagiarism and the Internet b. What not to acknowledge c. What must be acknowledged d. Online sources e. Documenting sources 54. Writing the Paper a. Focusing and organizing b. Drafting, revising, and formatting VIII. 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 analysis of a poem 57. Writing in Other Disciplines a. Other 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 and Format Index to models a. Notes and works-cited entries b. Models 61. CSE Documentation and Format Index to models  a. Name-year citations b. Numbered text citations c. List of references Glossary of Usage   Index