Practical English Handbook

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ISBN: 9780395733332 | 0395733332
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 7/1/1995

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The Practical English Handbook includes concise explanations, abundant examples and models, ample practice opportunity, and help with all stages of the writing process. A coding system breaks down topics and facilitates student use. The book's compact size allows it to fit comfortably in the hand, while the durable sewn binding will withstand constant use. The MLA and APA documentation guidelines thoroughly reflect the most recent changes.

Preface

xviii

Grammar

(28)

The Parts of Speech

(1)

Nouns

(1)

Pronouns

(3)

Verbs

(2)

Adjectives

(1)

Adverbs

(2)

Conjunctions

(1)

Prepositions

(2)

Interjections

(1)

The Parts of Sentences

(1)

Simple subjects, complete subjects, compound subjects

(2)

Simple predicates, complete predicates, compound predicates

(1)

Complements

(3)

Phrases

(3)

Clauses

(2)

The Kinds of Sentences

(3)

Sentence Errors

(58)

Sentence Fragments

(2)

Comma Splices and Fused Sentences

(6)

Verb Forms

(5)

Tense and Sequence of Tenses

(5)

Present tense

(1)

Past tense

(1)

Future tense

(1)

Progressive tenses

(1)

Perfect tenses

(1)

Present infinitive

(1)

Consistency

(1)

Voice

(3)

Subjunctive Mood

(1)

Subject and Verb: Agreement

(11)

Singular verb with a singular subject

(1)

Plural verb with a plural subject

(1)

Compound subject

(1)

Compound subject with or, nor, etc.

(1)

Phrases and clauses that come between a subject and a verb

(1)

Collective nouns

(1)

Nouns plural in form, singular in meaning

(1)

Indefinite pronouns

(1)

All, some, part, etc.

(1)

There, here

(1)

Agreement with subject, not predicate nominative

(1)

After a relative pronoun

(1)

With titles or words used as words

(1)

Expressions of time, money, measurement, etc.

(4)

Pronouns and Antecedents: Agreement, Reference, and Usage

(8)

Singular pronoun with a singular antecedent

(1)

Plural pronoun with a plural antecedent

(1)

Compound antecedent with and

(1)

Compound antecedent with or, nor, etc.

(1)

Collective noun as antecedent

(1)

Each, either, etc.

(1)

Vague and ambiguous antecedents

(4)

Which, who, that

(1)

-Self, -selves

(1)

Case

(8)

Subjects and subjective complements

(1)

Direct objects, indirect objects, objects of prepositions

(1)

Subjects and objects of infinitives

(1)

Appositives

(1)

After than or as

(1)

Who, Whom

(1)

Apostrophe or of phrase for possession

(1)

Words preceding a gerund

(4)

Adjectives and Adverbs

(8)

Adverbs modifying verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs

(1)

After linking verbs be, become, seem, etc.

(1)

After a verb and its object

(1)

Comparative and superlative degrees

(1)

Avoiding double comparatives and superlatives

(1)

Absolute concepts

(1)

Avoiding double negatives

(4)

Sentence Structure

(36)

Choppy Sentences and Excessive Coordination

(2)

Consolidating brief sentences in succession

(1)

Independent clauses

(2)

Subordination

(3)

Subordination of minor thoughts

(1)

Overlapping surbordination

(2)

Completeness

(2)

Omission of verbs and prepositions

(1)

Omission of that

(1)

Comparisons

(3)

Illogical comparisons

(1)

The word other

(1)

Awkward and incomplete

(2)

Consistency

(6)

Shifts in grammatical forms

(4)

Faulty predication

102

(1)

Avoid constructions is when, is where, or the reason is because

102

(2)

Position of Modifiers

104

(6)

Dangling

104

(2)

Misplaced

106

(1)

Limiting

107

(1)

Squinting

107

(3)

Separation of Elements

110

(3)

Subject and verb, verb and object

110

(1)

A sentence with a quotation

111

(1)

Split infinitives

111

(2)

Parallelism

113

(4)

With coordinating conjunctions

113

(1)

Repetition of function words

114

(1)

With correlatives

114

(1)

With and who and and which

115

(2)

Variety

117

(6)

Overuse of one kind of sentence structure

118

(2)

Varying the openings of sentences

120

(3)

Punctuation

123

(50)

Commas

124

(16)

Between two independent clauses

124

(1)

In a series

124

(3)

Between coordinate adjectives

127

(2)

After introductory phrases and clauses

129

(1)

With nonessential elements

130

(2)

With sentence modifiers, conjunctive adverbs, elements out of order

132

(2)

With degrees, titles, dates, places, addresses

134

(1)

For contrast or emphasis

134

(1)

With mild interjections and yes or no

135

(1)

With direct address and salutations

135

(1)

With expressions like he said, she remarked

135

(1)

With absolute phrases

135

(1)

To prevent misreading or to mark omission

136

(4)

Unnecessary Commas

140

(6)

Between subject and verb, verb and object

140

(1)

Before coordinating conjunctions

140

(1)

Essential clauses, phrases, or appositives

141

(1)

Between adjectives that are not coordinate, between an adverb and an adjective, or between an adjective and a noun

141

(1)

After coordinating conjunctions

142

(1)

Before subordinating conjunctions

142

(1)

After the opening phrase of an inverted sentence

142

(1)

Before the first or after the last item in a series

142

(1)

Before than

143

(1)

After like and such as

143

(1)

With period, question mark, dash, exclamation point

143

(1)

Before parentheses

143

(3)

Semicolons

146

(5)

Between independent clauses not connected by a coordinating conjunction

147

(1)

To separate independent clauses

148

(1)

In a series between items that have internal punctuation

148

(1)

Not between elements that are not grammatically equal

148

(3)

Colons

151

(4)

After an independent clause that introduces a quotation

151

(1)

After an independent clause that introduces a series of items

152

(1)

After an independent clause that introduces an appositive

152

(1)

Between two independent clauses

152

(1)

In times, saluations, bibliographical entries

152

(1)

Not after linking verbs or prepositions

153

(2)

Dashes

155

(1)

Parentheses

156

(1)

Brackets

157

(1)

Quotation Marks

158

(8)

Direct quotations and dialogue

158

(1)

Titles of short works

159

(1)

Quotation within a quotation

159

(1)

Not with titles of your own papers

160

(1)

Not for slang, irony, humor

160

(1)

Not with block quotations

160

(1)

With other punctuation

161

(5)

End Punctuation

166

(7)

Period at end of sentence

167

(1)

Period after abbreviations

167

(1)

Ellipsis points for omissions

167

(1)

Punctuation of titles

168

(1)

Question mark after direct question

169

(1)

Not a question mark within parentheses for humor

169

(1)

Exclamation point

169

(4)

Mechanics

173

(38)

Manuscript Forms, Business Letters, and Resumes

174

(9)

Manuscripts

174

(4)

Business letters

178

(1)

Resumes

178

(5)

Italics

183

(4)

Titles

183

(1)

Names of ships and trains

184

(1)

Foreign words

184

(1)

Words, letters, figures

185

(1)

Rarely for emphasis

185

(1)

Not for titles of your own papers

185

(2)

Spelling

187

(8)

Spell-checking

187

(1)

Proofreading

188

(1)

Distinguishing homonyms

188

(1)

Spelling strategies

189

(6)

Hyphenation and Syllabication

195

(2)

Compound words

195

(1)

Compound adjectives

195

(1)

Compound numbers

196

(1)

Dividing a word at end of line

196

(1)

Apostrophes

197

(3)

For possessive of nouns not ending in s

198

(1)

For possessive of singular nouns ending in s

198

(1)

Without s for possessive of plural nouns ending in s

198

(1)

For possessive of indefinite pronouns

198

(1)

For joint possession

199

(1)

For omissions and contractions

199

(1)

For acronyms and words being named

199

(1)

Capital Letters

200

(5)

First word of sentence, I, O

200

(1)

In titles

200

(1)

First word of quotations

201

(1)

Titles used with names

201

(1)

Title of head of nation

201

(1)

Proper nouns

202

(1)

Family names

202

(1)

The pronoun I and the interjection O

202

(1)

Months, days of the week, holidays

202

(91)

B.C., A.D., deities, religions, sacred books

293

Specific courses

203

(2)

Abbreviations and Symbols

205

(1)

Days, months, measurement, states, countries

205

(1)

Acceptable abbreviations

205

(1)

Acceptable symbols

206

(1)

Numbers

206

(5)

Spelled out

207

(1)

Consistency

207

(1)

For complete dates, addresses, page and chapter references, percentages, hours

207

(4)

Diction and Style

211

(36)

Diction

212

(21)

Frequent use of a dictionary

212

(2)

Precision

214

(4)

Connotation

218

(1)

Colloquialisms and contractions in formal writing

219

(2)

Slang

221

(1)

Dialect

221

(1)

Words used as the wrong part of speech

222

(1)

Idioms

222

(3)

Specialized vocabulary

225

(1)

Building a vocabulary

226

(7)

Style

233

(14)

Wordiness

233

(3)

Repetition

236

(4)

Flowery language

240

(1)

Clarity

240

(2)

Triteness and cliches

242

(1)

Figures of speech

243

(4)

Accurate Thinking and Writing

247

(12)

Accuracy and Logic

248

(11)

Reliable sources

249

(1)

Accurate information

250

(1)

Sweeping generalizations

251

(1)

Exaggeration

252

(1)

Circular reasoning

252

(1)

False comparisons

252

(1)

Sticking to the point

253

(1)

Appeals to prejudice

254

(1)

Cause and effect

255

(1)

The either ... or fallacy

255

(1)

Illogicalities and careless wording

256

(3)

Paragraphs

259

(24)

Writing Paragraphs

260

(23)

Topic sentence

263

(2)

Unifying paragraphs

265

(2)

Developing paragraphs

267

(3)

Trimming, tightening, dividing paragraphs

270

(1)

Appropriate methods

270

(9)

Transitional devices

279

(4)

Papers

283

(42)

Writing Papers

284

(41)

Generating ideas

284

(4)

Thesis statement

288

(1)

Effective organization

289

(3)

Audience

292

(1)

Appropriate tone

293

(1)

Rough draft

294

(7)

Unfinished draft

301

(1)

Revising

302

(10)

Model paper: ``Conduct and the Inner Self''

312

(3)

Writing about yourself

315

(5)

Learning from your mistakes

320

(1)

Writing on a computer

321

(4)

Literature

325

(28)

Writing About Literature

326

(27)

Choosing a subject

327

(1)

Kinds of literary papers

328

(3)

Titling the paper

331

(1)

Not beginning with broad philosophical statements

331

(1)

Appropriate development

332

(1)

Paraphrasing and summary

333

(1)

Originality

333

(1)

Not writing about yourself or the reader

333

(1)

Sufficient evidence

334

(1)

Quotations

335

(1)

Not moralizing

336

(1)

Acknowledging sources

336

(17)

Research

353

(172)

Writing a Research Paper

354

(133)

Selecting a subject

354

(3)

Following a search strategy in the library

357

(12)

Primary and secondary sources

369

(1)

Taking notes

370

(8)

Producing an outline

378

(1)

Acknowledging sources

379

(4)

Following a system of documentation

383

(2)

MLA Style of Documentation

385

(15)

Model research paper, MLA style: ``Illusions in the Mail: Magazine Sweepstakes''

400

(54)

APA Style of Documentation

454

(8)

Model research paper, APA style: ``Spring Break''

462

(25)

Glossary of Usage

487

(18)

English as a Second Language

505

(8)

ESL checklist

506

(3)

ESL lists

509

(4)

Glossary of Terms

513

(12)

Index

525

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Practical English Handbook

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials