A Writer's Reference

A Writer's Reference, the most widely adopted handbook in the United States, continues to be groundbreaking in its simplicity, offering the right content in an accessible format. New coauthor Nancy Sommers's own research, campus travel, and classroom experience keep the handbook in tune with the needs of academic writers. In a trusted quick-reference format, the seventh edition delivers advice on all the right topics: working with sources, revising with comments, preparing a portfolio, and more. A Writer's Reference offers unprecedented flexibility with several versions to choose from -- a handbook that's truly at your service.

“When students become familiar with their handbook, it's faster than high-speed internet.”- Kelli Wood, El Paso Community College

DIANA HACKER personally class-tested her handbooks with nearly four thousand students over 35 years at Prince George's Community College in Maryland, where she was a member of the English faculty. Hacker handbooks, built on innovation and on a keen understanding of the challenges facing student writers, are the most widely adopted in America. Other Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin's, include The Bedford Handbook, Eighth Edition (2010); Rules for Writers, Sixth Edition (2008); and A Pocket Style Manual, Fifth Edition (2008).  NANCY SOMMERS, who has taught composition and directed composition programs for thirty years, now teaches writing in the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. A two-time Braddock Award winner, Sommers is well-known for her research and publications on student writing. Her recent work involves a longitudinal study of undergraduate writing. Nancy Sommers is co-author of Fields of Reading, Ninth Edition (2010), and is lead author on Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin's.

C Composing and revising
     C1 Planning
     C2 Drafting
     C3 Revising
*new section on portfolio keeping
     C4 Writing paragraphs
     C5 Designing documents
     C6 Writing with technology (*new chapter)
   
A Academic writing
     A1 Writing about texts
*new annotated advertisement
     A2 Constructing reasonable arguments
*new argument paper
     A3 Evaluating arguments
     A4 Writing in the disciplines 
   
S Sentence style
     S1 Parallelism
     S2 Needed words
     S3 Problems with modifiers
     S4 Shifts
     S5 Mixed constructions
     S6 Sentence emphasis
     S7 Sentence variety
   
W Word choice
     W1 Glossary of usage
     W2 Wordy sentences
     W3 Active verbs
     W4 Appropriate language
     W5 Exact language
     W6 The dictionary and thesaurus
   
G Grammatical sentences
     G1 Subject-verb agreement
     G2 Verb forms, tenses, and moods
     G3 Pronouns
     G4 Adjectives and adverbs
     G5 Sentence fragments
     G6 Run-on sentences
   
M Multilingual writers and ESL challenges
     M1 Verbs
     M2 Articles
     M3 Sentence structure
     M4 Using adjectives
     M5 Prepositions and idiomatic expressions 
   
P Punctuation and mechanics
     P1 The comma
     P2 Unnecessary commas
     P3 The semicolon and the colon
     P4 The apostrophe
     P5 Quotation marks
     P6 Other punctuation marks
     P7 Spelling and hyphenation
     P8 Capitalization
     P9 Abbreviations and numbers
     P10 Italics B Basic grammar
     B1 Parts of speech
     B2 Parts of sentences
     B3 Subordinate word groups
     B4 Sentence types     R Researching
     R1 Conducting research
     R2 Evaluating sources
*new feature on scholarly vs. popular sources
*new feature on evaluating Web sites
     R3 Managing information; avoiding plagiarism
*new sample annotated bibliography
*new box on avoiding plagiarism
     R4 Choosing a documentation style
   
MLA papers
     MLA-1 Supporting a thesis
     MLA-2 Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism
     MLA-3 Integrating sources
*new coverage of synthesis
     MLA-4 Documenting sources
*new annotated documentation models
     MLA-5 Manuscript format; sample paper
*new research case study
     SAMPLE PAPER 
    
APA and CMS papers
     APA-1 Supporting a thesis
     APA-2 Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism
     APA-3 Integrating sources
*new coverage of synthesis
     APA-4 Documenting sources
*new annotated documentation models
     APA-5 Manuscript format; sample paper
     SAMPLE PAPER       CMS-1 Supporting a thesis
     CMS-2 Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism
     CMS-3 Integrating sources
     CMS-4 Documenting sources
*new Citations at a glance
     CMS-5 Manuscript format; sample pages
     SAMPLE PAGES *new to this edition