Thirty years of experience at the Purdue University writing center told Muriel Harris that few students could effectively use their handbook.  A truly useful textbook, she felt, would have ways to help students find the information they were seeking without having to know the terminology, would be clear and easy to understand for all students, and would be written in a student-friendly language and tone to avoid the intimidating formal instructional tone of some handbooks.  These principles became the foundation of Harris’s Prentice Hall Reference Guide.   Check us out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HarrisPHReferenceGuide!

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents   Preface   Tab 1:  Compare and Correct, Question and Correct      Compare and Correct                      CC1      Question and Correct                      QC1   Tab 2:  Writing Processes       1  Thinking About Writing             a  The Rhetorical Triangle             b  Topic             c  Audience             d  Purpose             e  Medium             2  Writing Processes and Strategies             a  Planning             b  Thesis             c  Drafting             d  Organizing             e  Collaborating             f  Revising             g  Editing and Proofreading         3  Paragraphs             a  Unity             b  Coherence             c  Development             d  Introductions and Conclusions             e  Patterns of Organization         4  Document Design             a  Principles of Document Design             b  Incorporating Visuals             c  Paper Preparation             d  Multimedia Presentations             e  Writing for the Web   Tab 3:  Writing for College and Career       5  Writing in the Disciplines                        a  Writing for the Sciences             b  Writing for the Social Sciences             c  Writing for the Humanities             d  Writing Essay Exams              6  Writing About Literature                        a  Ways to Write about Literature             b  Writing the Assignment             c  Conventions in Writing about Literature             d  Sample Literature Paper         7  Critical Reading, Thinking, and Arguing             a  Reading Arguments Critically             b  Finding an Arguable Topic             c  Developing Arguments             d  Recognizing and Avoiding Logical Fallacies             e  Organizing Your Argument             f  Sample Argument Paper         8  Visual Argument                        a  Similarities and Differences Between Written and Visual Arguments             b  Appeals in Visual Argument             c  Logical Fallacies in Visual Argument             d  Creating Visual Arguments         9  Professional Writing             a  Memos                 Sample Memo             b  E-Mail                  Sample E-mail             c  Business Letters                  Sample Letter             d  Cover Letters                  Sample Cover Letter             e  Résumés                  Sample Résumés         10  Creating Print and Electronic Portfolios             a  Developing Portfolios             b  E-Portfolios   Tab 4:  Revising Sentences for Accuracy, Clarity, and Variety        11  Comma Splices and Fused Sentences             a  Comma Splices             b  Fused or Run-On Sentences          12  Subject-Verb Agreement             a  Singular and Plural Subjects             b  Buried Subjects             c  Compound Subjects             d  Or and Either/Or in Subjects             e  Clauses and Phrases as Subjects             f  Indefinites as Subjects             g  Collective Nouns and Amounts as Subjects             h  Plural Words as Subjects             i  Titles, Company Names, Words, and Quotations as Subjects             j  Linking Verbs             k  There (is/are), Here (is/are), and It             l  Who, Which, That, and One of as Subjects          13  Sentence Fragments             a  Unintentional Fragments             b  Intentional Fragments             14    Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers             a  Dangling Modifiers             b  Misplaced Modifiers          15    Parallel Constructions             a  Parallel Structure             b  Faulty Parallelism          16    Consistency (Avoiding Shifts)             a  Shifts in Person or Number             b  Shifts in Verb Tense             c  Shifts in Tone             d  Shifts in Voice (Active/Passive)             e  Shifts in Discourse          17    Faulty Predication          18    Coordination and Subordination             a  Coordination             b  Subordination          19    Sentence Clarity             a  Moving from Known (Old) to Unknown (New) Information             b  Using Positive Instead of Negative Statements             c  Avoiding Double Negatives             d  Using Verbs Instead of Nouns             e  Making the Intended Subject the Sentence Subject             f  Using Active Instead of Passive Voice          20    Transitions             a  Repetition of a Key Term or Phrase             b  Synonyms             c  Pronouns             d  Transitional Words and Phrases             e  Transitions In and Between Paragraphs          21    Sentence Variety             a  Combining Sentences             b  Adding Words             c  Changing Words, Phrases, and Clauses     Tab 5:  Parts of Sentences        22    Verbs             a  Verb Phrases             b  Verb Forms             c  Verb Tense             d  Verb Voice (Active/Passive)             e  Verb Mood             f  Modal Verbs          23    Nouns and Pronouns             a  Nouns             b  Pronouns          24    Pronoun Case and Reference             a  Pronoun Case             b  Pronoun Reference          25    Adjectives and Adverbs             a  Adjectives and Adverbs             b  A/An/The             c  Comparisons          26    Prepositions             a  Common Prepositions             b  Idiomatic Expressions             c  Other Prepositions          27    Subjects          28    Phrases        29  Clauses             a  Independent Clauses             b  Dependent Clauses          30    Essential and Nonessential Clauses and Phrases             a  Essential Clauses and Phrases             b  Nonessential Clauses and Phrases          31    Sentences             a  Sentence Purposes             b  Sentence Structures   Tab 6:  Style and Word Choice        32  Style Versus Grammar          33  General and Specific Language            a  General Versus Specific Statements            b  General Versus Specific Words            c  Concrete Versus Abstract Words          34  Glossary of Usage          35  Conciseness and Wordiness               36  Passive Versus Active Voice          37    Unnecessary and Inappropriate Language             a  Clichés             b  Pretentious Language             c  Offensive Language          38    Appropriate Language             a  Standard English             b  Levels of Formality             c  Emphasis             d  Denotation and Connotation             e  Colloquialisms, Slang Terms, and Regionalisms             f  Jargon and Technical Terms          39    Nonsexist Language             a  Alternatives to Man             b  Alternative Job Titles             c  Alternatives to the Male or Female Pronoun   Tab 7:  Punctuation        40    Commas            a  Commas in Compound Sentences            b  Commas After Introductory Words, Phrases, and Clauses            c  Commas with Essential and Nonessential Words, Phrases, and Clauses            d  Commas in Series and Lists            e  Commas with Adjectives            f  Commas with Dates, Addresses, Geographical Names, and Numbers            g  Other Uses for Commas            h  Unnecessary Commas          41   Apostrophes            a  Apostrophes with Possessives            b  Apostrophes with Contractions            c  Apostrophes with Plurals            d  Unnecessary Apostrophes          42   Semicolons            a  Semicolons in Compound Sentences            b  Semicolons in a Series            c  Semicolons with Quotation Marks            d  Unnecessary Semicolons          43   Colons            a  Colons to Announce Elements at the End of a Sentence            b  Colons to Separate Independent Clauses            c  Colons to Announce Quotations            d  Colons in Salutations and Between Elements            e  Colons with Quotation Marks            f  Unnecessary Colons          44   Quotation Marks            a  Quotation Marks with Direct and Indirect Quotations            b  Quotation Marks for Minor Titles and Parts of Wholes            c  Quotation Marks for Words            d  Use of Other Punctuation with Quotation Marks            e  Unnecessary Quotation Marks          45   Hyphens            a  Hyphens to Divide Words            b  Hyphens to Form Compound Words            c  Hyphens to Join Word Units            d  Hyphens to Join Prefixes, Suffixes, and Letters to a Word            e  Hyphens to Avoid Ambiguity          46   End Punctuation            a  Periods            b  Question Marks            c  Exclamation Points          47  Other Punctuation             a  Dashes             b  Slashes             c  Parentheses             d  Brackets             e  Ellipses (Omitted Words)   Tab 8:  Mechanics and Spelling        48  Capitals          49  Abbreviations             a  Abbreviating Numbers             b  Abbreviating Titles             c  Abbreviating Place Names             d  Abbreviating Measurements             e  Abbreviating Dates             f  Abbreviating Initials Used as Names             g  Abbreviating Latin Expressions             h  Abbreviating Documentation         50    Numbers         51    Italics             a  Italics for Titles             b  Italics for Other Uses           52    Spelling             a  Proofreading             b  Spell-Checkers             c  Some Spelling Guidelines             d  Plurals             e  Sound-Alike Words (Homonyms)   Tab 9:  For Multilingual Writers         53    American Style in Writing             a  American Style             b  English Grammar vs. Grammar of Other Languages             c  American English and World Englishes             d  Web Sites for ESL Resources         54   Verbs             a  Verbs             b  Helping Verbs with Main Verbs             c  Two-Word (Phrasal) Verbs             d  Verbs with –ing and to+ Verb Forms                    55  Omitted and Repeated Words             a  Omitted Subjects             b  Repeated Subjects          56  Pronouns and Adverbs          57    Count and Noncount Nouns           58   Adjectives and Adverbs            a  Order of Adverbs            b  Order of Adjectives            c  A/An/The            d  Some/Any, Much/Many, Little/Few, Less/Fewer, Enough, No           59  Prepositions           60      Idioms   Tab 10:  Research        61  Finding a Topic             a  Deciding on a Purpose and Audience             b  Deciding on a Topic             c  Narrowing the Topic             d  Formulating a Research Question             e  Formulating a Thesis              62  Choosing Primary and Secondary Sources             a  Primary Sources             b  Secondary Sources          63  Searching Libraries and Library Databases                    a  Libraries             b  Library Databases and Subscription Services                    64  Using Web Resources             a  Internet Search Strategies             b  Types of Internet Sources                    65  Conducting Firsthand Research             a  Observations             b  Interviews             c  Surveys         66  Evaluating Sources             a  Getting Started             b  Evaluating Authors’ Credibility             c  Evaluating Content             d  Evaluating Internet Sources             67  Collecting Information             a  Keeping Notes             b  Printing and Annotating Photocopies and Printouts             c  Writing an Annotated Bibliography         68  Using Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism             a  Understanding Plagiarism             b  Documenting Sources Responsibly             c  Summarizing without Plagiarism             d  Paraphrasing without Plagiarism             e  Using Quotation Marks to Avoid Plagiarism             f  Using Signal Words and Phrases to Integrate Sources              69 Writing the Research Paper             a  Getting Started             b  Planning and Organizing             c  Writing a Draft             d  Reviewing the Draft             e  Revising, Editing, and Checking the Format   Tab 11:  MLA Documentation           70  Documenting in MLA Style             a  In-Text Citations             b  Notes             c  Works Cited List             d  Sample MLA-Style Research Paper   Tab 12:  APA, CM, and CSE Documentation            71  Documenting in APA Style             a  In-Text Citations             b  Footnotes             c  References List             d  Sample APA-Style Research Paper            72  ChicagoManual (CM)Style             a  Numbered Notes             b  Author-Date Citation Format             c  Bibliography Entries            73  Council of Science Editors (CSE) Style             a  Name-Year Style             b  Citation Sequence Style             c  References List               74  Resources for Other Styles             Glossary of Grammatical Terms Index