Features

New to This Edition

An emphasis on being an open-minded learner  Based on new research with college writers and teachers of writing, a substantially revised “Expectations for College Writing” chapter provides a framework for developing the habits of open-minded readers, writers, listeners, and speakers. A new approach invites students to expect and engage difference and provides strategies for communicating respectfully with others and for stepping outside their social and ideological comfort zones. The ninth edition, featuring the voices of real students from across the country, helps writers think critically about the barriers to and benefits of openness—and better equips them for communicating in a global world.

New strategies for defensive reading, critical thinking, and fact checking  Writing with sources is a foundational skill for college, and too many students arrive with little experience in questioning the sources they read online and approaching them with skepticism. Revised advice for critical reading and evaluating and new tips for fact checking help students respond to the information and misinformation in news sources and in social media—and help them balance open-mindedness and skepticism as they evaluate sources.

A broader presentation of language use  Grounded in the argument that language is power, The St. Martin’s Handbook coaches students in both following and experimenting with conventions. A new chapter on language and identity helps students think more openly and carefully about language we use to present ourselves and language used to label us and others. A new reading by Andrea Lunsford explores the theme of “narrative justice,” the idea of giving people the opportunity to use their own language to control the narrative—the story—of their own experience. A revised chapter on language varieties fosters a new openness to translingual composition—with excerpts from student writing. Finally, attention to gender preference and pronoun use raises awareness about writing and speaking to include rather than exclude.

New examples of student writing that emphasize narrative elements, combine languages, and respond to common assignments  Some students come to college thinking of “academic writing” as boring and formulaic. New examples of student writing in the ninth edition defy that description, reimagining the role of narrative in argumentative and analytical writing and validating writing that brings in other languages for rhetorical effect.

Reorganized contents for academic writers  The ninth edition groups argument, critical thinking, research, and documentation together so that the instruction at the heart of the composition course is centralized in the handbook. In addition, we’ve grouped the language and style chapters together and have made the Top Twenty easier to find.
More help with field research  One way students can control the sources and data they use in their writing is to collect their own information with field research techniques such as polling, interviewing, and observing. The ninth edition includes new sample questions presented in visual format.

Up-to-date documentation help in four styles The St. Martin’s Handbook, offering guidance for writing in MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE styles, serves as a useful and valuable companion throughout college and across the disciplines. The ninth edition includes the most recent Modern Language Association (2016), American Psychological Association (2020), University of Chicago (2017), and Council of Science Editors (2014) guidelines.

A new resource for developing college writers in corequisite composition  A new supplemental workbook for students in paired or corequisite composition sections provides a wide range of activities to help students practice the skills and habits they need to be successful academic writers. A Student’s Companion to Lunsford Handbooks is designed to help underprepared students improve their reading and writing performance—with college success material on time management and etiquette, substantial coverage of reading strategies, graphic organizers for visual learners, and more than 60 exercises on writing, research, and grammar.