Table of Contents
Finding What You Need 00
Preface 0
PART 1 WRITING
Essentials
1 Academic Writing
a The writing situation
b Thesis and organization
c Evidence and research
d Synthesis
e Responsible use of sources
f Language
g Revision
h Editing and proofreading
2 Writing Arguments
a Elements of argument
b Balance in argument
c Organization of argument
d Visual arguments
e Sample argument
3 Writing in the Disciplines
a Literature
b Other humanities
c Social sciences
d Natural and applied sciences
4 Presenting Writing
a Formats for academic papers
b Visuals and other media
c Oral presentations
d Readers with vision loss
PART 2 EFFECTIVE SENTENCES
Essentials
5 Emphasis
a Subjects and verbs
b Sentence beginnings and endings
c Coordination
d Subordination
6 Conciseness
a Focusing on the subject and verb
b Cutting empty words
c Cutting unneeded repetition
d Reducing clauses and phrases
e Revising there is or it is
f Combining sentences
7 Parallelism
a With and, but, or nor, yet
b With both…and, either…or, etc.
c With lists, headings, outlines
8 Variety and Detail
a Varied sentence lengths and structures
b Details
9 Appropriate Words
a Nonstandard dialect
b Slang
c Colloquial language
d Technical words
e Indirect and pretentious writing
f Sexist and other biased language
10 Exact Words
a Right word for meaning
b Concrete and specific words
c Idioms
d Clichés
PART 3 GRAMMATICAL SENTENCES
Essentials
VERBS
11 Forms
a Sing/sang/sung and other irregular verbs
b Helping verbs
c Verb + gerund or infinitive
d Verb + participle
12 Tenses
a Present tense (sing)
b Perfect tenses (have/had/will have sung)
c Consistency
d Sequence
13 Mood
a Subjunctive (I wish I were)
b Consistency
14 Voice
a She wrote it (active) vs. It was written (passive)
b Consistency
15 Subject-Verb Agreement
a -s ending for noun or verb
b Words between subject and verb
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
PRONOUNS
16 Forms
a She and I vs. her and me
b It was she vs. It was her
c Who vs. whom
d Other constructions
17 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
18 Pronoun Reference
a Single antecedent
b Close antecedent
c Specific antecedent
d Consistency
MODIFIERS
19 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 Articles: a, an, the
20 Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
a Misplaced modifiers
b Dangling modifiers
SENTENCE FAULTS
21 Fragments 00
a Tests
b Revision
22 Comma Splices and Fused Sentences
a Main clauses without and, but, etc.
b Main clauses related by however, for example, etc.
PART 4 PUNCTUATION
Essentials
23 The Comma 00
a And, but, or, nor, for, so, yet
b Introductory elements
c Interrupting and concluding elements
d Series
e Adjectives
f Dates, addresses, place names, numbers
g Quotations
24 The Semicolon
a Main clauses
b However, for example, etc.
c Series
25 The Colon
a For introduction
b Salutations, titles and subtitles, time
26 The Apostrophe
a Possessives
b Misuses: plural noun, singular verb, personal pronoun
c Contractions
d Plural abbreviations, etc.
27 Quotation Marks
a Direct quotations
b Titles of works
c Words used in a special sense
d With other punctuation
28 End Punctuation
a Period
b Question mark
c Exclamation point
29 Other Marks
a Dash or dashes
b Parentheses
c Ellipses mark
d Brackets
e Slash
PART 5 SPELLING AND MECHANICS
Essentials
30 Spelling and the Hyphen
a Spelling checkers
b Spelling rules
c The hyphen
31 Capital Letters
a First word of sentence
b Proper nouns and adjectives
c Titles and subtitles of works
d Titles of persons
e Online communication
32 Italics or Underlining
a Titles of works
b Ships, aircraft, spacecraft, trains
c Foreign words and phrases
d Words or characters named as words
e Online alternatives
33 Abbreviations
a Familiar abbreviations
b Latin abbreviations
c Words usually spelled out
34 Numbers
a Numerals, not words
b Words, not numerals
PART 6 RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION
Essentials
35 Research Strategy
a Subject, question, thesis
b Goals for sources
c Working bibliography
36 Tracking Sources
a Working bibliography
b Annotated bibliography
c Files, printouts, and notes
37 Finding Sources
a Electronic searches
b Reference works
c Books
d Periodicals
e The Web
f Social media
g Government publications
h Images, audio, and audio
i Your own sources
38 Evaluating and Synthesizing Sources
a Evaluation
b Synthesis
39 Integrating Sources into Your Text
a Summary, paraphrase, direct quotation
b Introduction and interpretation of source material
c Clear boundaries for source material
40 Avoiding Plagiarism
a Deliberate and careless plagiarism
b What not to acknowledge
c What must be acknowledged
d Online sources
41 Documenting Sources
a Discipline styles
b Bibliography software
42 MLA Documentation and Format
a Parenthetical text citations
b List of works cited
c Paper format
d Sample pages
43 APA Documentation and Format
a Parenthetical text citations
b Reference list
c Paper format
d Sample pages
44 Chicago Documentation and Format
a Notes and list of works cited
b Models
c Paper format
d Sample pages
45 CSE Documentation
a Name-year text citations
b Numbered text citations
c Reference list
Commonly Misused Words
Grammar Terms
Index
