Lb Brief: Little, Brown Handbook, Brief - 4th edition

Table of Contents

Preface for Students

Preface for Instructors

Part 1: Writing Process

1 The Writing Situation

a Analysis

b Subject

c Purpose

d Audience

2 Invention

a Journal keeping

b Observing

c Freewriting

d Brainstorming

e Drawing

f Asking questions

3 Thesis and Organization

a Thesis statement

b Organization

sample Essay

4 Drafting

a Starting

b Maintaining momentum

c Sample first draft

5 Revising and Editing

a Revising the whole essay

b Sample revision

c Editing

d Formatting; proofreading

e sample Final Draft

f Collaborating

g Preparing a writing portfolio

6 Paragraphs

a Unity around a central idea

b Coherence

c Development

d Introductions; conclusions

e Linking paragraphs

7 Document Design

a Academic papers

b Principles of design

c Elements of design

d Illustrations

e The Web

f Readers with vision loss

Part 2: Writing in and out of college

8 Critical Thinking and Reading

a Critical reading techniques

b Critical response

c Critically viewing images

9 Academic Writing

a Responding to texts

b Purpose

c Audience

d Structure and content

e Language

f sample critical response

10 Writing Arguments

a Elements of argument

b Reasonableness

c Organization

d sample argument

11 Reading and Writing About Literature

a Writing while reading

b Critical reading

c sample literary analysis

12 Taking Essay Exams

a Preparing

b Planning

c Drafting

d Rereading

e sample Essay Exams

13 Public Writing

a Business letters and résumés

sample letter and résumés

b Memos

sample Memo

c E-mail

sample e-mail message

d Community work

sample newsletter

14 Making Oral Presentations

a Purpose and audience

b Organization

c Delivery

sample powerpoint slides

Part 3: Clarity and Style

15 Emphasis

a 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, etc.

c In comparisons

d In lists, headings, outlines

17 Variety and Details

a Sentence length

b Sentence structure

c Details

18 Appropriate and Exact Words

a Appropriate words

b Exact words

19 Completeness

a Compounds

b Needed words

20 Conciseness

a Focusing on subject and verb

b Cutting empty words

c Cutting repetition

d Tightening clauses and phrases

e Revising there is or it is

f Combining sentences

g Avoiding jargon

Part 4: Sentence Parts and Patterns

Basic Grammar

21 Parts of Speech

22 The Sentence

23 Phrases and Subordinate Clauses

24 Sentence Types

Verbs

25 Forms

a Irregular verbs

b Sit/set; lie/lay; rise/raise

c -s and -ed forms

d Helping verbs

e Verb + gerund or infinitive

f Verb + particle

26 Tense

a Present tense: sing

b Perfect tenses: 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 Active vs. passive

b 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

h News and other singular nouns ending in -s

i Verb preceding subject

j Is, are, and other linking verbs

k Titles; words being defined

Pronouns

30 Case

a She and I vs. her and me

b It was she vs. It was her

c Who vs. whom

d Other constructions

31 Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

a Antecedents with and

b Antecedents 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 Adjective vs. adverb

b Adjective with linking verb: felt bad

c Comparisons

d Double negatives

e Participles: boring vs. bored

f A, an, the; other determiners

34 Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

a Misplaced modifiers

b Dangling modifiers

Sentence Faults

35 Sentence 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 Mixed meaning

b Tangled grammar

c Repeated subjects and other parts

Part 5: Punctuation

38 End Punctuation

a Period

b Question mark

c Exclamation point

39 Comma

a Main clauses with and, but, etc.

b Introductory elements

c Nonessential elements

d Items in series

e Two or more adjectives

f Dates, addresses, etc.

g With quotations

h Misuses

40 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 Colon

a Concluding explanation, series, etc.

b Salutation; title and subtitle; time

c Misuses

42 Apostrophe

a Possession

b Misuses

c Contractions

d Plural abbreviations, etc.

43 Quotation Marks

a Direct quotations

b Within a quotation

c Titles of works

d Words used in a special sense

e Misuses

f 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

46 Hyphen

47 Capital Letters

48 Italics or Underlining

49 Abbreviations

50 Numbers

Part 7: Research and Documentation

51 Research Strategy

a Planning

b Research journal

c Subject and question

d Goals for sources

e Working, annotated bibliography

52 Finding Sources

a Your library's Web site

b Searching electronically

c Reference works

d Books

e Periodicals

f The Web

g Other online sources

h Government publications

i Images, audio, and video

j Your own sources

53 Working with Sources

a Evaluating sources

b Synthesizing sources

c Gathering information

d Using summary, paraphrase, quotation

e Integrating sources

54 Avoiding Plagiarism and Documenting Sources

a Plagiarism and the Internet

b What not to acknowledge

c What must be acknowledged

d Online sources

e Documenting sources

55 Writing the Paper

a Focusing and organizing

b Drafting; revising; formatting

56 MLA Documentation and Format

a Parenthetical text citations

b List of works cited

c Format of paper

d sample MLA Paper

57 APA Documentation and Format

a Parenthetical text citations

b List of references

c Format of paper

d sample APA paper

Glossary of Usage

Answers to Selected Exercises

Index