When Words Collide : A Media Writer's Guide To Grammar And Style - 6th edition

Kessler, Lauren : University of Oregon

Lauren Kessler is the author of ten books, including Los Angeles Times best-seller and Oregon Book Award finalist The Happy Bottom Riding Club (Random House 2000), the biography of one of the most colorful women of the 20th century: pioneering aviatrix, Hollywood stunt pilot and bordello madame Pancho Barnes. Her other books include a season-in-the-life narrative about women's sports, Full Court Press (Dutton 1997); Stubborn Twig (Random House1994), which won the Frances Fuller Victor Award for literary nonfiction; and After All These Years (Thunder's Mouth Press 1990), portraits of 60s radicals critics praised as "vital and revealing." Her books have been translated into Italian, Japanese and Chinese. Kestrel's essays have appeared in Salon, The Nation and Oregon Quarterly. She writes regularly about the craft of writing for Writer's Digest and has published articles in a variety of magazines. The founder and editor of Etude, an online magazine devoted to new and emerging voices in literary nonfiction, she directs the graduate program in literary nonfiction at the University of Oregon in Eugene. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Washington and is a graduate of the Medill school of Journalism, Northwestern University.



McDonald, Duncan : University of Oregon

Duncan McDonald is currently serving at the University of Oregon as Vice President for Public Affairs and Development. He is a past winner of the University's prestigious Ersted Award for excellence in teaching, and has co-authored four well-known textbooks grammar, media writing, information gathering and graphics. He is an active freelance photographer, and his work is frequently published and exhibited. He has had experience as a newspaper photographer, reporter, editor and publisher. From 1992 to 1994, McDonald was chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University. In addition to his work on skills texts, McDonald investigates how writing is taught and how we acquire and use language. The implications of electronic and digital manipulations of photographs are also among his research interests.

"I really like the clarity and directness of the writing style. In fact, style is one of the book's main strengths. The examples are clear, succinct and extremely helpful."

-- Tim Pilgrim, Western Washington University

"College students will find the casual writing style a refreshing change from many of their other textbooks. The conversational tone and frequent use of analogies turns a boring subject into an interesting narrative."

-- Tom Clanin, California State University-Fullerton

"Specific examples help the novice or less mature writer quickly see how the errors can be corrected. The section on parallel Structure is particularly important because students tend to overlook these errors."

-- Betsy Leebron, Temple University

From the Wadsworth.com Web site, March, 2003

Preface.
Part One: UNDERSTANDING GRAMMAR AND STYLE.

1. What You Don't Know Will Hurt You.
2. Parts of Speech.
3. The Sentence.
4. Agreement-Rules, Exceptions and Common Sense.
5. Case.
6. Passive Voice.
7. Punctuation.
8. Spelling.
9. Clarity, Conciseness, Coherence.
10. Style.
11. Sense and Sensitivity.

Part Two: TOPICAL GUIDE TO GRAMMAR AND WORD USE.
Index.