The Wadsworth Handbook

Note to Students     xiNote to Instructors     xvWriting Essays     1Understanding Purpose, Audience, and Tone     2Determining Your Purpose     2Identifying Your Audience     9Setting Your Tone     12Reading Texts     15Previewing a Text     15Highlighting a Text     16Annotating a Text     16Reading Visuals     22Interpreting a Visual     24Previewing a Visual     25Highlighting and Annotating a Visual     26Planning an Essay     29Understanding the Writing Process     29Computers and the Writing Process     30Analyzing Your Assignment     31Choosing and Narrowing a Topic     32Finding Something to Say     34Using a Thesis to Shape Your Material     41Understanding Thesis and Support     41Developing a Thesis     42Constructing an Informal Outline     46Constructing a Formal Outline     47Constructing a Storyboard     49Drafting and Revising     52Writing a Rough Draft     52Moving from Rough Draft to Final Draft     55Using Specific Revision Strategies     58Editing and Proofreading     68Preparing a Final Draft     71Writing Paragraphs     78Writing Unified Paragraphs     79Writing Coherent Paragraphs     82Writing Well-Developed Paragraphs     88Patterns of Paragraph Development     90Writing Special Kinds of Paragraphs     99Thinking Critically and Writing Arguments     105Thinking Critically     106Distinguishing Fact from Opinion     106Evaluating Supporting Evidence     108Detecting Bias     109Using Logic     113Understanding Inductive Reasoning     113Understanding Deductive Reasoning     115Using Toulmin Logic     117Recognizing Logical Fallacies     120Writing Argumentative Essays     125Planning an Argumentative Essay     125Using Evidence Effectively     129Organizing an Argumentative Essay     132Writing and Revising an Argumentative Essay     133Using Visuals to Support Your Arguments     142Using Visuals     142Evaluating Visuals     145Writing Electronic Arguments     149Considering Audience and Purpose     149Shaping Electronic Arguments     150Writing and Revising Electronic Arguments     151Doing Research     153Writing a Research Paper     154Moving from Assignment to Topic     155Doing Exploratory Research and Formulating a Research Question     158Assembling a Working Bibliography     159Developing a Tentative Thesis     162Doing Focused Research     163Taking Notes     164Fine-Tuning Your Thesis     169Constructing an Outline     171Writing a Rough Draft     173Revising Your Drafts     176Preparing a Final Draft     180Using and Evaluating Library Sources     181Doing Exploratory Library Research     181Doing Focused Library Research     187Evaluating the Library's Print and Electronic Sources     193Doing Research Outside the Library     196Using and Evaluating Internet Sources     198Understanding the Internet     198Using the World Wide Web for Research     199Using Other Internet Tools     207Evaluating Internet Sites     208Summarizing, Paraphrasing, Quoting, and Synthesizing Sources     213Writing a Summary     213Writing a Paraphrase     215Quoting Sources     217Integrating Source Material into Your Writing     219Synthesizing Sources     223Avoiding Plagiarism     224Defining Plagiarism     224Avoiding Unintentional Plagiarism     225Revising to Eliminate Plagiarism     226Documenting Sources: MLA Style     233MLA Documentation Style     239Using MLA Style     239MLA-Style Manuscript Guidelines     264Sample MLA-Style Research Paper     266Documenting Sources: APA and Other Styles     281APA Documentation Style     284Using APA Style     284APA-Style Manuscript Guidelines     294Sample APA-Style Research Paper     297Chicago Documentation Style     310Using Chicago Style     310Chicago-Style Manuscript Guidelines     321Sample Chicago-Style Research Paper (Excerpts)      323CSE and other Documentation Styles     330Using CSE Style     330CSE-Style Manuscript Guidelines     335Sample CSE-Style Research Paper (Excerpts)     336Using Other Documentation Styles     339Writing in the Disciplines     341Writing in the Humanities     342Understanding Purpose, Audience, and Tone     342Writing Assignments     343Conventions of Style, Format, and Documentation     348Avoiding Plagiarism     348Using Visuals and Technology     348Research Sources     349Writing a Literary Analysis     352Reading Literature     352Writing about Literature     353Sample Literary Analysis (without Sources)     355Sample Literary Analysis (with Sources)     359Writing a Literary Argument     366Planning a Literary Argument     366Supporting Your Literary Argument     368Organizing a Literary Argument     371Sample Literary Argument     372Writing in the Social Sciences     380Understanding Purpose, Audience, and Tone     380Writing Assignments      381Conventions of Style, Format, and Documentation     388Avoiding Plagiarism     388Using Visuals and Technology     388Research Sources     389Writing in the Natural and Applied Sciences     392Understanding Purpose, Audience, and Tone     392Writing Assignments     393Conventions of Style, Format, and Documentation     397Avoiding Plagiarism     398Using Visuals and Technology     398Research Sources     398Developing Strategies for Academic Success     401Ten Habits of Successful Students     402Learn to Manage Your Time Effectively     402Put Studying First     404Be Sure You Understand School and Course Requirements     405Be an Active Learner in the Classroom     407Be an Active Learner Outside the Classroom     408Take Advantage of College Services     409Use the Library     410Use Technology     411Make Contacts     412Be a Lifelong Learner     413Writing Essay Exams     415Planning an Essay Exam Answer     416Shaping an Essay Exam Answer      419Writing and Revising an Essay Exam Answer     420Writing Paragraph-Length Essay Exam Answers     426Writing for the Workplace     428Writing Letters of Application     428Designing Print Resumes     430Designing Electronic Resumes     433Writing Memos     438Writing Emails and Sending Faxes     440Designing Effective Documents     442Creating an Effective Visual Format     442Using Headings     445Constructing Lists     447Using Visuals     449Using Desktop Publishing     453Designing a Web Site     456Planning Your Web Site     456Creating Your Web Site     457Selecting and Inserting Visuals     458Planning Navigation     460Linking Your Content     462Editing and Proofreading Your Web Site     463Posting Your Web Site     463Making Oral Presentations     464Getting Started     464Planning Your Speech     465Preparing Your Notes     466Preparing Visual Aids     467Rehearsing Your Speech      470Delivering Your Speech     470Sentence Style     473Building Simple Sentences     474Constructing Simple Sentences     474Identifying Phrases and Clauses     477Expanding Simple Sentences     479Building Compound and Complex Sentences     488Building Compound Sentences     488Building Complex Sentences     491Writing Varied Sentences     494Varying Sentence Length     494Combining Choppy Simple Sentences     495Breaking Up Strings of Compound Sentences     497Varying Sentence Types     498Varying Sentence Openings     500Varying Standard Word Order     501Writing Emphatic Sentences     503Conveying Emphasis through Word Order     503Conveying Emphasis through Sentence Structure     506Conveying Emphasis through Parallelism and Balance     509Conveying Emphasis through Repetition     509Conveying Emphasis through Active Voice     510Writing Concise Sentences     513Eliminating Wordiness     513Eliminating Unnecessary Repetition     516Tightening Rambling Sentences      517Solving Common Sentence Problems     521Revising Sentence Fragments     522Recognizing Sentence Fragments     522Revising Dependent Clause Fragments     524Revising Phrase Fragments     525Revising Compounds     529Using Fragments Intentionally     530Revising Run-ons     532Recognizing Comma Splices and Fused Sentences     532Revising with Periods     533Revising with Semicolons     533Revising with Coordinating Conjunctions     534Revising with Subordinating Conjunctions or Relative Pronouns     534Revising Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers     537Revising Misplaced Modifiers     537Revising Intrusive Modifiers     541Revising Dangling Modifiers     542Using Parallelism     544Using Parallelism Effectively     544Revising Faulty Parallelism     546Revising Awkward or Confusing Sentences     548Revising Unwarranted Shifts     548Revising Mixed Constructions     551Revising Faulty Predication     552Revising Incomplete or Illogical Comparisons     553Using Words Effectively     555Choosing Words     556Choosing an Appropriate Level of Diction     556Choosing the Right Word     559Using Figures of Speech     561Avoiding Inappropriate Language     563Avoiding Offensive Language     566Using a Dictionary     570Understanding a Dictionary Entry     570Surveying Dictionaries     574Improving Spelling     575Understanding Spelling and Pronunciation     575Learning Spelling Rules     577Developing Spelling Skills     581Understanding Grammar     583Using Parts of Speech     584Using Nouns     584Using Pronouns     584Using Verbs     586Using Adjectives     588Using Adverbs     589Using Prepositions     590Using Conjunctions     591Using Interjections     592Using Nouns and Pronouns     593Understanding Case     593Determining Pronoun Case in Special Situations     594Revising Pronoun Reference Errors     596Using Verbs      600Understanding Verb Forms     600Understanding Tense     604Understanding Mood     609Understanding Voice     610Revising Agreement Errors     613Making Subjects and Verbs Agree     613Making Pronouns and Antecedents Agree     619Using Adjectives and Adverbs     623Understanding Adjectives and Adverbs     623Using Adjectives     623Using Adverbs     624Using Comparative and Superlative Forms     625Avoiding Illogical Comparatives and Superlatives     627Understanding Punctuation and Mechanics     629Using End Punctuation     630Using Periods     630Using Question Marks     632Using Exclamation Points     633Using Commas     634Setting Off Independent Clauses     634Setting Off Items in a Series     635Setting Off Introductory Elements     637Setting Off Nonessential Material     639Using Commas in Other Conventional Contexts     643Using Commas to Prevent Misreading     645Editing Misused Commas     646Using Semicolons      649Separating Independent Clauses     649Separating Independent Clauses Introduced by Transitional Words and Phrases     651Separating Items in a Series     652Editing Misused Semicolons     654Using Apostrophes     656Forming the Possessive Case     656Indicating Omissions in Contractions     658Forming Plurals     660Editing Misused Apostrophes     661Using Quotation Marks     663Setting Off Quoted Speech or Writing     663Setting Off Long Prose Passages and Poetry     665Setting Off Titles     667Setting Off Words Used in Special Ways     668Using Quotation Marks with Other Punctuation     668Editing Misused Quotation Marks     669Using other Punctuation Marks     672Using Colons     672Using Dashes     674Using Parentheses     675Using Brackets     677Using Slashes     677Using Ellipses     678Knowing When to Capitalize     681Capitalizing the First Word of a Sentence     681Capitalizing Proper Nouns     681Capitalizing Important Words in Titles      685Capitalizing the Pronoun I, the Interjection O, and Other Single Letters in Special Constructions     685Capitalizing Salutations and Closings of Letters     686Editing Misused Capitals     686Using Italics     688Setting Off Titles and Names     688Setting Off Foreign Words and Phrases     689Setting Off Elements Spoken of as Themselves and Terms Being Defined     689Using Italics for Emphasis     690Using Hyphens     691Breaking a Word at the End of a Line     691Dividing Compound Words     691Using Abbreviations     695Abbreviating Titles     695Abbreviating Organization Names and Technical Terms     695Abbreviating Dates, Times of Day, and Temperatures     696Editing Misused Abbreviations     697Using Numbers     700Spelled-Out Numbers versus Numerals     700Conventional Uses of Numerals     701Bilingual and ESL Writers     705Adjusting to the US Classroom     706Understanding the Writing Process     706Understanding English Language Basics     708Learning to Edit Your Work      708Grammar and Style for ESL Writers     713Using Verbs     713Using Nouns     720Using Pronouns     723Using Adjectives and Adverbs     726Using Prepositions     727Understanding Word Order     730Glossary of Usage     733Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms     743Credits     757Index     761