Cover: The Bedford Handbook with 2020 APA and 2021 MLA Updates, 11th Edition by Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers

The Bedford Handbook with 2020 APA and 2021 MLA Updates

Eleventh Edition  ©2021 Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers

Authors

  • Headshot of Diana Hacker

    Diana Hacker

    Diana Hacker personally class-tested her handbooks with nearly four thousand students over thirty-five years at Prince George's Community College in Maryland, where she was a member of the English faculty. Hacker handbooks, built on innovation and on a keen understanding of the challenges facing student writers, are the most widely adopted in America. Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin's, include A Writer's Reference, Eleventh Edition (2025); A Pocket Style Manual, Tenth Edition (2025); The Bedford Handbook, Twelfth Edition (2023); Rules for Writers, Tenth Edition (2022); and Writer’s Help 2.0, Hacker Version.

  • Headshot of Nancy Sommers

    Nancy Sommers

    Nancy Sommers, who has taught composition and directed composition programs for thirty years, now teaches in Harvard's Graduate School of Education. She led Harvard's Expository Writing Program for twenty years, directing the first-year writing program and establishing Harvard's WAC program. A two-time Braddock Award winner, Sommers is well known for her research and publications on student writing. Her articles “Revision Strategies of Student and Experienced Writers” and “Responding to Student Writing” are two of the most widely read and anthologized articles in the field of composition. Recently she has been exploring different audiences through publishing in popular media. Sommers is the lead author on Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin’s, and editor of Tiny Teaching Stories on Macmillan Learning's Bits Blog.

Table of Contents

Part 1 | A Process for Writing
1 Exploring, planning, and drafting
2 Building effective paragraphs
3 Revising, editing, and proofreading
Part 2 | Academic Reading and Writing
4 Reading critically; writing analytically
5 Reading arguments
6 Writing arguments
7 Writing in the disciplines
Part 3 | Clear Sentences
8 Active verbs
9 Parallelism
10 Needed words
11 Mixed constructions
12 Misplaced and dangling modifiers
13 Shifts
14 Emphasis
15 Variety
Part 4 | Word Choice
16 Wordy sentences
17 Appropriate language
18 Exact words
19 Glossary of usage
Part 5 | Grammatical Sentences
20 Sentence fragments
21 Run-on sentences
22 Subject-verb agreement
23 Pronoun-antecedent agreement
24 Pronoun reference
25 Pronoun case (I vs. me)
26 who vs. whom
27 Adjectives and adverbs
28 Standard English verb forms
29 Multilingual topics
Part 6 | Punctuation
30 The comma
31 Unnecessary commas
32 The semicolon and the colon
33 The apostrophe
34 Quotation marks
35 End punctuation
36 Other punctuation marks
Part 7 | Mechanics
37 Abbreviations, numbers, and italics
38 Spelling and the hyphen
39 Capitalization
Part 8 | Grammar Basics
40 Parts of speech
41 Sentence patterns
42 Subordinate word groups
43 Sentence types
Part 9 | Researched Writing
44 Thinking like a researcher; gathering sources
45 Managing information; taking notes responsibly
46 Evaluating sources
47 Writing a research paper
48 Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism
49 Integrating sources
50 Documenting sources in MLA style
51 MLA format; sample research paper
52 Documenting sources in APA style
53 APA format; sample research paper
Answers to Exercises | Index | List of Grammatical Terms

Product Updates

The ebook has been updated to give your students the latest guidance on documenting sources in MLA style and follows the guidelines set forth in the MLA Handbook, 9th edition (April 2021).

  • A portable, more affordable handbook. This edition is substantially more concise, focusing on the essential skills and habits students need to be successful college writers. A leaner book and a significantly lower price mean your students are more likely to buy the book and keep it with them as they attend class, visit the writing center, and work on assignments. The high value gets even higher when you choose to use an e-book, create a custom edition, or package the book with one or more supplements.
  • Guidance on working with sources. New sentence guides demonstrate how to present and write about the views of others. Additional features on paraphrasing sources and identifying false and misleading information help students become responsible researchers.
  • Research instruction designed for beginning academic writers. Reorganized and focused help for research writers teaches skills like avoiding plagiarism and integrating sources.
  • Additional navigational aids. New features—chapter previews that direct readers to useful boxes and guides,  a “How to use this book” page, lists of models at the beginning of documentation chapters—point students to the help they need quickly.

    • Authors

    • Headshot of Diana Hacker

      Diana Hacker

      Diana Hacker personally class-tested her handbooks with nearly four thousand students over thirty-five years at Prince George's Community College in Maryland, where she was a member of the English faculty. Hacker handbooks, built on innovation and on a keen understanding of the challenges facing student writers, are the most widely adopted in America. Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin's, include A Writer's Reference, Eleventh Edition (2025); A Pocket Style Manual, Tenth Edition (2025); The Bedford Handbook, Twelfth Edition (2023); Rules for Writers, Tenth Edition (2022); and Writer’s Help 2.0, Hacker Version.

    • Headshot of Nancy Sommers

      Nancy Sommers

      Nancy Sommers, who has taught composition and directed composition programs for thirty years, now teaches in Harvard's Graduate School of Education. She led Harvard's Expository Writing Program for twenty years, directing the first-year writing program and establishing Harvard's WAC program. A two-time Braddock Award winner, Sommers is well known for her research and publications on student writing. Her articles “Revision Strategies of Student and Experienced Writers” and “Responding to Student Writing” are two of the most widely read and anthologized articles in the field of composition. Recently she has been exploring different audiences through publishing in popular media. Sommers is the lead author on Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin’s, and editor of Tiny Teaching Stories on Macmillan Learning's Bits Blog.

    Table of Contents

    Part 1 | A Process for Writing
    1 Exploring, planning, and drafting
    2 Building effective paragraphs
    3 Revising, editing, and proofreading
    Part 2 | Academic Reading and Writing
    4 Reading critically; writing analytically
    5 Reading arguments
    6 Writing arguments
    7 Writing in the disciplines
    Part 3 | Clear Sentences
    8 Active verbs
    9 Parallelism
    10 Needed words
    11 Mixed constructions
    12 Misplaced and dangling modifiers
    13 Shifts
    14 Emphasis
    15 Variety
    Part 4 | Word Choice
    16 Wordy sentences
    17 Appropriate language
    18 Exact words
    19 Glossary of usage
    Part 5 | Grammatical Sentences
    20 Sentence fragments
    21 Run-on sentences
    22 Subject-verb agreement
    23 Pronoun-antecedent agreement
    24 Pronoun reference
    25 Pronoun case (I vs. me)
    26 who vs. whom
    27 Adjectives and adverbs
    28 Standard English verb forms
    29 Multilingual topics
    Part 6 | Punctuation
    30 The comma
    31 Unnecessary commas
    32 The semicolon and the colon
    33 The apostrophe
    34 Quotation marks
    35 End punctuation
    36 Other punctuation marks
    Part 7 | Mechanics
    37 Abbreviations, numbers, and italics
    38 Spelling and the hyphen
    39 Capitalization
    Part 8 | Grammar Basics
    40 Parts of speech
    41 Sentence patterns
    42 Subordinate word groups
    43 Sentence types
    Part 9 | Researched Writing
    44 Thinking like a researcher; gathering sources
    45 Managing information; taking notes responsibly
    46 Evaluating sources
    47 Writing a research paper
    48 Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism
    49 Integrating sources
    50 Documenting sources in MLA style
    51 MLA format; sample research paper
    52 Documenting sources in APA style
    53 APA format; sample research paper
    Answers to Exercises | Index | List of Grammatical Terms

    Product Updates

    The ebook has been updated to give your students the latest guidance on documenting sources in MLA style and follows the guidelines set forth in the MLA Handbook, 9th edition (April 2021).

  • A portable, more affordable handbook. This edition is substantially more concise, focusing on the essential skills and habits students need to be successful college writers. A leaner book and a significantly lower price mean your students are more likely to buy the book and keep it with them as they attend class, visit the writing center, and work on assignments. The high value gets even higher when you choose to use an e-book, create a custom edition, or package the book with one or more supplements.
  • Guidance on working with sources. New sentence guides demonstrate how to present and write about the views of others. Additional features on paraphrasing sources and identifying false and misleading information help students become responsible researchers.
  • Research instruction designed for beginning academic writers. Reorganized and focused help for research writers teaches skills like avoiding plagiarism and integrating sources.
  • Additional navigational aids. New features—chapter previews that direct readers to useful boxes and guides,  a “How to use this book” page, lists of models at the beginning of documentation chapters—point students to the help they need quickly.

    • Fresh yet familiar--and more affordable than ever.

    The ebook has been updated to give your students the latest guidance on documenting sources in MLA style and follows the guidelines set forth in the MLA Handbook, 9th edition (April 2021).

    If you haven’t looked at The Bedford Handbook in a while, look again: This edition has everything your students need to become stronger writers—in a briefer book. This reimagined Bedford Handbook takes a fresh “essentials” approach to the familiar coverage of writing, research, style, and grammar that The Bedford Handbook has always had. The result is a handbook that’s equal parts approachable and comprehensive. Students will quickly find answers in the book’s direct explanations and step-by-step instruction. They’ll get the practice and guidance they need with exercises, how-to guides, model papers, and class-tested examples. The advice you trust from Diana Hacker and Nancy Sommers is here. It all comes in a book that’s easier to carry, easier to use, and more affordable than ever.

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    Diana Hacker; Marcy Carbajal Van Horn; Jonathan S. Cullick; Sara McCurry | Fourth Edition | ©2021 | ISBN:9781319342029
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