The Little Seagull Handbook
The Little Seagull Handbook
Richard Bullock WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY
Michal Brody SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY
Francine Weinberg
B
WRITE
RESEARCH
EDIT
T H I R D E D I T I O N
W. W. Norton & Company New York • London
W. W. Norton & Company has been independent since its founding in 1923, when William Warder Norton and Mary D. Herter Norton first published lectures delivered at the People’s Institute, the adult education division of New York City’s Cooper Union. The firm soon expanded its program beyond the Institute, publishing books by celebrated academics from America and abroad. By mid-century, the two major pillars of our publishing program — trade books and college texts — were firmly established. In the 1950s, the Norton family transferred control of the com- pany to its employees, and today — with a staff of 400 and a comparable number of trade, college, and professional titles published each year — W. W. Norton stands as the largest and oldest publishing house owned wholly by its employees.
Copyright © 2017, 2014, 2011 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
All rights reserved Printed in Canada
Editor: Marilyn Moller Associate editor: Tenyia Lee Assistant editor: Claire Wallace Project editor: Christine D’Antonio Manuscript editors: Beth Burke, Rebecca Caine, and Connie Parks Managing editor, College: Marian Johnson Managing editor, College Digital Media: Kim Yi Production manager: Ashley Horna Media editor: Erica Wnek Media project editor: Cooper Wilhelm Media editorial assistant: Ava Bramson Marketing manager, Composition: Megan DeBono Zwilling Design director: Rubina Yeh Text design: Lisa Buckley / Anna Palchik Photo editor: Nelson Colón Photo research: Dena Digilio Betz Page layout: Carole Desnoes Composition: Jouve Manufacturing: TransContinental
ISBN: 978-0-393-60263-0
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Preface
This book began as an attempt to create a small handbook that would provide help with the specific kinds of writing college students are assigned to do, and to make it as user- friendly as possible. It’s been more successful than we ever imagined possible, and much to our surprise, it’s been adopted by many instructors who had been using much larger handbooks. These teachers tell us they like it because it’s got “just enough detail,” it’s easy to use, and it costs less than half what their former books cost. From our own experience as teachers, we’ve seen how much students prefer smaller books, and so, to paraphrase Elmore Leon- ard, we’ve tried to give the information college writers need — and to leave out the details they skip. We’ve also seen how important it is that a handbook be easy to use. To that end, the book is organized around the familiar categories of writing, researching, and editing, and it includes menus, directories, a glossary / index, and more to help students find the help they need. We’re pleased now to offer a third edition, with a new section on “Editing the Errors That Matter,” an updated MLA chapter that covers the new style introduced in 2016, two new genre chapters, and new coverage of the use of “singular they.”
Highlights
Help with the kinds of writing students are assigned — argu- ments, analyses, reports, narratives, and more. Brief chapters cover nine common genres, with models demonstrating each genre on the companion website.
Easy to use. Menus, directories, a glossary / index, and color- coded parts help students find the information they need. And a simple three- part organization — Write, Research, Edit — makes it easy for them to know where to look. Even the cover flaps are useful, with an Index of guidelines for Editing the Errors That Matter on the front flap and a Checklist for Revising and Editing on the back.
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Just enough detail, but with color- coded links that refer students to the glossary / index for more information if they need it.
User- friendly documentation guidelines for MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE styles. Documentation directories lead students to the examples they need, color- coded templates show what information to include, and documentation maps show where to find the required detail. Model papers demonstrate each style, with a complete MLA paper and brief examples of the other three styles in the book and complete papers on the companion website.
A full chapter on paragraphs, a subject that other pocket hand- books cover in much less detail. But students write in paragraphs — and they’ll find the help they need in this handbook. [W-4]
Customizable. We’ve created templates to make it easy for you to add your own materials to the book—course outcomes statements, syllabi, school policies, student writing, and so on. And you can even customize the title and cover to replace our little seagull with your school mascot. We’ve already published a Little Duck Handbook, a Little Bobcat, Little Eagle, Little Aztec, and three Little Tigers—and we’ll be happy to do one for your school.
A full chapter on Englishes, from standard edited English to the varieties spoken in specific regions, communities, and academic contexts. [L-10]
Uniquely helpful guidance for students whose first language isn’t English, including chapters on idioms [L-3] and prepositions [L-5] and additional detail on articles, phrasal verbs, and modal verbs. The companion website and mobile version include links to glossa- ries of idioms and phrasal verbs, and the Coursepack includes exer- cises and handouts.
What’s New?
A new section on “Editing the Errors That Matter.” Covering 14 errors that teachers identified as ones that undermine a writer’s
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authority and weaken an argument, these chapters explain why each of these errors matters, describe how to spot them in a draft, and walk students through some ways of editing them out [E-1 to E-6].
New MLA style. The MLA chapter has been updated to explain the new core principles introduced in 2016 and to provide color-coded templates and models for documenting the kinds of sources college students most often cite [MLA-a to MLA-d].
Two new genre chapters. We’ve added new chapters on “Propos- als” and “Reflections,” two genres that students are often assigned or expected to write [W-12 and W-13].
New guidance on the use of “singular they.” We’ve tried to help students navigate the use of pronouns in academic writing in light of evolving conventions and notions of gender. You’ll find this new material in the chapter on “Pronouns” [S-6], of course, as well as in the chapters on “Words That Build Common Ground” [L-9] and “Editing Pronouns” [E-2].
What’s Online?
The entire handbook is available as as ebook — and is free when packaged with the print book (and comes with four years of access). Allows students to highlight, bookmark, and take notes — and includes exercises and links to full glossaries of idioms and phrasal verbs. Access it at digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3.
A companion website includes model papers, exercises and quiz- zes, links to glossaries of idioms and phrasal verbs, and more. Access the site at digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3.
InQuizitive for Writers, an adaptive learning tool that provides students with personalized practice editing out common errors— comma splices, pronoun reference, mixed constructions, and more, including all the topics found in the new handbook chapters on “Editing the Errors That Matter.” Personalized feedback and links to
http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
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the Little Seagull ebook help students learn to edit what they write, and gamelike elements even make working with grammar fun. InQuizitive can be used to diagnose issues students need to practice or assigned to provide practice with particular issues you identify in your students’ writing.
A Norton Coursepack is available for most learning management systems, including Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle, Sakai, and D2L, pro- viding diagnostic quizzes; exercises; handouts for students whose primary language isn’t English; documentation guidelines; and more. Because it all works within your existing LMS, there’s no new system to learn. And it’s yours to customize and edit — you choose the con- tent you want to use, for your course. No extra costs, no registration codes. Access the coursepack at wwnorton.com/instructors.
norton/write. A free-and-open site with plagiarism tutorials, writing tips, model student writing, documentation guidelines, exercises — and more. Access the site at digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3.
Acknowledgments
It takes a big team to publish even a small handbook. We have benefitted from the astute comments and suggestions by a num- ber of reviewers: Gillian Andersen, Eastern New Mexico University; Evan Balkan, Community College of Baltimore County–Catonsville; Jason Barr, Blue Ridge Community College; Josh M. Beach, Univer- sity of Texas at San Antonio; Carole Chapman, Ivy Tech Community College–Southwest; Thomas Chester, Ivy Tech Community College– Marion; Jesseca Cornelson, Alabama State University; Michael Cripps, University of New England; Syble Davis, Houston Community Col- lege; Laura Ann Dearing, Jefferson Community and Technical College; Darren DeFrain, Wichita State University; Joann K. Deiudicibus, State University of New York at New Paltz; Christie Diep, Cypress College; Allison Dieppa, Florida Gulf Coast University; Clark Draney, College of Southern Idaho; Brenna Dugan, Owens Community College; Megan Egbert, Utah State University; Megan Fulwiler, The College of Saint