The Little, Brown Compact Handbook

by Jane E. Aaron

Overview

The gold standard of handbooks–unmatched accuracy, currency, reliability

The Little, Brown Compact maintains the authority of its best-selling parent (The Little, Brown Handbook) in a briefer book with spiral binding, tabbed dividers, and over 150 exercise sets. While keeping pace with rapid changes in writing and its teaching, it offers the most comprehensive research and documentation available, with grammar coverage that is second to none. “Culture-Language” notes explore the most common issues faced by both non-native English speakers and students with dialect interference; rather than segregating this material, coverage is integrated so that students don’t feel compartmentalized. With detailed discussions of critical reading, media literacy, academic writing, and argument, as well as writing as a process, writing in the disciplines, and writing beyond the classroom, this handbook addresses writers of varying experience and in varying fields in a format that is a brief and convenient.

Also available with MyWritingLab ^™

This title is also available with MyWritingLab–an online homework, tutorial, and assessment program designed to work with this text to engage students and improve results. Within its structured environment, students practice what they learn, test their understanding, and pursue a personalized study plan that helps them better absorb course material and understand difficult concepts http://www.pearsonmylabandmastering.com/northamerica/mywritinglab/

Note: You are purchasing a standalone product; MyWritingLab does not come packaged with this content. If you would like to purchase both the physical text and MyWritingLab, search for ISBN-10: 0134023854 / ISBN-13: 9780134023854. That package includes ISBN-10: 0133954706 / ISBN-13: 9780133954708 and ISBN-10: 0321986504 / ISBN-13: 9780321986504.

MyWritingLab is not a self-paced technology and should only be purchased when required by an instructor.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780321986504
Publisher:	Pearson
Publication date:	01/22/2015
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	608
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	1130L (what's this?)

About the Author

Jane E. Aaron has taught writing at New York University and several other schools. She is the author of eight successful and long-lived composition textbooks, including The Little, Brown Handbook and The Little, Brown Compact Handbook.

Michael Greer teaches writing, editing, and publishing in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He also teaches courses in multimedia, online course design, and assessment for the Graduate Certificate in Online Writing Instruction at UA, Little Rock. Michael edits the journal Research in Online Literacy Education and is a founding member of the Global Society of Online Literacy Educators. He publishes and presents on topics including user-centered design, interactive media, and digital publishing. Michael serves as a faculty advisor and author for Gadget Software, where he is helping to design and develop a mobile learning platform. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Table of Contents

Preface for Students

Preface for Instructors

Part 1. WRITING PROCESS

1 The Writing Situation

a Assessment

b Subject

c Purpose

d Audience

e Genre

2 Invention

a Keeping a journal

b Observing

c Freewriting

d Brainstorming

e Drawing

f Asking questions

3 Thesis and Organization

a Thesis statement

b Organization

4 Drafting

a Starting to draft

b Maintaining momentum

c Sample first draft

5 Revising

a Reading your work critically

b Revising collaboratively

c Writing a title

d Sample revision

6 Editing, Formatting, and Proofreading

a Editing the revised draft

b Formatting and proofreading

c SAMPLE FINAL DRAFT

d Preparing a writing portfolio

7 Paragraphs

a Relating paragraphs in the essay

b Unity

c Coherence

d Development

e Introductions and conclusions

8 Presenting Writing

a Academic writing

b Visuals and other media

c Web writing

SAMPLE HOME PAGE

SAMPLE BLOG POST

Part 2. WRITING IN AND OUT OF COLLEGE

9 Academic Writing

a Purpose and audience

b Genre

c Structure and content

d Using sources with integrity

e Academic language

f Communicating in an academic setting

10 Critical Reading and Writing

a Techniques of critical reading

b Summarizing

c Critical response

d Viewing visuals critically

11 Argument

a Elements of argument

b Reasonableness

c Organization

d Visual arguments

e SAMPLE ARGUMENT

12 Essay Exams

a Preparing

b Planning

c Starting

d Developing

e Rereading

13 Oral Presentations

a Organization

b Delivery

14 Public Writing

a Social media

b Business letters

SAMPLE LETTER AND RÉSUMÉS

c Job applications

SAMPLE MEMO AND REPORT

d Memos, reports, and proposals

SAMPLE FLYER AND NEWSLETTERS

e Community work

Part 3. CLARITY AND STYLE

15 Emphasis

a Effective subjects and verbs

b Sentence beginnings and endings

c Coordination

d Subordination

16 Parallelism

a With and, but, or, nor, yet

b With both…and, not…but, etc.

c In comparisons

d With lists, headings, and outlines

17 Variety and Details

a Sentence length

b Sentence structure

c Details

18 Appropriate and Exact Language

a Appropriate language

b Exact language

19 Completeness

a Compounds

b Needed words

20 Conciseness

a Focusing on subject and verb

b Cutting empty words

c Cutting repetition

d Reducing modifiers

e Revising there is or it is

f Combining sentences

g Rewriting jargon

Part 4. SENTENCE PARTS AND PATTERNS

Basic Grammar

21 Parts of Speech

a Nouns

b Pronouns

c Verbs

d Adjective and adverbs

e Connecting words: prepositions and conjunctions

f Interjections

22 The Sentence

a Subject and predicate

b Predicate patterns

23 Phrases and Subordinate Clauses

a Phrases

b Subordinate clauses

24 Sentence Types

a Simple sentences

b Compound sentences

c Complex sentences

d Compound-complex sentences

Verbs

25 Forms

a Sing/sang/sung and other irregular verbs

d Sit/set, lie/lay, rise/raise

c -s and -ed forms

d Be, have, and other helping verbs

e Verbs + gerund or infinitive: stop eating vs. stop to eat

f Verb + participle: look up, look over, etc.

26 Tenses

a Present tense: sing

b Perfect tense: have/had/will have sung

c Progressive tenses: is/was/will be singing

d Consistency

e Sequence

27 Mood

a Subjunctive: I wish I were

b Consistency

28 Voice

a She wrote it (active)

b It was written (passive)

c Consistency

29 Subject-Verb Agreement

a -s and -es endings

b Intervening words

c Subjects with and

d Subjects with or or nor

e Everyone and other indefinite pronouns

f Team and other collective nouns

g Who, which, that as subjects

h News and other singular nouns ending in -s

i Verb preceding subjects

j Is, are, and other linking verbs

k Titles and words being defined

Pronouns

30 Case

a She and I vs. her and me

b It was she

c Who vs. whom

e Other constructions

31 Pronoun-Antecedent

a Antecedents with and

b Antecedent with or or nor

c Everyone, person, and other indefinite words

d Team and other collective nouns

32 Pronoun Reference

a Clear reference

b Close reference

c Specific reference

d Appropriate you

e Consistency

Modifiers

33 Adjectives and Adverbs

a Adjectives vs. adverb

b Adjective with linking verb: felt bad

c Comparatives (bigger) and superlatives (biggest)

d Double negatives

e Present and past participles: boring vs. bored

f A, an, the, and other determiners

34 Modifier and Dangling Modifiers

a Misplaced modifiers

b Dangling modifiers

Sentence Faults

35 Fragments

a Tests

b Revision

c Acceptable fragments

36 Comma Splices and Fused Sentences

a Main clauses without and, but, etc.

b Main clauses with however, for example, etc.

37 Mixed Sentences

a Reason is because and other mixed meanings

b Tangled grammar

c Repeated subjects and other parts

Part 5. PUNCTUATION

38 End Punctuation

a Period

b Question mark

c Exclamation point

39 The Comma

a Main clauses with and, but, etc.

b Introductory elements

c Nonessential elements

d Items in a series

e Two or more adjectives

f Dates, addresses, place names, long numbers

g She said, etc., with quotations

h Misuses

1 Between subject-verb, verb-object, preposition-object

2 In compound subject, predicate, etc.

3 After conjunction

4 Around essential elements

5 Around series

6 Before indirect quotation

40 The Semicolon

a Main clauses without and, but, etc.

b Main clauses with however, for example, etc.

c Main clauses or series items with commas

d Misuses

41 The Colon

a Concluding explanation, series, etc.

b Salutation of business letter, title and subtitle, divisions of time

c Misuses

42 The Apostrophe

a Possession

b Misuses

1 Plural nouns: Joneses, not Jones’

2 Singular verbs: makes, not make’s

3 Possessive personal pronouns: its, not it’s

4 Contractions

5 Plural abbreviations, etc.

43 Quotation Marks

a Direct quotations

b Quotation within quotation

c Dialog

d Titles of works

e Words used in a special sense

f Misuses

g With other punctuation

44 Other Marks

a Dash or dashes

b Parentheses

c Ellipsis mark

d Brackets

e Slash

Part 6. SPELLING AND MECHANICS

45 Spelling and the Hyphen

a Typical spelling problems

b Spelling rules

c The hyphen

46 Capital Letters

a First word of sentence

b Proper nouns and adjectives

c Titles and subtitles of words

d Online communication

47 Italics or Underlining

a Titles of works

b Ships, aircraft, spacecraft, trains

c Foreign words

d Words or characters names as words

e Emphasis

f Online communication

48 Abbreviations

a Titles before and after proper names

b Familiar abbreviations and acronyms

c BC, BCE, AD, CE, AM, PM, no., $

d Latin abbreviations

e Inc., Bros., Co., &

f Units of measurement, names, etc.

49 Numbers

a Numerals vs. words

b Dates, addresses, etc.

c Beginning sentences

Part 7. RESEARCH WRITING

50 Research Strategy

a Planning

b Research journal

c Researchable subject and question

d Goals for sources

e Working, annotated bibliography

SAMPLE ENTRY FOR AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

51 Finding Sources

a Your library’s Web site

b Searching electronically

c Reference works

d Books

e Periodicals

f The Web

g Social media

h Government publications

i Visals, audio, and video

j Your own sources

52 Working with Sources

a Evaluating sources

b Synthesizing sources

c Gathering information

d Using summary, paraphrase, and quotation

e Integrating sources

53 Avoiding Plagiarism

a Deliberate and accidental plagiarism

b What not to acknowledge

c What must be acknowledged

d Obtaining permission

54 Documenting Sources

a Discipline styles for documentation

b Bibliography software

55 Writing the Paper

a Focusing and organizing

b Drafting, revising, editing, and formatting

56 Reading and Writing about Literature

a Methods and evidence

b Writing assignments

c Tools and language

d Documentation and format

e SAMPLE LITERARY ANALYSIS

57 Writing in Other Disciplines

a Humanities

b Social sciences

c Natural and applied sciences

58 MLA Documentation and Format

Indexes to models

a Parenthetical text citations

b List of works cited

c Format of paper

d SAMPLE MLA PAPER

59 APA Documentation and Format

Indexes to models

a Parenthetical text citations

b List of references

c Format of paper

d SAMPLE APA PAPER

60 Chicago Documentation

Index to models

a Notes and bibliography entries

b Models

61 CSE Documentation

Index to models

a Name-year text citations

b Numbered text citations

c List of references

GLOSSARY OF USAGE

INDEX

CULTURE-LANGUAGE GUIDE

Editorial Reviews

"The Little, Brown Compact Handbook is the best multi-purpose handbook I've used."
–Lee Barnes, Community College of Southern Nevada

"FAQs are great! The book seems to anticipate what my students are asking!"
–Ron Heckelman, Montgomery College

"This [computers in writing and communication] section of The Little, Brown Compact Handbook is awesome. I couldn't believe the wealth of information and resources found on the website...marvelous ways to help learners take control of their learning."
–Blanche L. Sanders, Mississippi County Community College

From the Publisher