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Table of Contents

A Process for Writing

          1   Exploring, planning, and drafting

                    a  Assess the writing situation.
                    b  Explore your subject.
                    c  Draft and revise a working thesis statement.
                    d  Draft a plan.
                    e  Draft an introduction.
                    f   Draft the body.
                    g  Draft a conclusion.

          2  Writing paragraphs

                    a  Focus on a main point.
                    b  Develop the main point.
                    c  Make paragraphs coherent.
                    d  If necessary, adjust paragraph length.
                    e Choose a suitable strategy for developing paragraphs.

          3   Revising, editing, and reflecting

                    a  Use peer review: Give constructive comments.
                    b  Learn from peer review: Revise with comments.
                    c   One student’s peer review process
                    d  Approach global revision in cycles.
                    e  Revise globally by making a reverse outline.
                    f   Revise and edit sentences.
                    g  Proofread and format the final manuscript.
                    h  Sample student revision: Literacy narrative
                    i   Reflect on your writing; prepare a portfolio.

Academic Reading and Writing

          4   Reading and writing critically

                    a  Read actively.
                    b  Outline a text to identify main ideas.
                    c  Summarize to deepen your understanding.
                    d  Analyze to demonstrate your critical reading.
                    e  Sample student writing: Analysis of an article

          5   Reading and writing about multimodal texts

                    a  Read a multimodal text actively.
                    b  Summarize a multimodal text to deepen your understanding.
                    c  Analyze a multimodal text to demonstrate your critical reading.
                    d  Sample student writing: Analysis of an advertisement

          6   Reading arguments

                    a  Read with an open mind and a critical eye.
                    b  Evaluate ethical, logical, and emotional appeals as a reader.
                    c   Evaluate the evidence behind an argument.
                    d  Identify underlying assumptions.
                    e  Evaluate how fairly a writer handles opposing views.

          7   Writing arguments

                    a  Identify your purpose and context.
                    b  View your audience as a panel of jurors.
                    c  Build common ground with your audience.
                    d  In your introduction, establish credibility and state your position.
                    e  Back up your thesis with persuasive lines of argument.
                    f  Support your thesis with specific evidence.
                    g  Anticipate objections; counter opposing arguments.
                    h  Sample student writing: Argument

Clarity

          8   Prefer active verbs.

                    a  Active versus passive verbs
                    b  Active versus be verbs
                    c  Subject that names the actor

          9   Balance parallel ideas.

                    a  Parallel ideas in a series
                    b  Parallel ideas presented as pairs
                    c  Repetition of function words

          10   Add needed words.

                    a  In compound structures
                    b  that
                    c  In comparisons
                    d  a, an, and the

          11   Untangle mixed constructions.

                    a  Mixed grammar
                    b  Illogical connections
                    c  is when, is where, and reason . . . is because

          12   Repair misplaced and dangling modifiers.

                    a  Limiting modifiers
                    b  Misplaced phrases and clauses
                    c  Awkwardly placed modifiers
                    d  Split infinitives
                    e  Dangling modifiers

          13   Eliminate distracting shifts.

                    a  Point of view (person, number)
                    b  Verb tense
                    c  Verb mood, voice
                    d  Indirect to direct questions or quotations

          14   Emphasize key ideas.

                    a  Coordination and subordination
                    b  Choppy sentences
                    c  Ineffective or excessive coordination
                    d  Ineffective subordination
                    e  Excessive subordination
                    f  Other techniques

          15   Provide some variety.

                    a  Sentence openings
                    b  Sentence structures
                    c  Inverted order

          16   Tighten wordy sentences.

                    a  Redundancies
                    b  Unnecessary repetition
                    c  Empty or inflated phrases
                    d  Simplifying the structure
                    e  Reducing clauses to phrases, phrases to single words

          17   Choose appropriate language.

                    a  Levels of formality
                    b  Jargon
                    c  Euphemisms and “doublespeak”
                    d  Slang
                    e  Sexist and noninclusive language
                    f   Biased language

          18   Find the exact words.

                    a  Connotations
                    b  Specific, concrete nouns
                    c  Standard idioms
                    d  Clichés
                    e  Figures of speech
                    f  Glossary of usage

Grammar

          19   Repair sentence fragments.

                    a  Subordinate clauses
                    b  Phrases
                    c  Other fragmented word groups
                    d  Acceptable fragments

          20   Revise run-on sentences.

                    a  Revision with coordinating conjunction
                    b  Revision with semicolon, colon, or dash
                    c  Revision by separating sentences
                    d  Revision by restructuring

          21   Make subjects and verbs agree.

                    a  Standard subject-verb combinations
                    b  Words between subject and verb
                    c   Subjects joined with and
                    d  Subjects joined with or, nor, either . . . or, or neither . . . nor
                    e  Indefinite pronouns
                    f   Collective nouns
                    g  Subject following verb
                    h  Subject, not subject complement
                    i   who, which, and that
                    j   Words with plural form, singular meaning
                    k  Titles of works, company names, words mentioned as words, gerund phrases

          22   Make pronouns and antecedents agree.

                    a  Indefinite pronouns, generic nouns
                    b  Collective nouns
                    c  Compound antecedents

          23   Make pronoun references clear.

                    a  Ambiguous or remote reference
                    b  Broad reference with this, that, which, and it
                    c  Implied antecedents
                    d  Indefinite use of they, it, and you
                    e  who for persons, which or that for things

          24   Distinguish between pronouns such as I and me.

                    a  Subjective case for subjects and subject complements
                    b  Objective case for objects
                    c  Appositives
                    d  Pronoun following than or as
                    e  Subjects and objects of infinitives
                    f   Pronoun modifying a gerund

          25   Distinguish between who and whom.

                    a  In subordinate clauses
                    b  In questions
                    c  As subjects or objects of infinitives

          26   Choose adjectives and adverbs with care.

                    a  Adjectives to modify nouns
                    b Adverbs to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs
                    c  good and well, bad and badly
                    d  Comparatives and superlatives
                    e  Double negatives

          27   Choose appropriate verb forms, tenses, and moods.

                    a  Irregular verbs
                    b  lie and lay
                    c  -s (or -es) endings
                    d  -ed endings
                    e  Omitted verbs
                    f   Verb tense
                    g  Subjunctive mood

Multilingual Writers and ESL Topics

          28   Verbs

                    a  Appropriate form and tense
                    b  Passive voice
                    c  Base form after a modal
                    d  Negative verb forms
                    e  Verbs in conditional sentences
                    f   Verbs followed by gerunds or infinitives

          29   Articles (a, an, the)

                    a  Articles and other noun markers
                    b  When to use the
                    c  When to use a or an
                    d  When not to use a or an
                    e  No articles with general nouns
                    f   Articles with proper nouns

          30   Sentence structure

                    a  Linking verb between a subject and its complement
                    b  A subject in every sentence
                    c  Repeated nouns or pronouns with the same grammatical function
                    d  Repeated subjects, objects, and adverbs in adjective clauses
                    e  Placement of adverbs
                    f  Present participles and past participles as adjectives
                    g  Order of cumulative adjectives

          31   Prepositions and idiomatic expressions

                    a  Prepositions showing time and place
                    b  Noun (including -ing form) after a preposition
                    c  Common adjective + preposition combinations
                    d  Common verb + preposition combinations

          32   Paraphrasing sources effectively

                    a  Avoiding synonyms
                    b  Determining a source’s meaning
                    c  Presenting meaning in your own words

Punctuation

          33   The comma

                    a  Independent clauses joined with and, but, etc.
                    b  Introductory elements
                    c  Items in a series
                    d  Coordinate adjectives
                    e  Nonrestrictive and restrictive elements
                    f  Transitional expressions and other word groups
                    g  Direct address, yes and no, interrogative tags, interjections
                    h  he said etc.
                    i   Dates, addresses, titles, numbers

          34   Unnecessary commas

                    a  Between two words, phrases, or subordinate clauses
                    b  Between a verb and its subject or object
                    c  Before the first or after the last item in a series
                    d  Between cumulative adjectives, an adjective and a noun, or an adverb and an adjective
                    e  Before and after restrictive or parenthetical elements
                    f   Before essential concluding adverbial elements
                    g  After a phrase beginning an inverted sentence
                    h  Other misuses

          35   The semicolon

                    a  Between independent clauses not joined with a coordinating conjunction
                    b  Between independent clauses linked with a transitional expression
                    c  In a series containing internal punctuation
                    d  Misuses

          36   The colon

                    a  Before a list, an appositive, or a quotation
                    b  Conventional uses
                    c  Misuses

          37   The apostrophe

                    a  Possessive nouns
                    b  Possessive indefinite pronouns
                    c  Contractions
                    d  Not for plural numbers, letters, abbreviations, words as words
                    e  Misuses

          38   Quotation marks

                    a  Direct quotations
                    b  Quotation within a quotation
                    c  Titles of short works
                    d  Words as words
                    e  With other punctuation marks
                    f   Misuses

          39   End punctuation

                    a  The period
                    b  The question mark
                    c  The exclamation point

          40   Other punctuation marks

                    a  The dash
                    b  Parentheses
                    c  Brackets
                    d  The ellipsis mark
                    e  The slash

Mechanics

          41   Abbreviations

                    a  Titles with proper names
                    b  Familiar abbreviations
                    c  Conventional abbreviations
                    d  Units of measurement
                    e  Latin abbreviations
                    f   Plural of abbreviations

          42   Numbers

                    a  Spelling out
                    b  Using numerals

          43   Italics

                    a  Titles of works
                    b  Non-English words
                    c  Words as words, letters as letters, numbers as numbers

          44   Spelling

                    a  Spelling rules
                    b  Words that sound alike

          45   Hyphenation

                    a  Compound words
                    b  Hyphenated adjectives
                    c  Fractions and compound numbers
                    d  With certain prefixes and suffixes
                    e  To avoid ambiguity or to separate awkward double or triple letters
                    f   Word division

          46   Capitalization

                    a  Proper vs. common nouns
                    b  Titles with proper names
                    c  Titles and subtitles of works
                    d  First word of a sentence
                    e  First word of a quoted sentence
                    f   First word after a colon

Grammar Basics

          47   Parts of speech

                    a  Nouns 
                    b  Pronouns
                    c  Verbs
                    d  Adjectives
                    e  Adverbs
                    f   Prepositions
                    g  Conjunctions
                    h  Interjections

          48   Sentence patterns

                    a  Subjects
                    b  Verbs, objects, and complements

          49   Subordinate word groups

                    a  Prepositional phrases
                    b  Verbal phrases
                    c  Appositive phrases
                    d  Absolute phrases
                    e  Subordinate clauses

          50   Sentence types

                    a  Sentence structures
                    b  Sentence purposes

Research

          51   Thinking like a researcher; gathering sources

                    a  Manage the project.
                    b  Pose questions worth exploring.
                    c  Map out a search strategy.
                    d  Search efficiently; master a few shortcuts to finding good sources.
                    e  Write a research proposal.
                    f   Conduct field research, if appropriate.

          52   Managing information; taking notes responsibly

                    a  Maintain a working bibliography.
                    b  Keep track of source materials.
                    c  As you take notes, avoid unintentional plagiarism.

          53   Evaluating sources

                    a  Evaluate the reliability and usefulness of a source.
                    b  Read with an open mind and a critical eye.
                    c  Assess web sources with care.
                    d  Construct an annotated bibliography.

Writing Papers in MLA Style

          54   Supporting a thesis

                    a  Form a working thesis statement.
                    b  Organize ideas with an informal plan.
                    c  Consider how sources will contribute to your research paper.

          55   Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism

                    a  Understand how the MLA system works.
                    b  Understand what plagiarism is.
                    c  Use quotation marks around borrowed language.
                    d  Put summaries and paraphrases in your own words. 

          56   Integrating sources 

                    a  Summarize and paraphrase effectively. 
                    b  Use quotations effectively.
                    c  Use signal phrases to integrate sources.
                    d  Synthesize sources.

          57   Documenting sources in MLA style

                    a  MLA in-text citations
                    b  MLA list of works cited
                    c  MLA information notes

          58   MLA format; sample research paper

                    a  MLA format
                    b  Sample MLA research paper

Writing Papers in APA Style

          59   Supporting a thesis

                    a  Form a working thesis statement.
                    b  Organize ideas with an informal plan.
                    c  Consider how sources will contribute to your research paper.

          60   Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism

                    a  Understand how the APA system works.
                    b  Understand what plagiarism is.
                    c  Use quotation marks around borrowed language.
                    d  Put summaries and paraphrases in your own words. 

          61   Integrating sources 

                    a  Summarize and paraphrase effectively. 
                    b  Use quotations effectively.
                    c  Use signal phrases to integrate sources.
                    d  Synthesize sources.

          62   Documenting sources in APA style

                    a  APA in-text citations
                    b  APA list of references

          63   APA format; sample research paper

                    a  APA format
                    b  Sample APA research paper

Appendix

          Models of professional writing

Authors

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, Ninth Edition (2018); A Pocket Style Manual, Eighth Edition (2018); The Bedford Handbook, Tenth Edition (2017); Rules for Writers, Eighth Edition (2016); and Writer’s Help 2.0, Hacker Version.

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 blogging and through publishing in popular media. Sommers is the lead author on Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin’s, and is coauthor of Fields of Reading, Tenth Edition (2013).

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Rules for Writers with Writing about Literature (Tabbed Version)

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Teaching with Hacker Handbooks (Online Only)

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