Writing Intensive MLA 2016 UPDATE

Part 1 Common Assignments across the Curriculum 1

*Indicates a new section or a chapter/section with major revisions. In addition, content is being updated and revised throughout.

1. Writing in College 2

a. Learning about college assignments

b. Learning how to understand assignments

*c. The Writing Situation

2. Informative Reports 5

a. Understanding the assignment

b. Approaching writing an informative report as a process

3. Interpretive Analyses and Writing about Literature 7

a. Understanding the assignment

b. Approaching writing an interpretive analysis as a process

4. Arguments 11

a. Understanding the assignment

b. Approaching writing an argument as a process

5. Other Kinds of Assignments 20

a. Personal essays

b. Lab reports in the experimental sciences

c. Case studies in the social sciences

d. Essay exams

e. Oral presentations

f. Coauthored projects

g. Portfolios

6. Designing Academic Texts 32

*a. Considering audience and purpose

*b. Using electronic tools

c. Thinking intentionally about design

*d. Using and integrating visuals, audio, and video

*e. Designing pages for the Web

*f. Creating blogs and wikis

Part 2 Researching 49

7. Understanding the Purpose of Research Projects 50

a. Understanding primary and secondary research

b. Recognizing the connection between research and college writing

*c. Understanding the research assignment

d. Choosing an interesting research question

e. Creating a research plan

8. Finding Print and Online Sources 56

a. Consulting various kinds of sources

b. Keyword searches

c. Using the library

d. Searching the Internet

9. Evaluating Your Sources 67

a. Questioning all sources

b. Questioning Internet sources

c. Evaluating a source’s arguments

*10. Finding and Creating Effective Visuals 71

a. Finding quantitative data and displaying it visually

b. Searching for appropriate images in online and print sources

11. Conducting Research in the Archive, Field, and Lab 75

a. Adhering to ethical principles

b. Preparing for archival research

c. Planning your field research

d. Keeping a notebook when doing lab research

*12. Working with Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism 79

a. Maintaining a working bibliography

b. Creating an annotated bibliography

c. Note taking

d. Paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting sources

e. Avoiding plagiarism and copyright infringement

13. Writing the Paper 92

a. Planning and drafting

b. Integrating quotations

c. Documenting your sources

Part 3 MLA Documentation Style 99

*14. MLA Style: In-Text Citations 104

MLA In-Text Citations: Directory to Sample Types

*15. MLA Style: List of Works Cited 116

MLA Works-Cited Entries: Directory to Sample Types

16. MLA Style: Explanatory Notes and Acknowledgments 150

17. MLA Style: Format 151

*18. Pages from a Research Project in MLA Style 153

Part 4 APA Documentation Style 159

*19. APA Style: In-Text Citations 163

APA In-Text Citations: Directory to Sample Types

20. APA Style: References 170

APA In-Text Citations: Directory to Sample Types

21. APA Style: Format 193

*22. Pages from a Research Project in APA Style 195

Part 5 Chicago Documentation Style 200

23. Chicago Documentation Style: Elements 201

Chicago Style: Directory to Sample Note and Bibliography Entries

24. Pages from a Research Project in Chicago Style 225

Part 6 Editing for Clarity 229

25. Avoid Wordiness 230

a. Redundancies and unnecessary modifiers

b. Wordy phrases

c. Roundabout sentences

26. Adding Missing Words 233

a. Compound structures

b. The word that

c. Words in comparisons

d. The articles a, an, the

27. Unscramble Mixed Constructions 235

a. Mixed-up grammar

b. Illogical predicates

28. Fixing Confusing Shifts 237

a. Shifts in point of view

b. Shifts in tense

c. Shifts in mood and voice

29. Using Parallel Construction 241

a. Items in a series

b. Paired ideas

c. Function words

30. Fixing Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers 244

a. Misplaced modifiers

b. Ambiguous modifiers

c. Disruptive modifiers

d. Split infinitives

e. Dangling modifiers

31. Using Coordination and Subordination Effectively 249

a. Coordination used for ideas of unequal importance

b. Major ideas in main clauses

c. Combining short, choppy sentences

d. Avoiding excessive subordination

32. Vary Your Sentences 252

a. Sentence openings

b. Sentence length and structure

c. Cumulative and periodic sentences

d. An occasional inversion, a rhetorical question, or an exclamation

33. Choosing Active Verbs 256

a. Alternatives to be verbs

b. The active voice

34. Using Appropriate Language 258

a. Slang, regional expressions, and nonstandard English

b. Levels of formality

c. Jargon

d. Euphemisms and doublespeak

e. Biased or sexist language

35. Using Exact Language 263

a. Connotations

b. Specific and concrete words

c. Standard idioms

d. Clichés

e. Figures of speech

f. Misusing words

36. Glossary of Usage 266

Part 7 Editing for Grammar Conventions 279

37. Sentence Fragments 280

a. Dependent-clause fragments

b. Phrase fragments

c. Other types of fragments

38. Comma Splices and Run-on Sentences 285

a. Joining two clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction such as and or but

b. Joining two clauses with a semicolon

c. Separating clauses into two sentences

d. Turning one of the independent clauses into a dependent clause

e. Transforming two clauses into one independent clause

39. Subject-Verb Agreement 290

a. When a word group separates the subject from the verb

b. Compound subjects

c. Collective subjects

d. Indefinite subjects

e. When the subject comes after the verb

f. Subject complement

g. Relative pronouns

h. Phrases beginning with –ing verbs

i. Titles of works, names of companies, or words representing themselves

40. Problems with Verbs 297

a. Regular and irregular verbs

b. Lay and lie, sit and set, rise and raise

c. Adding an –s or –es ending

d. Adding a –d or an –ed ending e. Tenses

f. Use of the past perfect tense

g. Uses of the present tense

h. Complete verbs

i. Mood

41. Master Problems with Pronouns 309

a. Pronoun-antecedent agreement

b. Pronoun reference

c. Pronoun case

d. Who and whom

42. Problems with Adjectives and Adverbs 321

a. Adverbs

b. Adjectives

c. Positive, comparative, and superlative adjectives and adverbs

d. Double negatives

43. Problems with English Grammar of Special Concern to Multilingual Writers 326

a. Using articles (a, an, the) appropriately

b. Using helping verbs with main verbs

*c. Using verbs followed by gerunds or infinitives

d. Using complete subjects and verbs

e. Using only one subject or object

*f. Using adjectives correctly

*g. Putting adverbs in the correct place

*h. Using prepositions

*i. Using direct objects with two-word verbs

Part 8 Editing for Correctness: Punctuation, Mechanics, and Spelling 339

44. Commas 340

a. After an introductory word group

b. Between items in a series

c. In front of a coordinating conjunction joining independent clauses

d. Between coordinate adjectives

e. To set off nonessential elements

f. With transitional and parenthetical expressions, contrasting comments, and absolute phrases

g. To set off words of direct address, yes and no, mild interjections, and tag questions

h. To separate a direct quotation from the rest of the sentence

i. With dates, addresses, titles, and numbers

j. To take the place of an omitted word or phrase or to prevent misreading

k. Common errors

45. Semicolons 352

a. To join independent clauses

b. With transitional expressions that separate independent clauses

c. To separate items in a series when the items contain commas

d. Common errors

46. Colons 356

a. To introduce lists, appositives, or quotations

b. When a second independent clause elaborates on the first one

c. Other conventional uses

d. Common errors

47. Apostrophes 358

a. To indicate possession

b. With indefinite pronouns

c. To mark contractions

d. To form plural numbers, letters, abbreviations, and words used as words

e. Common errors

48. Quotation Marks 361

a. To indicate direct quotations

b. To enclose titles of short works

c. To indicate that a word or phrase is being used in a special way

d. Other punctuation with quotation marks

e. Common errors

49. Other Punctuation Marks 366

a. The period

b. The question mark

c. The exclamation point

d. Dashes

e. Parentheses

f. Brackets

g. Ellipses

h. Slashes

50. Capitalization 372

a. Proper nouns

b. Personal titles

c. Titles of creative works

d. Names of areas or regions

e. Names of races, ethnic groups, and sacred things

f. First word of a sentence or quoted sentence

g. First word after a colon

51. Abbreviations and Symbols 377

a. Titles that always precede or follow a person’s name

b. Familiar abbreviations

c. Latin abbreviations

d. Inappropriate abbreviations and symbols

52. Numbers 381

a. Numerals versus words

b. Numbers that begin sentences

c. Conventional uses of numerals

53. Italics (Underlining) 383

a. Titles of works or separate publications

b. Names of ships, trains, aircraft, and spaceships

c. Foreign terms

d. Scientific names

e. Words, letters, and numbers referred to as themselves

f. For emphasis

54. Hyphens 386

a. To form a compound word

b. To create a compound adjective or noun forms

c. To spell out fractions and compound numbers

d. To attach some prefixes and suffixes

e. To divide words at the ends of lines

55. Spelling 388

Discipline-Specific Resources in the Library and on the Internet D-1

Glossary of Terms G-1

Index I-1

Abbreviations and Symbols for Editing and Proofreading