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Part I The Writing Process 1 What Is Academic Writing? 1 2 Preparing to Write 4 3 Writing a Working Thesis and a First Draft 15 4 Revising the Paper 28 5 Focusing on Paragraphs 48 6 Document Design 61 Part II Working with Individual Sources 7 Understanding and Evaluating Web Sites and Images 84 9 Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting Sources 99 10 Avoiding Plagiarism 117 Part III Research: Locating and Synthesizing Multiple Sources 11 The Research Process 127 12 Locating Print and Electronic Sources 140 13 Synthesizing Sources 159 Part IV 14 Using the MLA System of Documentation 175 Part V Using the APA, CMS, and CSE Systems of Documentation 191 Part VI Writing in Disciplines 16 Writing in the Humanities 217 17 Writing in the Social Sciences 228 19 Applying Principles of Academic Writing to Business Settings 235 Part VII Library of Academic Writing 20 Summary 251 21 Explanation 263 22 Argument 279 23 Analysis 306 24 Critique 325 25 Writing Essay Exams 338 26 Web Pages 348 Part VIII Editing for Correctness 27 Sentences 357 28 Sentence Fragments 368 29 Comma Splices and Fused Sentences 372 30 Verbs 376 31 Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement 387 32 Adjectives and Adverbs 393 33 Misplaced Modifiers 400 34 Nouns and Pronouns 403 35 Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement and Reference 410 36 Errors in Consistency 417 37 Faulty Parallelism 424 Part IX Editing for Clarity and Emphasis 38 Clear, Concise, and Direct Sentences 429 39 Building Emphasis with Coordination and Subordination 432 40 Choosing the Right Word 438 Part X Punctuation 41 Using End Punctuation 447 42 Using Commas 450 43 Using Semicolons 460 44 Using Apostrophes 463 45 Using Quotation Marks 467 46 Using Other Marks 473 Part XI Mechanics and Spelling 47 Using Capitals 481 48 Using Italics 485 49 Using Abbreviations 488 50 Using Numbers in Writing 491 51 Using Hyphens 493 52 Making Spelling Decisions 496 Part XII ESL Reference Guide 53 Using English Nouns, Pronouns, and Articles 503 54 Using English Verbs 510 55 Using Modifiers and Connectors in English Sentences 522 Glossary of Usage 529 Index 539 Preface Why in the composition class do we teach students to explain and argue? Based on twenty-five years in the classroom and on discussions with colleagues around the nation, I believe that we assign academic writing because it prepares students to think independently and write for a lifetime. Academic writers learn to- - study an issue and frame a compelling question; - conduct research guided by that question; - read with a critical eye; - summarize accurately; - present material ethically; - synthesize multiple texts on a common topic; - inform and argue with confidence, tailoring delivery to the needs of readers; - write clear, well-structured, simple (but not simple-minded!) paragraphs; and - write active, varied, technically correct sentences. The Academic Writer's Handbook emphasizes the skills one needs to succeed as an academic writer. Students will find a Library of common assignment types with twelve example papers distributed across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. (The text offers fourteen student papers in all, with ten additional papers on the Companion Website.) Students will find a chapter devoted to how one synthesizes sources, a chapter-length treatment of plagiarism, a thorough discussion of thesis, and extensive coverage of quoting, summarizing, and integrating sources into the flow of a paragraph-all essential skills for the beginning academic writer. The result, I hope, is a reference that students will keep close at hand not because it is assigned but because it helps them to succeed both in the composition classroom and beyond. Features Focus on Sources Summary, paraphrase, and quotation Academic writing is source-based writing; accordingly, in Chapter 9 this text emphasizes the foundational skills of summary, paraphrase, and quotation and the weaving of source references seamlessly into paragraphs. vii Plagiarism The handbook devotes an entire chapter (10) to avoiding plagiarism. The discussion reviews the reasons for citing sources, explains why writers plagiarize (mal-intent is not the main reason), and suggests concrete, productive actions to avoid plagiarism. Students become aware of the forces that may tempt them to plagiarize and learn specific techniques to avoid problems. Synthesis Students must be able to read multiple sources on a given topic and synthesize them if they are to write college-level papers. Chapter 13 on synthesis begins with an assignment, shows how to synthesize by identifying common topics among sources and building an index, and presents a complete research paper on the topic of "Disneyfication." Critical Thinking This handbook assumes that college-level writing builds on reading, and that the more skilled a student's reading, the better the writing. The resulting emphasis in thinking critically about sources is distributed throughout the book, especially in Part II on working with individual sources and Part III on researching print sources and images. Elsewhere, critical thinking is emphasized in the process of writing and, at the sentence level, in the decisions writers make in revision. Visual thinking The numerous photographs and diagrams throughout this book illustrate advice offered in Chapter 6 on document design, Chapter 8 on understanding and evaluating Web sites and images, and Chapter 26 on constructing Web pages. Students learn the principles that underlie the judicious use of charts, tables, graphs, and images both in print and on the Web. Library of Academic Writing Chapters 20-25 introduce students to six assignment types common in academic settings: summary, explanation, argument, analysis, critique, and essay exams. Chapter 26 shows students how to prepare these assignments for presentation on the Web. The first six chapters of Part VII review essentials of specific types of papers, offer a summary "Guidelines to Writing," and present two source-based papers drawn from the humanities, social sciences, or the sciences. A third example paper for each of these chapters appears on the Companion Website. One paper is annotated, leaving the others for assignments and class discussion. By consulting the Library, students will learn to succeed in writing the kinds of papers assigned throughout their academic careers. Focus on argumentation Of all the writing that students do in college, the form assigned most often is argument. This handbook therefore emphasizes argumentation. In the Library of Academic Writing, three Preface ix chapters provide direct instruction: one chapter (22) on the overall logic of argument and two chapters on specialized forms: critique and analysis. In Part VI on Writing in the Disciplines, students learn to distinguish writing to inform from writing to argue in the humanities, social sciences, and the sciences. All told, users will find eight example source-based arguments in the handbook. (See Chapters 4, 13, and 22-24.) Research and Writing Across the Curriculum The research paper Integrating discussions found elsewhere on critical thinking, the writing process, writing across the curriculum, and argumentation, this handbook's chapters on research offer a wealth of practical, direct advice for launching college-level research projects. Students learn the importance of a guiding question; they learn the distinctions between early research and later, more focused research; they learn how to search in the library and online for sources that will help them to answer their guiding question and write their paper. The Internet as a resource The Academic Writer's Handbook presents a thorough introduction to the Internet and to using reliable Internet resources in research. Chapter 12 on Locating Print and Electronic Sources provides strategies for formulating good queries and strategies for conducting multiple searches using different search engines and directories. The Companion Website provides a catalog of excellent discipline-specific and general resources available on the Internet. Citation form The handbook provides the latest citation formats from the Modern Language Association (MLA), the American Psychological Association (APA), The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) footnote system, and the Council of Science Editors (CSE). Writing across the curriculum Because students write in all their courses, this handbook offers extensive coverage in working with texts and writing in the humanities, social sciences, sciences, and business disciplines. These chapters introduce students to the unique focus and types of arguments they will encounter in each area. Coverage explains how arguments are made (with special emphasis on claims and evidence). Writing as a Process Chapters 2-4 on the process of writing academic papers and Chapter 5 on writing and revising paragraphs show students what is involved in working from an assignment to a finished product. As a key to the writing process, revision receives special emphasis. Readers watch a student writer clarify and expand his thinking as he moves from a draft to a final paper in Chapter 4. Sentence-level Correctness Students must be able to write technically correct sentences. This handbook takes great care in explaining what makes a sentence correct, how one spots errors, and how one revises. Guidelines and choices Any experienced writer knows that there is often more than one solution to a common sentence error. Therefore, when appropriate, students will find alternate solutions and are encouraged in their role as writers to make decisions. When usage is a matter of strict convention, students will find firm, clear guidelines. Comprehensive coverage for multilingual students Students whose native language is not English have been entering the mainstream composition course in increasing numbers, with varying degrees of prior preparation from specialized English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. As a result, composition instructors have been called upon to help international students cope with features of English that have not traditionally caused problems for native speakers. This handbook provides international students with unique help in three ESL chapters, developed with the help of Will Van Dorp of Northern Essex Community College and Eileen Ariza of Florida Atlantic University. Student Resources Exercise Book An exercise book is available. Content for exercises is drawn from various disciplines; exercises include both discrete sentences and connected discourse, depending on the nature of the material under discussion. Companion Website You will find Web icons throughout this handbook, referring students to the Companion Website (www.ablongman.com/rosen) where they will find pertinent Internet links and a comprehensive set of exercises to accompany instructional materials. Online exercises For just about every chapter of the handbook, you will find online exercises written to help students master core skills. Many exercises feature extended discourse on interesting topics chosen from across the curriculum. The intent is for students to write and revise in response to the sort of content they encounter in their coursework. Related Web sites Many Web icons point students to related discussions online. Students can simply click on these links on the Companion Website. Preface xi Links for research Students will find dozens of links to rich, reliable online sources for their research and writing: general references, discipline-specific references, and online writing help. Reading across the curriculum To supplement Part VI on Writing in the Disciplines, students can turn to the Companion Website for material on reading in the disciplines. Links to additional student papers With additional student papers from the Library of Academic Writing on the Companion Website, each chapter in Part VII has an example paper in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. E-Book and MyCompLab An E-Book version of The Academic Writer's Handbook is available within Longman's premier composition Web site, MyCompLab 2.0 (www.mycomplab.com). In MyCompLab 2.0, students and instructors will have access to the best multimedia resources for grammar, writing, and research in one easy-to-use site. Added to this, the E-Book of The Academic Writer's Handbook, with hyperlinks to Web sites, audio clips, and video clips, provides a complete, engaging multimedia learning experience for students. Tour the site at www.mycomplab.com. Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge the contributions of a number of people who have helped bring this project to fruition. The reviewers of the manuscript provided incisive, invaluable criticism. While I did not follow their every suggestion, I followed most, and the book is better for their involvement. What errors and omissions remain are of my own stubborn doing. Thanks especially to my friend and mentor Larry Behrens. Though we did not co-author this book, my work has benefited at every turn from the high standards he has set in our decades (!) of fruitful collaboration. Thanks to Peggy Robinson of the Council of Science Editors, who took time from her revision of Scientific Style and Format to check that documentation advice offered here conformed to updated standards published in the new (seventh) edition of SSF. Thanks to Madeleine Sorapure and Mashey Bernstein of University of California, Santa Barbara. A heartfelt thanks to the many reviewers of this book who provided invaluable feedback to me throughout the project: Beth Buyserie, Washington State University; Alison Caldwell, University of Tennessee; Chandra Speight Cerutti, East Carolina University; Scott Chattin, South East Community College; Scott Downing, DePaul University; Ann Fellinger, Pulaski Technical College; Helen Holt, Vance Granville Community College; Elizabeth Howells, Armstrong Atlantic State University; Allen Hoy, Bucks Community College; Toran Isom, University of Arkansas; Deborah Kirkman, University of Kentucky; Joel Lostracco, Austin Community College-Rio Grande; Debra Matier, College of Southern Idaho; Homer Mitchell, SUNY Cortland; Matthew Parfitt, Boston University; Linda Shelton, Utah Valley State College; Beverly Six, Sul Ross State University; James Sodon, St. Louis Community College; Mahalingam Subbiah, Weber State University; Bill Toth, Western New Mexico University; William Vaughn, Central Missouri State University. As a writer, I am fortunate to work with an editorial, production, marketing, and sales staff as fine as the team at Longman Publishers. Joe Opiela championed this book and has proved himself a friend and tireless advocate for many years. The months of manuscript writing and revision overlapped almost exactly with the months leading to the birth of Development Editor Anne Brunell's first child. Given the loyalty, wisdom, patience, and humor she brought to this project, I have glimpsed what an outstanding parent Anne will be. When Anne went on maternity leave, Lai Moy stepped expertly into place. Editorial Assistant Eden Kram provided much of the administrative support that kept this project on track. Donna DeBenedictis at Longman and Katy Faria and Elsa van Bergen at Pre-Press Company shepherded the manuscript through production with an unfailing eye for style and detail. Without the contributions of a talented, well-coordinated team, a project of this magnitude could not succeed. To all I owe hearty thanks for work well done. The Academic Writer's Handbook arose out of my desire to distill in one place, for my son who is headed off to college, what I have learned in twenty-five years of teaching and writing textbooks for students of composition. Though as you might imagine my seventeen year old would be well rid of me, I couldn't quite let him go without sending a bit of his father along to sit beside him in the library or his dorm as he wrote his papers. To improve the odds that he would actually open the book, on every page I set myself a test: to speak sparely and directly and to choose a tone, a vocabulary, and examples that would signify-that would in an immediate, practical way offer my son and, by extension, all students what is needed to succeed in the most common tasks of academic writing. One hesitates to say that an introduction to academic writing could be written with love; but with a son's impending departure to college as motivation, this one has been. My son, certainly, will tell me where I have succeeded and where I have failed in being clear; I invite you to do the same. Contact me with suggestions for improving this text and making it the sort of hands-on, practical guide that students will reach for when their instructors assign writing. What I hope and trust will be useful to my son in the coming years will be useful to other students as well. LEONARD J. ROSEN Bentley College
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication:
English language -- Rhetoric -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Academic writing -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.