Research Writing EXD
Writing With sources
r researching R1 Thinking like a researcher;
gathering sources R2 Managing information;
taking notes responsibly R3 Evaluating sources
MLA Papers MLA-1 Supporting a thesis MLA-2 Citing sources;
avoiding plagiarism MLA-3 Integrating sources MLA-4 Documenting sources MLA-5 Manuscript format;
sample research paper
APA and cMs Papers (Coverage parallels MLA’s)
APA-1 APA-2 APA-3 APA-4 APA-5
CMS-1 CMS-2 CMS-3 CMS-4 CMS-5
i index Multilingual menu Revision symbols Detailed menu
hackerhandbooks.com/writersref How to use this book
Writing correctLy
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 M6 Paraphrasing sources effectively
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 Sentence patterns B3 Subordinate word groups B4 Sentence types
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A Reference
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Diana Hacker
Nancy Sommers Harvard University
contributing esL specialist
Kimberli Huster Robert Morris University
A Reference
EiGHtH EDitioN
BEDfoRD/St. MARtiN’S Boston ◆ New York
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For Bedford/St. Martin’s
Vice President, Editorial, Macmillan Higher Education Humanities: Edwin Hill Editorial Director, English and Music: Karen S. Henry Publisher for Composition: Leasa Burton Executive Editor: Michelle M. Clark Senior Editors: Barbara G. Flanagan and Mara Weible Associate Editors: Kylie Paul and Alicia Young Editorial Assistants: Amanda Legee and Stephanie Thomas Senior Production Editor: Rosemary R. Jaffe Production Manager: Joe Ford Marketing Manager: Emily Rowin Copy Editor: Linda McLatchie Indexer: Ellen Kuhl Repetto Photo Researcher: Sheri Blaney Senior Art Director: Anna Palchik Text Design: Claire Seng-Niemoeller Cover Design: Donna Lee Dennison Composition: Cenveo Publisher Services Printing and Binding: RR Donnelley and Sons
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007, 2003 by Bedford/St. Martin’s
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except as may be expressly permitted by the applicable copyright statutes or in writing by the Publisher.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
9 8 7 6 5 4 f e d c b a
For information, write: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 75 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116 (617-399-4000)
ISBN 978-1-4576-6676-6 (Student Edition)
ISBN 978-1-4576-8625-2 (Instructor’s Edition)
acknowledgments
Text acknowledgments and copyrights appear below. Art acknowledgments and copyrights appear on the same page as the selections they cover; these acknowledgments and copyrights constitute an extension of the copyright page. It is a violation of the law to reproduce these selections by any means whatsoever without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Stephen J. Gould, excerpt from “Were Dinosaurs Dumb?” from Natural History, 87(5): 9–16. Reprinted by permission of Rhonda R. Shearer.
Dorling Kindersly, excerpt from “Encyclopedia of Fishing.” Copyright © Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1994. Reprinted by permission of Penguin Group, Ltd.
Anne and Jack Rudloe, excerpt from “Electric Warfare: The Fish That Kills with Thunderbolts,” from Smithsonian 24(5): 95–105. Reprinted by permission.
Betsy Taylor, “Big Box Stores Are Bad for Main Street,” from CQ Researcher, (November 1999). Copyright © 1999 by CQ Press, a division of Sage Publications. Reprinted with permission.
Gary Wills, excerpt from “Two Speeches on Race,” originally published in the New York Review of Books. Copyright © 2008 by Gary Wills, used by permission of The Wiley Agency, LLC.
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vii
Preface for instructors
Dear Colleagues: As college teachers, we have a far-reaching mission. We prepare
students to write for different purposes, for different audiences, and in different genres and media. We show students how to read critically and write effectively, preparing them to join ongoing research conversations as contributors (not just as consumers) of ideas. What we teach is at the very core of students’ college experience. For academic success, no skill is more critical than effective writing.
This new edition of A Writer’s Reference grows out of my thirty years as a writing teacher and from many conversations with college faculty across disciplines. In all these conversations, I hear a similar theme: Writing is the core of a student’s success, no matter the field of study. Teachers speak about ambitious assignments to teach students how to think and write clearly and precisely, how to interpret evidence and data, and how to enter research conversations with the requisite skills to manage information and avoid plagiarism. And faculty across disciplines all speak about the need for their students to have a reliable handbook to help them understand the expectations of college writing assignments and succeed as writers.
I wanted the eighth edition to capture the energy and creativity that surround conversations about student writing, wherever they take place, and to provide students with a trusted reference that sup- ports their development as writers. I also wanted the eighth edition to align easily with course goals and program outcomes, so I spent a good deal of time reviewing such documents and talking with faculty about how A Writer’s Reference can help them meet their goals. We all have high expectations for the writers in our courses; assigning a handbook designed specifically to meet these expectations makes possible both our mission and our students’ success.
Paging through A Writer’s Reference, you’ll discover features inspired by my conversations with teachers and students. One such feature is an emphasis on the relationship between reading and writing. Turn to tabbed section A (p. 69) to see new material that helps students read critically and write insightfully, engage with print and multimodal texts, and move beyond summary to analysis. The eighth edition shows students how to read carefully to understand an author’s ideas, how to read skeptically to question those ideas, and how to present their own ideas in response.
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viii Preface for instructors
In developing the eighth edition, I wanted students to have even more tools to support the challenges they face as research writers: turn- ing topics into questions, finding entry points in debates, and evalu- ating, integrating, and citing sources. In particular, I wanted to help students who are assigned to write an annotated bibliography, a core academic genre. In the eighth edition, students will find five new writ- ing guides, helpful tools that offer step-by-step instruction for complet- ing common college writing assignments, including writing an anno- tated bibliography.
A goal of the eighth edition was to develop a handbook that saves teachers’ time and increases students’ learning. I’m happy to say that teaching with A Writer’s Reference has become easier than ever. The eighth edition is now available with LaunchPad — a system that includes both a print handbook and e-Pages. For the e-Pages, I’ve writ- ten prompts and collaborative activities called “As you write” to help students apply handbook advice to their own drafts and to offer prac- tice with thesis statements, research questions, peer review, and more. The e-Pages also include videos and LearningCurve, game-like adap- tive quizzing — all easily assignable. Turn to page xi for more about the media.
As college teachers, we help our students develop as thinkers and writers. I can’t imagine work more important than this. Some years ago, a student told me that her first-year writing course encouraged her to become a person with things to say. I love these words and the hope they express that a writing course may have such a sustaining influence on one student’s life. I bring certain beliefs to A Writer’s Reference: that all students will learn to read deeply and write clearly, that they will find in their reading ideas they care about, and that they will write about these ideas with care and depth.
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ixPreface for instructors
What’s new in this edition?
An emphasis on critical reading. Substantially revised material in tabbed section A, “ Academic reading, writing, and speaking,” empha- sizes reading as the foundation of every college research and writing assignment. The handbook offers students a reading process, teaching them to read traditional and multimodal texts, research sources, their own work, and the work of their peers critically and reflectively.
7574 Reading and writing criticallyA1-b A1-boutlining a written text
Here is an excerpt from student writer Emilia Sanchez’s double- entry notebook.
noTe: To create a digital double-entry notebook, you can use a table or text boxes in a word processing program.
Ideas from the text My responses
“The question, however, is not whether or not these types of stores create jobs (although several studies claim they produce a net job loss in local communities) or whether they ultimately save consumers money” (1011).
Why are big-box stores bad if they create jobs or save people money? Taylor dismisses these possibilities without acknowledging their importance. My family needs to save money and needs jobs more than “chatting with the shopkeeper” (1011).
“The real concern . . . is whether [big-box stores are] good for a community’s soul” (1011).
“[S]mall businesses are great for a community” (1011).
Taylor is missing something here. Are all big-box stores bad? Are all small businesses great? Would getting rid of big-box stores save the “soul” of America? Is Main Street the “soul” of America? Taylor sounds overly sentimental. She assumes that people spend more money because they shop at big-box stores. And she assumes that small businesses are always better for consumers.
previewing a written text
■ Who is the author? What are the author’s credentials? ■ What is the author’s purpose: To inform? To persuade? To call to action? ■ Who is the expected audience? ■ When was the text written? Where was it published? ■ What kind of text is it: A book? A report? A scholarly article? A
policy memo?
Annotating a written text
■ What surprises, puzzles, or intrigues you about the text? ■ What question does the text attempt to answer? ■ What is the author’s thesis, or central claim? ■ What type of evidence does the author provide to support the
thesis? How persuasive is this evidence?
conversing with a written text
■ What are the strengths and limitations of the text? ■ Has the author drawn conclusions that you question? Do you have a
different interpretation of the evidence? ■ Does the text raise questions that it does not answer? ■ Does the author consider opposing viewpoints and treat them fairly?
Asking the “so what?” question
■ Why does the author’s thesis need to be argued, explained, or explored? What’s at stake?
■ What has the author overlooked in presenting this thesis?
guidelines for active reading
Asking the “So what?” question
As you read and annotate a text, make sure you understand its thesis, or central idea. Ask yourself: “What is the author’s thesis?” Then put the author’s thesis to the “So what?” test: “Why does this thesis matter? Why does it need to be argued?” Perhaps you’ll conclude that the thesis is too obvious and doesn’t matter at all — or that it matters so much that you feel the author stopped short and overlooked key details. Or perhaps you’ll feel that a reasonable person might draw different con- clusions about the issue.
A1-b outline a text to identify main ideas. You are probably familiar with using an outline as a planning tool to help you organize your ideas. An outline is a useful tool for reading, too. Outlining a text — identifying its main idea and major parts — can be an important step in your reading process.
As you outline, look closely for a text’s thesis statement (main idea) and topic sentences because they serve as important signposts for read- ers. A thesis statement often appears in the introduction, usually in the first or second paragraph. Topic sentences can be found at the begin- nings of most body paragraphs, where they announce a shift to a new topic. (See C2-a and C5-a.)
■ In the first sentence, mention the title of the text, the name of the author, and the author’s thesis.
■ Maintain a neutral tone; be objective. ■ As you present the author’s ideas, use the third-person point of view
and the present tense: Taylor argues. . . . (If you are writing in APA style, see APA-3b.)
■ Keep your focus on the text. Don’t state the author’s ideas as if they were your own.
■ Put all or most of your summary in your own words; if you borrow a phrase or a sentence from the text, put it in quotation marks and give the page number in parentheses.
■ Limit yourself to presenting the text’s key points. ■ Be concise; make every word count.
guidelines for writing a summary
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Help with analyzing multimodal texts and composing in new genres. A new chapter about reading and writing about multimodal texts introduces new genres and practical strategies for analyzing these genres. Throughout the book, writing guides give tips for composing college assignments as podcasts, presentations, Web sites, and other alterna- tives to the traditional essay. New discussions of genre and sample papers in new genres (literacy narrative and reflective letter) align
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x Preface for instructors
the book more closely with the goals of writing programs and the 2014 Council of Writing Program Administrators (WPA) outcomes.
Paraphrasing sources: strategies for multilingual/ESL writers. New content includes advice about paraphrasing sources effectively. This new section moves students away from the practice of word-by-word substitution and offers strategies for understanding and presenting another writ- er’s meaning.
Practical writing guides. Five new writing guides help students compose common assignments: argument essays, analytical essays, annotated bibliographies, reflective cover letters, and literacy narratives. The guides clarify the expectations of the genre; provide a step-by-step path as students explore, draft, and revise; and lay a foundation for writing in multiple disciplines.
Draft ● Draft a working thesis to focus your analysis. Remember that your
thesis is not the same as the author’s thesis. Your thesis presents your judgment of the text.
● Draft a plan to organize your paragraphs. Your introductory paragraph will briefly summarize the text and offer your thesis. Your body paragraphs will support your thesis with evidence from the text. Your conclusion will pull together the major points and show the significance of your analysis. (See C1-d.)
● Identify specific words, phrases, and sentences as evidence to support your thesis.
revise
Ask your reviewers to give you specific comments. You can use the following questions to guide their feedback.
● Is the introduction effective and engaging? ● Is summary balanced with analysis? ● Does the thesis offer a clear judgment of the text? ● What objections might other writers pose to your analysis? ● Is the analysis well organized? Are there clear topic sentences
and transitions? ● Is there sufficient evidence? Is the evidence analyzed? ● Have you cited words, phrases, or sentences that are summarized
or quoted?
85
A2 Reading and writing about images and multimodal texts
In many of your college classes, you’ll have the opportunity to read and write about images, such as photographs or paintings, as well as multi- modal texts, such as advertisements, maps, videos, or Web sites. Multi- modal texts combine one or more of the following modes: words, static images, moving images, and sound.
A2-a read actively. Any image or multimodal text can be read — that is, carefully approached and examined to understand what it says and how it communicates its purpose and reaches its audience. When you read a multimodal text, you are often reading more than words; you might also be reading a
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Writing guide | Analytical essay
An analysis of a text allows you to examine the parts of a text to understand what it means and how it makes its meaning. Your goal is to offer your judgment of the text and to persuade readers to see it through your analytical perspective. A sample analytical essay begins on page 80.
Key features ● A careful and critical reading of a text reveals what the text says, how
it works, and what it means. In an analytical essay, you pay attention to the details of the text, especially its thesis and evidence.
● A thesis that offers a clear judgment of a text anchors your analysis. Your thesis might be the answer to a question you have posed about a text or the resolution of a problem you have identified in the text.
● Support for the thesis comes from evidence in the text. You summarize, paraphrase, and quote passages that support the claims you make about the text.
● A balance of summary and analysis helps readers who may not be familiar with the text you are analyzing. Summary answers the question of what a text says; an analysis looks at how a text makes its point.
Thinking ahead: Presenting and publishing You may have the opportunity to present or publish your analysis in the form of a multimodal text such as a slide show presentation. Consider how adding images or sound might strengthen your analysis or help you to better reach your audience. (See section A2.)
Writing your analytical essay
ExplorE
Generate ideas for your analysis by brainstorming responses to questions such as the following:
● What is the text about?
● What do you find most interesting, surprising, or puzzling about this text?
● What is the author’s thesis or central idea? Put the author’s thesis to the “So what?” test. (See p. 74.)
● What do your annotations of the text reveal about your response to it?
82
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xiPreface for instructors
Research and documentation advice fit for any college course. Substan- tially revised sections teach researchers to find an entry point in a debate and develop authority as a researcher. New advice on writing a research proposal gives practical help that’s useful across the curricu- lum. And because some sources are difficult to cite, new how-to boxes address author ship and new types of sources such as course materials and reposted Web content.
369368 R2-akeeping a working bibliographyThinking like a researcher; gathering sourcesR1-f
Surveying opinion
For some topics, you may find it useful to survey opinions through writ- ten questionnaires, telephone or e-mail polls, or questions posted on a social media site. Many people are reluctant to fill out long question- naires, so for a good response rate, limit your questions with your pur- pose in mind.
When possible, ask yes/no questions or give multiple-choice options. Surveys with such queries can be completed quickly, and the results are easy to tally. You may also want to ask a few open-ended questions to elicit more individual responses, some of which may be worth quoting in your paper.
Other field methods
Your firsthand visits to and observations of significant places, people, or events can enhance a paper in a variety of disciplines. If you aren’t able to visit an organization, a company, or a historic site, you may find use- ful information on an official Web site or a phone number or an e-mail address to use to contact a representative.
R1-f Write a research proposal. One effective way to manage your research project and focus your thinking is to write a research proposal. A proposal gives you an oppor- tunity to look back — to remind you why you decided to enter a specific research conversation — and to look forward — to predict any difficulties or obstacles that might arise during your project. Your objective is to make a case for the question you plan to explore, the sources you plan to use, and the feasibility of the project, given the time and resources available. As you take stock of your project, you also have the valuable opportunity to receive comments from your instructor and classmates about your proposed research question and search strategy.
The following format will help you organize your proposal.
• Research question. What question will you be exploring? Why does this question need to be asked? What do you hope to learn from the project?
• Research conversation. What have you learned so far about the debate or the specific research conversation you will enter? What entry point have you found to offer your own insights and ideas?
hackerhandbooks.com/writersref R1 Thinking like a researcher > As you write: Writing a research proposal
• Search strategy. What kinds of sources will you use to explore your question? What sources have you found most useful, and why? How will you locate a variety of sources (print and visual, primary and secondary, for example)?
• Questions you are asking. What challenges, if any, do you anticipate? What questions are you asking about the project that readers of your proposal might help you answer?
R2 Managing information; taking notes responsibly
An effective researcher is a good record keeper. Whether you decide to keep records in your research log or in a file on your computer, you will need methods for managing information: maintaining a working bibli- ography (see R2-a), keeping track of source materials (see R2-b), and taking notes without plagiarizing your sources (see R2-c). (For more on avoiding plagiarism, see MLA-2 for MLA style, APA-2 for APA style, and CMS-2 for CMS style.)
R2-a Maintain a working bibliography. Keep a record of each source you read or view. This record, called a working bibliography, will help you compile the list of sources that will appear at the end of your paper. The format of this list depends on the documentation style you are using (for MLA style, see MLA-4; for APA style, see APA-4; for CMS style, see CMS-4). Using the proper style in your working bibliography will ensure that you have all the information you need to correctly cite any sources you use. (See R3-e for advice on using your working bibliography as the basis for an anno- tated bibliography.)
Most researchers save bibliographic information from the library’s catalog and databases and the Web. The information you need to collect is given in the chart on page 370. If you download a visual, you must gather the same information as for a print source.
For Web sources, some bibliographic information may not be avail- able, but spend time looking for it before assuming that it doesn’t exist. When information isn’t available on the home page, you may have to follow links to interior pages. (See also pp. 366 and 383 for more details about finding bibliographic information in online sources.)
hackerhandbooks.com/writersref R2 Managing information > Finding research help: Choosing a
documentation style
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New guidelines for speaking effectively. A new section, A5, prepares students to remix, or adapt, their writing for delivery to a live audience, with emphasis on writing for the ear instead of for the eye.
Engaging new media: LaunchPad. A Writer’s Reference is now available with LaunchPad, which includes a full e-Book that’s easy to assign — as well as interactive e-Pages. The e-Pages, online at hackerhandbooks .com/writersref, engage students with writing prompts, scorable practice exercises, additional sample papers, and LearningCurve’s game-like adaptive quizzes. Easy-to-spot cross-references on the print pages direct students to the e-Pages content in LaunchPad.
• 270 practice exercises help students build skills and strengthen their editing. The exercises report to a gradebook so you can keep track of progress if you choose.
265264 Sentence fragmentsG5-d
Examples introduced by for example, in addition, or similar expressions
Other expressions that introduce examples or explanations can lead to unintentional fragments. Although you may begin a sentence with some of the following words or phrases, make sure that what follows has a subject and a verb.
also for example mainly and for instance or but in addition that is
Often the easiest solution is to turn the fragment into a sentence.
▶ In his memoir, Primo Levi describes the horrors of living in a
^
he worked concentration camp. For example, working without food and
^
su�ered suffering emotional abuse.
The writer corrected this fragment by adding a subject — he — and substituting verbs for the verbals working and suffering.
G5-d Exception: A f Writers occasionally use sentence fragments for special purposes.
FOR EMPHASIS Following the dramatic Americanization of their children, even my parents grew more publicly
Especially my mother. — Richard Rodriguez
TO ANSWER Are these new drug tests 100 percent A QUESTION reliable? Not in the opinion of most experts.
TRANSITIONS And now the opposing arguments.
EXCLAMATIONS Not again!
IN ADVERTISING Fewer carbs. Improved taste.
Although fragments are sometimes appropriate, writers and readers do not always agree on when they are appropriate. That’s why you will
G5-dAcceptable fragments
Repair any fragment by attaching it to a nearby sentence or by rewriting it as a complete sentence. If a word group is correct, write “correct” after it. Possible revisions appear in the back of the book. More practice:
a One Greek island that should not be missed is Mykonos/. , /A vacation
spot for Europeans and a playground for the rich and famous.
a. Listening to the CD her sister had sent, Mia was overcome with a mix of emotions. Happiness, homesickness, and nostalgia.
b. Cortés and his soldiers were astonished when they looked down from the
c. Although my spoken Spanish is not very good. I can read the language with ease.
d. There are several reasons for not eating meat. One reason being that danger- ous chemicals are used throughout the various stages of meat production.
e. To learn how to sculpt beauty from everyday life. This is my intention in studying art and archaeology.
EXERCISE Repair each fragment in the following passage by attaching it to a sentence nearby or by rewriting it as a complete sentence. More practice:
Digital technology has revolutionized information delivery. Forever blurring the lines between information and entertainment. Yesterday’s readers of books and newspapers are today’s readers of e-books and blogs. Countless readers have moved on from print information entirely. Choosing instead to point, click, and scroll their way through a text online or on an e-reader. Once a nation of people spoon-fed television commercials and the six o’clock evening news. We are now seemingly addicted to YouTube and social media. Remember the family trip when Dad or Mom wrestled with a road map? On the way to St. Louis or Seattle? No wrestling is required with a GPS device. Unless it’s Mom and Dad wrestling over who gets to program the address. Accessing information now seems to be America’s favorite pastime. John Horrigan, associate director for research at the Pew Internet and American Life Project, reports that nearly half of American adults are “elite” users of technology. Who are “highly engaged” with digital content. As a country, we embrace information and communication technologies. Which now include iPods, smartphones, and tablets. Among children and adolescents, social media and other technology use are well established. For activities like socializing, gaming, and information gathering.
^
hackerhandbooks.com/writersref G5 Sentence fragments > Exercises: G5–3 to G5–7 G5 Sentence fragments > LearningCurve: Sentence fragments
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xii Preface for instructors
• 36 “As you write” prompts encourage students to apply the lessons of the handbook to their own writing. Students complete brief writing assignments about organizing a paper, drafting thesis statements, working with peers, integrating sources, and other writing topics.
• LearningCurve, game-like online quizzing for 29 topics, builds confidence with sentence-level skills by adapting to students’ responses and adjusting the difficulty level of the quiz items.
• Easy access. If you choose to package LaunchPad with the handbook, students simply use the activation code on the access card when they log in for the first time at hackerhandbooks.com /writersref.
What hasn’t changed?
• The handbook speaks to everything student writers need. Even the most popular search engines can’t give students the confidence that comes with a coherent, authoritative reference that covers the topics they need in a writing course. A Writer’s Reference supports students as they compose for different purposes and audiences and in a variety of genres and as they collaborate, revise, conduct research, document sources, format their writing, and edit for clarity.
• The handbook is easy to use and easy to understand. The explana- tions in A Writer’s Reference are brief, accessible, and illustrated by examples, most by student writers. The book’s many charts, checklists, tabs, menus, and directories are designed to help users find what they need quickly. And the user-friendly index includes both expert (coherence, ellipsis) and nonexpert (flow, dots) terminology.
• The handbook is coherent, authoritative, and trustworthy. Writing- related resources on the Web offer information, but they don’t offer instruction. With the eighth edition of A Writer’s Reference, students have reference content that has been class-tested by literally millions of students and instructors.
Supplements and media
Visit the catalog page for A Writer’s Reference for a complete list of instructor supplements, including Teaching with Hacker Handbooks, student supplements, videos, e-books (various formats), and other media: macmillanhighered.com/writersref/catalog.
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http://www.macmillanhighered.com/writersref/catalog
xiiiPreface for instructors
Custom solutions
Many schools opt for a custom edition of A Writer’s Reference. Some programs choose to add a section about course outcomes and policies; others choose to customize by adding student writing from the school; still others decide simply to change the cover to reflect a recognizable campus location and the school name. More and more programs are creating custom editions by including publisher-supplied content — add itional tabbed sections on writing about literature, writing in the dis- ciplines, multimodal writing, ESL support, and support for online learn- ers. To discuss custom options for your school, contact your sales repre- sentative or visit macmillanhighered.com/catalog/other/Custom_Solutions.
Diana Hacker Nancy Sommers
The Writing Help Center, a service of the College Writing Program in association with the Information Commons, is located on the first floor of Butler Library, inside Creativity Commons, Room 157B.
This service is not just for CWP courses! Writing Help Center tutors are available to help students with essays, applications, scholarships, and papers from all other courses. All are welcome!
The Writing Help Center’s services are open to the entire campus community. The Center also provides ESL and TESOL services for speakers of other languages.
Services are free and available on a walk-in basis—no appointment necessary!
For service hours, go to ic.buffalostate.edu/writing.html.
For assistance or further information, call the CWP office at (716) 878-5451.
Custom Publishing
bedfordstmartins.com
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III
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A Writer’s Reference with Understanding and Composing Multimodal Projects
and Writing in the Disciplines
SEVENTH EDITION
2013 UPDATE
A Writer’s Reference is the most widely adopted college handbook ever published, so you know you can count on it for advice that’s relevant, easy to find, and easy to understand. Millions of students and instructors across the country endorse A Writer’s Reference because it has the comprehensive coverage, concrete examples, and trusted models students need for writing, grammar, and research in composition courses and beyond.
“A Writer’s Reference is the best reference book ever! I am amazed at the amount of information in it. I especially like the format and the concise explanations within each category. It is my ‘go to’ book.” — A. Furukawa, former student
“I used A Writer’s Reference as an undergraduate student many years ago, and this text, more than any other I have reviewed or used, maintains what works and improves in all the ways it must. The classic changes with the times.” — Shant Shahoian, Glendale Community College
“As I point out to my students, this reference book models the kind of writing I want to see from them — it is clear, succinct, purposeful, and supported by examples.” — Michelle Adkerson, Nashville State Community College
“My students feel encouraged (even proud) to identify and answer their own questions about citations. One of the greatest strengths of A Writer’s Reference is its ability to boost student confidence.” — Jamison Klagmann, University of Alaska Fairbanks
“The menus and indexes throughout the handbook make it an efficient tool for students. It's easy to direct them to specific points in A Writer’s Reference during class discussion.” — Cliff Toliver, Missouri Southern State University
Get more online — for free. The free companion Web site offers even more writing help: 1,800 writing, grammar, and research exercise items with feed- back; 30 model student papers; exercises and model papers for multilingual writers; and writing center resources. Go to hackerhandbooks.com/writersref.
A Writer’s Reference
SEVENTH EdITION
diana Hacker Nancy Sommers
2014 UpdATE
Get more online — for free. The free companion Web site offers even more writing help: 1,800 writing, grammar, and research exercise items with feed- back; 30 model student papers; exercises and model papers for multilingual writers; and writing center resources. Go to hackerhandbooks.com/writersref.
Bedford/St. Martin’s Custom Publishing bedfordstmartins.com
SEVENTH EdiTioN
with Exercises and Writing in the Disciplines
diana Hacker • Nancy Sommers
Montgomery County Community College Edition
A Writer’s Reference
Sample custom editions of the handbook
00_HAC_6676_FM_i-xviii.indd 13 18/07/14 5:14 pm
http://www.macmillanhighered.com/catalog/other/Custom_Solutions
xiv Preface for instructors
Acknowledgments
I am grateful, as always, for the expertise, enthusiasm, and classroom experience that so many individuals — our very own handbook commu- nity — brought to the eighth edition.
Reviewers
For their participation in a focus group at the 2014 Conference on Col- lege Composition and Communication, I would like to thank Holly Bauer, University of California, San Diego; Jason DePolo, North Caro- lina Agricultural and Technical State University; Violet Dutcher, East- ern Mennonite University; Michael Keller, South Dakota State Univer- sity; and Katherine Tirabassi, Keene State College.
I thank those instructors who offered detailed feedback on vari- ous parts of the handbook and its supplements: Marcia Allen, Univer- sity of Maryland University College; Clinton Atchley, Henderson State University; Phyllis Benay, Keene State College; Wendy Brooks, Palm Beach State College; Elizabeth Browning, Virginia Western Commu- nity College; Barbara Butler, Bellevue College; Juan Calle, Broward College; Sybil Canon, Northwest Mississippi Community College; Margaret Cassidy, Adelphi University; Michele Cheung, University of Southern Maine; Vicky Chiu-Irion, University of Hawaii; Jennifer Condon, Iowa Central Community College; James Crooks, Shasta College; Jill Dahlman, University of Hawaii; Jamie Danielson, Iowa Central Community College; Tommie Delaney, Columbus State Uni- versity; Susan Denning, Clark College; Larnell Dunkley, Harold Wash- ington College; Denise Engler, American River College; Jessica Far- rington, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Jan Geyer, Hudson Valley Community College; Ebony Gibson, Clayton State University; Jessica Gordon, Virginia Commonwealth University; Tarez Samra Graban, Florida State University; Gwendolyn Harold, Clayton State University; Vicki Hendricks, Broward College, South Campus; Judy Hevener, Blue Ridge Community College and Stuarts Draft High School; Daniel Hirschhorn, University of Maryland University Col- lege (and Montgomery College); Christian Horlick, Virginia Common- wealth University; Barry House, Lincoln Land Community College; Susan Howard, Ivy Tech Community College; Christine Howell, Met- ropolitan Community College–Penn Valley; Kathryn Ingram-Wilson, Laredo Community College; Laura Jones, Atlanta Technical College; Terra Kincaid, El Paso Community College; Lola King, Trinity Valley Community College; Guy Krueger, University of Mississippi; Mildred
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xvPreface for instructors
Landrum-Hesser, Towson University; Denise Marchionda, Middlesex Community College; Gail Marxhausens, Lone Star College CyFair; John McKinnis, Buffalo State College; Kristopher Mecholsky, Univer- sity of Maryland University College; Terence Meehan, Northern Vir- ginia Community College; Ashley Moorshead, Community College of Aurora; Joseph Nagy, University of California, Los Angeles; Luis Naz- ario, Pueblo Community College; Barbra Nightingale, Broward Col- lege; Shevaun Donelli O’Connell, Buffalo State College; Gary Olson, Bellevue College; MaryGrace Paden, John Tyler Community Col- lege; Jessica Parker, Metroplitan State University Denver; Michelle Paulsen, The Victoria College; Philip Peloquin, Ohio Christian Uni- versity; Neil Plakcy, Broward College; Holland Prior, Azusa Pacific University; Maria Ramos, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College; Rolando Regino, Moreno Valley College; Joanna Richter, Laredo Com- munity College; Cortney Robbins, Indiana Tech; Sundi Rose-Holt, Columbus State University; Jay Ruzesky, Vancouver Island Univer- sity; Donna Samet, Broward College; Andrea Laurencell Sheridan, SUNY Orange; Elizabeth Siler, Washington State University; Col- leen Soares, University of Hawaii Leeward Community College; Neil Starr, Nova Southeastern University; Debra Stevens, Las Positats Col- lege; Patrick Tompkins, John Tyler Community College; David Wood, Northern Michigan University; Pam Wright, University of California, San Diego.
Contributors
I am grateful to the following individuals, fellow teachers of writing, for their smart revisions of important content: Kimberli Huster, ESL spe- cialist at Robert Morris University, updated Resources for Multilingual Writers and ESL and wrote new material on paraphrasing sources for the Multilingual section of the handbook; and Sara McCurry, professor of English at Shasta College, revised both Teaching with Hacker Hand- books and Strategies for Online Learners.
Students
Including sample student writing in each edition of the handbook makes the resource useful for you and your students. I would like to thank the following students who have let us adapt their papers as models: Ned Bishop, Sophie Harba, Sam Jacobs, Luisa Mirano, Michelle Nguyen, Emilia Sanchez, and Ren Yoshida.
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xvi Preface for instructors
Bedford/St. Martin’s
A comprehensive handbook is a collaborative writing project, and it is my pleasure to acknowledge and thank the enormously talented Bedford/ St. Martin’s editorial team, whose deep commitment to stu- dents informs each new feature of A Writer’s Reference. Joan Feinberg, director of digital composition and Diana Hacker’s first editor, helped shape the identity of this flagship handbook. Denise Wydra, former vice president for the humanities; Leasa Burton, publisher for composition; and Karen Henry, editorial director for English, have helped guide us with their insights about how the college handbook market is changing and how we can continue to meet the needs of the college writer in the digital age.
Michelle Clark, executive editor, is an author’s dream — a treasured friend and colleague and an endless source of creativity and clarity. Michelle combines wisdom with patience, imagination with practical- ity, and hard work with good cheer. Barbara Flanagan, senior editor, has worked on the Hacker handbooks for more than twenty-five years and brings attention to detail, keen insights, and unrivaled expertise in documentation and media. Mara Weible, senior editor, brings to the eighth edition her teacher’s sensibility and superb editorial judgment. Thanks to Kylie Paul, associate editor, for assistance with art and per- missions, for managing the review process, and for developing several ancillaries, and to editorial assistants Amanda Legee and Stephanie Thomas, who helped with video content and with our student research project. Many thanks to Rosemary Jaffe, senior production editor, for keeping us on schedule and for producing both the print pages and the e-Pages with unparalleled skill and care. And I am grateful to the media team — Harriet Wald, Rebecca Merrill, Marissa Zanetti, Kim- berly Hampton, and Allison Hart — for imagining and producing engag- ing media for the writing course. Insight from Bedford colleagues Jane Helms, Jimmy Fleming, and Nick Carbone, who, like me, spend many, many hours on the road and in faculty offices, is always treasured. Thanks to Linda McLatchie, copy editor, for her thoroughness and attention to detail; to Claire Seng-Niemoeller, text designer, who crafted another open and beautifully designed edition of the book; to Donna Dennison, art director, who has given the book a strikingly beautiful cover; and to Billy Boardman, design manager, for extending the cover design to our many versions.
Last, but never least, I offer thanks to my own students who, over many years, have shaped my teaching and helped me understand their challenges in becoming college writers. Thanks to my friends and col- leagues Suzanne Lane, Maxine Rodburg, Laura Saltz, and Kerry Walk
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xviiPreface for instructors
for sustaining conversations about the teaching of writing. And thanks to my family: to Joshua Alper, an attentive reader of life and literature, for his steadfastness across the drafts; to my parents, Walter and Louise Sommers, and my aunt Elsie Adler, who encouraged me to write and set me forth on a career of writing and teaching; to my extended family, Sam, Kate, Ron, Charles Mary, Devin, Demian, Liz, and Alexander, for their good humor and good cheer; and to Rachel and Curran, Alexan- dra and Brian, witty and wise beyond measure, always generous with their instruction and inspiration in all things that matter. And to Lailah Dragonfly, my granddaughter, thanks for the joy and sweetness you bring to life.
Nancy Sommers
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C Composing
and Revising
C
Com posing and Revising
C Composing and Revising C1 Planning, 3
a Assessing the writing situation, 3
b Exploring your subject, 4 c Drafting and revising a working
thesis statement, 9 d Drafting a plan, 13
C2 Drafting, 15 a Drafting an introduction, 15 b Drafting the body, 17 c Drafting a conclusion, 20 d Managing your files, 21
C3 Reviewing, revising, and editing, 22
a Developing strategies for revising with comments, 22
b Approaching global revision in cycles, 28
c Revising and editing sentences, 30
d Proofreading the final manuscript, 31
e Student writing: Literacy narrative, 32
Writing guide: Literacy narrative, 37
C4 Preparing a portfolio; reflecting on your writing, 38
a Understanding the benefits of reflection, 38
b Student writing: Reflective letter for a portfolio, 39
Writing guide: Reflective letter, 42
C5 Writing paragraphs, 43 a Focusing on a main point, 43 b Developing the main point, 45 c Choosing a suitable pattern
of organization, 46 d Making paragraphs coherent, 51 e Adjusting paragraph length, 56
C6 Document design: A gallery of models, 57