LB Brief with Tabs

LB Brief offers the authority and currency of its best-selling parent, The Little, Brown Handbook, in two briefer, spiral-bound formats (one with tabs and one without tabs) at affordable prices.

As in its previous edition, LB Brief provides students of varying skills and interests with clear, reliable, and accessible explanations of handbook basics—the writing process, grammar and usage, and research writing. The Fourth Edition builds on the handbook’s usefulness with four main emphases: (1) reading and writing across the curriculum, including an expanded chapter on academic writing, showing students how to write in response to texts, and more coverage of argument, with information on how to handle opposing views and strengthen an ethical appeal; (2) research writing, including expanded discussions on how to find and evaluate print and Web sources,  and a new research-paper-in-progress; (3) up-to-date documentation guidelines, including the most recent revisions to MLA and APA documentation styles, with numerous models of new media in each style and new annotated sample sources; (4) more writing process instruction, including a new student work-in-progress and new discussions of voice in writing. 

-0205668976: MyWritingLab (12-month access)

-0205751555: LB Brief with Tabs

Preface for Students 

Preface for Instructors 

Part 1: Writing Process

1    The Writing Situation

     a    Analysis

     b    Subject

     c    Purpose

     d    Audience

2    Invention

     a    Journal keeping

     b    Observing

     c    Freewriting

     d    Brainstorming

     e    Drawing

     f    Asking questions

3    Thesis and Organization

     a    Thesis statement

     b    Organization

          sample Essay

4    Drafting

     a    Starting

     b    Maintaining momentum

     c    Sample first draft

5    Revising and Editing

     a    Revising the whole essay

     b    Sample revision

     c    Editing

     d    Formatting; proofreading

     e    sample Final Draft

     f    Collaborating

     g    Preparing a writing portfolio

6    Paragraphs

     a    Unity around a central idea

     b    Coherence

     c    Development

     d    Introductions; conclusions

     e    Linking paragraphs

7    Document Design

     a    Academic papers

     b    Principles of design

     c    Elements of design

     d    Illustrations

     e    The Web

     f    Readers with vision loss

Part 2: Writing in and out of college

8    Critical Thinking and Reading

     a    Critical reading techniques

     b    Critical response

     c    Critically viewing images

9    Academic Writing

     a    Responding to texts

     b    Purpose

     c    Audience

     d    Structure and content

     e    Language

     f    sample critical response

10   Writing Arguments

     a    Elements of argument

     b    Reasonableness

     c    Organization

     d    sample argument

11   Reading and Writing About Literature

     a    Writing while reading

     b    Critical reading

     c    sample literary analysis

12   Taking Essay Exams

     a    Preparing

     b    Planning

     c    Drafting

     d    Rereading

     e    sample Essay Exams

13   Public Writing

     a    Business letters and résumés

          sample letter and résumés

     b    Memos

          sample Memo

     c    E-mail

          sample e-mail message

     d    Community work

          sample newsletter

14   Making Oral Presentations  

     a    Purpose and audience

     b    Organization

     c    Delivery

          sample powerpoint slides

Part 3:  Clarity and Style

15   Emphasis

     a    Subjects and verbs

     b    Sentence beginnings and endings

     c    Coordination

     d    Subordination

16   Parallelism

     a    With and, but, or, nor, yet

     b    With both . . . and, etc.

     c    In comparisons

     d    In lists, headings, outlines

17   Variety and Details

     a    Sentence length

     b    Sentence structure

     c    Details

18   Appropriate and Exact Words

     a    Appropriate words

     b    Exact words

19   Completeness

     a    Compounds

     b    Needed words

20   Conciseness

     a    Focusing on subject and verb

     b    Cutting empty words

     c    Cutting repetition

     d    Tightening clauses and phrases

     e    Revising there is or it is

     f    Combining sentences

     g    Avoiding jargon

Part 4: Sentence Parts and Patterns

Basic Grammar

21   Parts of Speech

22   The Sentence

23   Phrases and Subordinate Clauses

24   Sentence Types

Verbs

25   Forms

     a    Irregular verbs

     b    Sit/set; lie/lay; rise/raise

     c    -s and -ed forms

     d    Helping verbs

     e    Verb + gerund or infinitive

     f    Verb + particle

26   Tense

     a    Present tense: sing

     b    Perfect tenses: have/had/will have sung

     c    Progressive tenses: is/was/will be singing

     d    Consistency

     e    Sequence

27   Mood

     a    Subjunctive: I wish I were

     b    Consistency

28   Voice

     a    Active vs. passive

     b    Consistency

29   Subject-Verb Agreement

     a    -s and -es endings

     b    Intervening words

     c    Subjects with and

     d    Subjects with or or nor

     e    Everyone and other indefinite pronouns

     f    Team and other collective nouns

     g    Who, which, that

     h    News and other singular nouns ending in -s

     i    Verb preceding subject

     j    Is, are, and other linking verbs

     k    Titles; words being defined

Pronouns

30   Case

     a    She and I vs. her and me

     b    It was she vs. It was her

     c    Who vs. whom

     d    Other constructions

31   Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

     a    Antecedents with and

     b    Antecedents with or or nor

     c    Everyone, person, and other indefinite words

     d    Team and other collective nouns

32   Pronoun Reference

     a    Clear reference

     b    Close reference

     c    Specific reference

     d    Appropriate you

     e    Consistency

Modifiers

33   Adjectives and Adverbs

     a    Adjective vs. adverb

     b    Adjective with linking verb: felt bad

     c    Comparisons

     d    Double negatives

     e    Participles: boring vs. bored

     f    A, an, the; other determiners

34   Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

     a    Misplaced modifiers

     b    Dangling modifiers

Sentence Faults

35   Sentence Fragments

     a    Tests

     b    Revision

     c    Acceptable fragments

36   Comma Splices and Fused Sentences

     a    Main clauses without and, but, etc.

     b    Main clauses with however, for example, etc.

37   Mixed Sentences

     a    Mixed meaning

     b    Tangled grammar

     c    Repeated subjects and other parts

Part 5: Punctuation

38   End Punctuation

     a    Period

     b    Question mark

     c    Exclamation point

39   Comma

     a    Main clauses with and, but, etc.

     b    Introductory elements

     c    Nonessential elements

     d    Items in series

     e    Two or more adjectives

     f    Dates, addresses, etc.

     g    With quotations

     h    Misuses

40   Semicolon

     a    Main clauses without and, but, etc.

     b    Main clauses with however, for example, etc.

     c    Main clauses or series items with commas

     d    Misuses

41   Colon

     a    Concluding explanation, series, etc.

     b    Salutation; title and subtitle; time

     c    Misuses

42   Apostrophe

     a    Possession

     b    Misuses

     c    Contractions

     d    Plural abbreviations, etc.

43   Quotation Marks

     a    Direct quotations

     b    Within a quotation

     c    Titles of works

     d    Words used in a special sense

     e    Misuses

     f    With other punctuation

44   Other Marks

     a    Dash or dashes

     b    Parentheses

     c    Ellipsis mark

     d    Brackets

     e    Slash    

Part 6: Spelling and Mechanics

45   Spelling

46   Hyphen

47   Capital Letters

48   Italics or Underlining

49   Abbreviations

50   Numbers

Part 7: Research and Documentation

51   Research Strategy

     a    Planning

     b    Research journal

     c    Subject and question

     d    Goals for sources

     e    Working, annotated bibliography

52   Finding Sources

     a    Your library's Web site

     b    Searching electronically

     c    Reference works

     d    Books

     e    Periodicals

     f    The Web

     g    Other online sources

     h    Government publications

     i    Images, audio, and video

     j    Your own sources

53   Working with Sources

     a    Evaluating sources

     b    Synthesizing sources

     c    Gathering information

     d    Using summary, paraphrase, quotation

     e    Integrating sources

54   Avoiding Plagiarism and Documenting Sources

     a    Plagiarism and the Internet

     b    What not to acknowledge

     c    What must be acknowledged

     d    Online sources

     e    Documenting sources

55   Writing the Paper

     a    Focusing and organizing

     b    Drafting; revising; formatting

56   MLA Documentation and Format

     a    Parenthetical text citations

     b    List of works cited

     c    Format of paper

     d    sample MLA Paper

57   APA Documentation and Format

     a    Parenthetical text citations

     b    List of references

     c    Format of paper

     d    sample APA paper

Glossary of Usage

Answers to Selected Exercises

Index