Full Description
Written collaboratively by writing instructors at the Queen's University Writing Centre, A Writer's Handbook is a compact yet thorough guide to academic writing for a North American audience. This clear and concise handbook outlines strategies both for thinking assignments through and for writing them well. The fourth edition is revised and updated throughout and reflects changes to MLA style for 2016.
Contents
Chapter one: Understanding the Assignment
Looking for Action
Different Verbs, Different Essays
Chapter two: Planning and Outlining
Gathering Material
What/How/Why
Organizing Material—Developing Your Thesis and Outline
Chapter three: Paragraphs
The Long and the Short of It
What/How/Why ... Again
Focus and Coherence
Transitions
Beginnings and Endings
Know Your Project
Chapter four: Stylistic Decisions
Editing with Your Ears
Content vs. Grammar
To Be or Not ...
Prepositional Phrases
Tone
Beware Your Thesaurus
Figurative Language
Be Precise and Be Realistic
Chapter five: Essential Grammar
Clauses
Voice: Passive or Active?
Making Contact: Working with Connectors
She or Her, Who or Whom? It All Depends on the Case
He, She or They?: Pronoun Agreement and Gender Neutrality
Chapter six: Punctuation
That's All I Have to Say. Period.
Connecting Ideas: Commas and Dashes
Connecting More Ideas: Colons and Semicolons
Exclamation Points!
Ellipses and Brackets: Clarifying Quoted Material
Contraction and Possession: The Apostrophe
Apostrophes and Plurals
When Not to Use an Apostrophe: Possessive Pronouns
Chapter seven: Documentation
The P Word: Plagiarism
When to Cite a Source
When Not to Cite a Source
Documentation Systems
Modern Language Association (MLA) Format
American Psychological Association (APA) Format
Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago Style) Format
Chapter eight: Business Writing
Reader-Centred Writing: It's All about You
Always Look on the Bright Side: Making Negatives Positive
Creating Information Snapshots: Parallel Structure
Creating More Information Snapshots: Bullets and Headings
Memos, Letters, and Reports: Conventional Formats
Some Notes on Email
Chapter nine: Writing in the Sciences
IMRAD: Formatting Your Lab Report
Abstracts: Making the Essentials Concrete
Passive Voice: It's Not All about You
Giving Credit: Documentation Formats
Tone: Be Direct and Be Objective
Appendix 1: Confusable Words: Usage and Misusage
