A Pocket Style Manual with Exercises

A Pocket Style Manual with Exercises gives you quick answers and expert advice for writing assignments in any course or work setting, including coverage of grammar, style, citing sources, and writing responsibly with AI.

[[Part 0]] Becoming a College Writer: Using Academic Intelligence
and Artificial Intelligence



[[Part 1]] Clarity
1 Tighten wordy sentences.
1a Redundancies
1b Empty or inflated phrases
1c Needlessly complex structures
2 Prefer active verbs.
2a When to replace be verbs
2b When to replace passive verbs
3 Balance parallel ideas.
3a Items in a series
3b Paired ideas
4 Add needed words.
4a Words in compound structures
4b The word that
4c Words in comparisons
5 Eliminate distracting shifts.
5a Shifts in point of view
5b Shifts in tense
6 Untangle mixed constructions.
6a Mixed grammatical structure
6b Illogical connections
6c Is when, is where, and reason . . . is because constructions
7 Repair misplaced and dangling modifiers.
7a Misplaced words
7b Misplaced phrases and clauses
7c Dangling modifiers
7d Split infinitives
8 Provide sentence variety.
8a Combining choppy sentences
8b Varying sentence openings
9 Find an appropriate voice.
9a Jargon
9b Clichés
9c Slang
9d Sexist and noninclusive language



[[Part 2]] Grammar
10 Make subjects and verbs agree.
10a Words between subject and verb
10b Subjects joined with and
10c Subjects joined with or or nor
10d Indefinite pronouns such as someone
10e Collective nouns such as jury
10f Subject after verb
10g Who, which, and that
10h Plural form, singular meaning
10i Titles, company names, and words mentioned as words
11 Be alert to other problems with verbs.
11a Irregular verbs
11b Tense
11c Mood
12 Use pronouns with care.
12a Pronoun-antecedent agreement
12b Pronoun reference
12c Case of personal pronouns (I vs. me etc.)
12d Who vs. whom
13 Use adjectives and adverbs appropriately.
13a Adjectives
13b Adverbs
13c Comparatives and superlatives
14 Repair sentence fragments.
14a Fragmented clauses
14b Fragmented phrases
15 Revise run-on sentences.
15a Revision with a comma and a coordinating conjunction
15b Revision with a semicolon (or a colon or a dash)
15c Revision by separating sentences
15d Revision by restructuring the sentence
16 Consider grammar topics for multilingual writers.
16a Verbs
16b Articles (a, an, the)
16c Sentence structure
16d Prepositions showing time and place



[[Part 3]] Punctuation
17 The comma
17a Before a coordinating conjunction joining independent clauses
17b After an introductory clause or phrase
17c Between items in a series
17d Between coordinate adjectives
17e To set off a nonrestrictive element, but not a restrictive element
17f To set off transitional and parenthetical expressions, absolute phrases, and word groups expressing contrast
17g To set off nouns of direct address, the words yes and no, interrogative tags, and mild interjections
17h To set off direct quotations introduced with expressions such as he said
17i With dates, addresses, and titles
17j Misuses of the comma

18 The semicolon and the colon
18a The semicolon
18b The colon
19 The apostrophe
19a To indicate possession
19b To mark contractions
19c Conventional uses
19d Misuses of the apostrophe
20 Quotation marks
20a To enclose direct quotations
20b Around titles of short works
20c To set off words used as words
20d Other punctuation with quotation marks
20e Misuses of quotation marks
21 Other punctuation marks
21a The period
21b The question mark
21c The exclamation point
21d The dash
21e Parentheses
21f Brackets
21g The ellipsis
21h The slash



[[Part 4]] Mechanics
22 Capitalization
22a Proper vs. common nouns
22b Titles with proper names
22c Titles of works
22d First word of a sentence or quoted sentence
22e First word following a colon
23 Abbreviations, numbers, and italics
23a Abbreviations
23b Numbers
23c Italics
24 Hyphenation
24a Compound words
24b Words functioning together as an adjective
24c Conventional uses



[[Part 5]] Research
25 Asking a research question
25a Choosing a focused question
25b Choosing a debatable question
25c Choosing a question grounded in evidence
26 Finding appropriate sources
26a Using the library
26b Using the web
26c Using bibliographies and citations
26d Conducting field research, if appropriate
27 Evaluating sources
27a Evaluating the reliability and usefulness of a source
27b Reading with an open mind and a critical eye
27d Constructing an annotated bibliography
28 Managing information; avoiding plagiarism during research
28a Maintaining a working bibliography
28b Keeping track of source materials
28c Taking notes responsibly: avoiding unintentional plagiarism
29 Supporting a thesis
29a Forming a thesis statement
29b Organizing your ideas
29c Using sources to inform and support your argument
30 Avoiding plagiarism
30a Citing quotations and borrowed ideas
30b Using the MLA, APA, and Chicago citation systems to lead readers to your sources
30c Using quotation marks around borrowed language
30d Putting summaries and paraphrases in your own words
31 Integrating sources
31a Summarizing and paraphrasing effectively
31b Using quotations effectively
31c Using signal phrases to integrate sources
31d Synthesizing sources
32 Integrating literary quotations
32a Introducing quotations from literary works
32b Avoiding shifts in tense
32c Formatting and citing literary passages



[[Part 6]] MLA Style
33 MLA documentation style
33a MLA in-text citations
33b MLA list of works cited
34 MLA format; sample research essay
34a MLA format
34b Sample MLA research essay



[[Part 7]] APA Style
35 APA documentation style
35a APA in-text citations
35b APA list of references
36 APA format; sample research essay
36a APA format
36b Sample APA research essay



[[Part 8]] Chicago Style
37 Chicago documentation style
37a First and later notes for a source
37b Chicago-style bibliography
37c Model notes and bibliography entries
38 Chicago format; sample pages
38a Chicago format
38b Sample pages from a Chicago research essay



[[Part 9]] Glossaries
Glossary of usage
Glossary of grammatical terms