LB Brief, MLA Update Edition (Pearson English Value Textbook)

PART ONE: WRITING PROCESS

1              The Writing Situation

a              Analysis                                               

b              Subject

c              Audience

d              Purpose

2              Invention 

a              Journal keeping

b              Observing

c              Freewriting

d              Brainstorming

e              Clustering

f               Asking questions

g              Reading

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 and conclusions

e              Linking paragraphs

7              Document Design

a              Academic papers

b              Principles of design

c              Elements of design

d              Illustrations

e              Papers submitted online

f               Readers with disabilities

PART TWO: WRITING IN AND OUT OF COLLEGE

8              Academic Writing             

a              Academic habits

b              Audience

c              Purpose

d              Structure and content

e              Language

9              Study Skills

a              Time management

b              Listening and note taking in class

c              Reading

d              Exams

                Sample Essay Exams

10           Critical Reading and Writing

a              Critical reading

b              Critically viewing images

c              Critical writing

                Sample Critique of a Text

11           Writing Arguments

a              Elements of argument

b              Writing reasonably

c              Organizing an argument

d              Sample Argument

12           Reading and Writing About Literature

a              Writing while reading

b              Critical reading

c              Sample Works and Papers

13           Public Writing

a              Business letters and résumés

Sample Letter and Résumés

b              Memos

                Sample  Memo

c              Electronic mail

                Sample E-mail Message

d              Community work

                Sample Newsletter and Brochure

e              Web composition

Sample Web Page

14           Oral Presentations

a              Purpose and audience

b              Organization

c              Delivery

                Sample Powerpoint Slides

PART THREE: 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, and 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              Cutting there is or it is

f               Combining sentences

g              Avoiding jargon

PART FOUR:  SENTENCE PARTS AND PATTERNS

Basic grammar

21           Parts of Speech   

a              Nouns

b              Pronouns

c              Verbs

d              Adjectives and adverbs

e              Prepositions and conjunctions

f               Interjections

22           The Sentence      

a              Subject and predicate

b              Predicate patterns

c              Alternative patterns

23           Phrases and Subordinate Clauses  

a              Phrases

b              Subordinate clauses

24           Sentence Types

a              Simple sentences

b              Compound sentences

c              Complex sentences

d              Compound-complex sentences

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 tense: have/had/will have sung

c              Progressive tense: 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               Inverted word order

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               Definite it and they

   e               Appropriate you

f               Consistency

Modifiers             

33           Adjectives and Adverbs

a              Adjective vs. adverb

b              Adjective with linking verb: felt bad

c              Comparisons

d              Double negatives

e              Present and past participles: boring vs. bored

f               A, an, the, and 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 FIVE:  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 quotations

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 SIX: SPELLING AND MECHANICS

45           Spelling

46           Hyphen 

47           Capital Letters

48           Underlining or Italics

49           Abbreviations

50           Numbers             

PART SEVEN: 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              Searching electronically

b              Reference works

c              Books

d              Periodicals

e              The Web

f               Other online sources

g              Government publications

h              Images

i               Your own sources

53           Working with Sources

a              Evaluating sources

b              Synthesizing sources

c              Gathering information

d              Using summary, paraphrase, quotation

   e               Integrating sources into your text

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, and 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