A Writer's Handbook, third edition: Developing Writing Skills for University Students / Edition 3

by Leslie E. Casson

Overview

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 third edition is revised and updated throughout.

Features of the third edition:

• Updated citation section (MLA, APA, Chicago, scientific, electronic)
• Updated section on using and citing electronic sources
• Expanded coverage of report writing and business letters

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554810772
Publisher:	Broadview Press
Publication date:	11/23/2011
Edition description:	third edition
Pages:	172
Sales rank:	1,203,596
Product dimensions:	4.60(w) x 6.80(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Leslie E. Casson teaches Writing and Communications at Queen’s University and St. Lawrence College, Kingston, Ontario.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

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
  Mood

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
  Formats and Templates: Workplace Communications
  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

appendix 2 Recommended Writing Guides

What People are Saying About This

Carolyn L. Eisner

"My students will find A Writer's Handbook immediately helpful; it makes sense of what professors often fail to explain but expect students to know and perform effortlessly."

Michael Johnstone

"The third edition of A Writer's Handbook beautifully speaks to and meets the needs of its target readers: university undergraduate students. Casson and the other contributors truly understand the common and most significant issues of undergraduate writing, whether in the humanities or the sciences—and they communicate with refreshing clarity the strategies, techniques, and information students will need in order to write effectively. An accessible, concise, and engaging resource. Highly recommended!"

John Eustace

"What makes Casson's Handbook so unusual is also what makes it most useful to me in my teaching: it is actually readable. My students like it, and they learn from it because they like it. I'm certain that they will continue to like what they read in this new edition."

Editorial Reviews

"The third edition of A Writer's Handbook beautifully speaks to and meets the needs of its target readers: university undergraduate students. Casson and the other contributors truly understand the common and most significant issues of undergraduate writing, whether in the humanities or the sciences—and they communicate with refreshing clarity the strategies, techniques, and information students will need in order to write effectively. An accessible, concise, and engaging resource. Highly recommended!"

Michael Johnstone University of Toronto

"My students will find A Writer's Handbook immediately helpful; it makes sense of what professors often fail to explain but expect students to know and perform effortlessly."

Carolyn L. Eisner Direction of Academic Writing

"What makes Casson's Handbook so unusual is also what makes it most useful to me in my teaching: it is actually readable. My students like it, and they learn from it because they like it. I'm certain that they will continue to like what they read in this new edition."

John Eustace Acadia University

The third edition of A Writer’s Handbook beautifully speaks to and meets the needs of its target readers: university undergraduate students. Casson and the other contributors truly understand the common and most significant issues of undergraduate writing, whether in the humanities or the sciences, and they communicate with refreshing clarity the strategies, techniques, and information students will need in order to write effectively. An accessible, concise, and engaging resource. Highly recommended!” — Michael Johnstone, University of Toronto

“My students will find A Writer’s Handbook immediately helpful; it makes sense of what professors often fail to explain but expect students to know and perform effortlessly.” — Caroline L. Eisner, Director of Academic Writing, AcademicCoachingandWriting.org, and co-editor of Originality, Imitation, and Plagiarism: Teaching Writing in the Digital Age

“What makes Casson’s Handbook so unusual is also what makes it most useful to me in my teaching: it is actually readable. My students like it, and they learn from it because they like it. I’m certain that they will continue to like what they read in this new edition.” — John Eustace, Acadia University

From the Publisher

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