For Freshman-level writing courses, such as Freshman Composition, English Composition, First-Year Writing, Expository Writing or any course where students need help with grammar, research and documentation. The easiest handbook to use. Muriel Harris was the director of the Purdue Writing Center where she worked elbow-to-elbow with students and for over twenty-five years.  As she worked with students, she realized that they asked the same questions over and over.  Based on her experience with thousands of students in the writing center, Muriel Harris authored this spiral-bound, tabbed and brief handbook.  Her unique feature, "Compare and Correct," and "Question and Correct," allows students to find what they need to help themselves with their writing, without needing to know the terms of grammar.  Muriel Harris' Prentice Hall Reference Guide is the easiest handbook for students and instructors to use.

Table of Contents:
CONTENTS A Personal Message . . . vi To the Instructor vii Hints for Using This Book xvi Question and Correct & Compare and Correct       Question and Correct: Some of the Most Commonly Asked Questions About Writing qc1       Compare and Correct cc1 The Writing Process 1   Purposes and Audiences 1 a Purpose 1 b  Topic 1 c  Thesis 2 d  Audience 2 2   Writing Processes and Strategies 4 a  Planning 4 b  Drafting 10 c  Organizing 11 d  Collaborating 12 e  Revising 16 f   Editing and Proofreading 18 3   Paragraphs 20 a  Unity 20 b  Coherence 20 c  Development 21 d  Introductions and Conclusions 21 e  Patterns of Organization 21 4   Argument 28 a  Writing and Reading Arguments 28 b  Considering the Audience 29 c  Finding a Topic 32 d  Developing Your Arguments 33 e  Organizing Your Arguments 36 5   Visual Argument 39 a  Similarities and Differences Between Verbal and Visual Argument 41 b  Reading Visual Arguments 45 c  Writing Visual Arguments 47 Revising Sentences for Accuracy, Clarity, and Variety 6   Comma Splices and Fused Sentences 49 a  Comma Splices 50 b  Fused or Run-On Sentences 50 7   Subject-Verb Agreement 52 a  Singular and Plural Subjects 53 b  Buried Subjects 53 c  Compound Subjects 54 d  Or and Either/Or Subjects 54    e  Clauses and Phrases as Subjects 55 f  Indefinites as Subjects 55 g  Collective Nouns and Amounts as Subjects 56     h Plural Words as Subjects 56                  i Titles, Company Names, Words, and Quotations as Subjects 56      j Linking Verbs 57      kThere (is/are), Here (is/are) andIt 57 l Who/Which/That and One of as Subjects 57 8   Sentence Fragments 59 a  Unintentional Fragments 60 b  Intentional Fragments 63 9   Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers 65 a  Dangling Modifiers 65 b  Misplaced Modifiers 67 10Parallel Constructions 69 a  Parallel Structure 69 b  Faulty Parallelism 70 11Consistency (Avoiding Shifts) 72 a  Shifts in Person or Number 72 b  Shifts in Verb Tense 73 c  Shifts in Tone 74 d  Shifts in Voice 74 e  Shifts in Discourse 75 12Faulty Predication 76 13Coordination and Subordination 78 a  Coordination 78 b  Subordination 80 14 Sentence Clarity 83 a  Moving from UnKnown (Old)  to known (New) Information 83 b  Using Positive Instead of  Negative Statements 84 c  Avoiding Double Negatives 84 d  Using Verbs Instead of Nouns 85 e  Making the Intended Subject  the Sentence Subject 85 f   Using Active Instead of Passive   Voice 86 15Transitions 87 a  Repetition of a Key Term or Phrase 87 b  Synonyms 87 c  Pronouns 87 d  Transitional Words and Phrases 88 e  Transitions in and Between Paragraphs 89 16 Sentence Variety 93 a  Combining Sentences 93 b  Adding Words 94 c  Changing Words, Phrases, and Clauses 95 Parts of Sentences 17Verbs 99 a  Verb Phrases 100 b  Verb Forms 100 c  Verb Tense 103 d  Verb Voice 111 e  Verb Mood 111 f   Modal Verbs 113 18Nouns and Pronouns 114 a  Nouns 114 b  Pronouns 117 19Pronoun Case and Reference 122 a  Pronoun Case 122 b  Pronoun Reference 127 20Adjectives and Adverbs 132 a  Adjectives and Adverbs 132 b  A/An/The 135 c  Comparisons 137 21Prepositions 140 a  Common Prepositions 141 b  Idiomatic Prepositions 141 c  Other Prepositions 142 22 Subjects 143 23 Phrases 146 24 Clauses 148 a  Independent Clauses 148 b  Dependent Clauses 151 25Essential and Nonessential Clauses and Phrases 155 a  Essential Clauses and Phrases 155 b  Nonessential Clauses and Phrases 156 26Sentences 158 a  Sentence Purposes 161 b  Sentence Structures 161 Punctuation 27Commas 165 a  Commas in Compound Sentences 166 b  Commas After Introductory Words, Phrases, and Clauses 168 c  Commas with Essential and Nonessential Words, Phrases, and Clauses 171 d  Commas in Series and Lists 173 e  Commas with Adjectives 175 f   Commas with Dates, Addresses, Geographical Names, and Numbers 177 g  Other Uses for Commas 179 h  Unnecessary Commas 181 28Apostrophes 183 a  Apostrophes with Possessives 183 b  Apostrophes with Contractions 184 c  Apostrophes with Plurals 184 d  Unnecessary Apostrophes 185 29Semicolons 189 a  Semicolons in Compound Sentences 189 b  Semicolons in a Series 191 c  Semicolons with Quotation Marks 191 d  Unnecessary Semicolons 192 30Colons 193 a  Colons to Announce Elements at the End of a Sentence 193 b  Colons to Separate Independent Clauses 194 c  Colons to Announce Quotations 194 d  Colons in Salutations and Between Elements 195 e  Colons with Quotation Marks 19 f    Unnecessary Colons 195 31 Quotation Marks 197 a Quotation Marks with Direct and Indirect Quotations 197 b Quotation Marks for Minor Titles and Parts of Wholes 199 c Quotation Marks for Words 199 d Use of Other Punctuation with Quotation Marks 200 e Unnecessary Quotation Marks 200 32 Hyphens 202 a Hyphens to Divide Words 202 b Hyphens to Form Compound Words 202 c Hyphens to Join Word Units 203 d Hyphens to Join Prefixes, Suffixes,and Letters to a Word 203 e Hyphens to Avoid Ambiguity 204 33 End Punctuation 205 a Periods 205 b Question Marks 207 c Exclamation Points 209 34 Other Punctuation 210 a Dashes 210 b Slashes 212 c Parentheses 214 d Brackets 215 e Ellipsis (Omitted Words) 217  Mechanics and Spelling 35 Capitals 219 36 Abbreviations 223 a Abbreviating Numbers 223 b Abbreviating Titles 223 c Abbreviating Place Names 224 d Abbreviating Measurements 224 e Abbreviating Dates 224 f Abbreviating Initials Used as Names 224 g Abbreviating Latin Expressions 225 h Abbreviating Documentation 225 37 Numbers 227 38 Underlining/Italics 230 a Underlining for Titles 230 b Other Uses of Underlining 231 39 Spelling 233 a Proofreading 233 b Using Spell-Checkers 235 c Some Spelling Guidelines 235 d Plurals 241 e Sound-Alike Words (Homonyms) 243 Style and Word Choice 40 Sexist Language 247 a Alternatives to Man 247 b Alternative Job Titles 247 c Alternatives to the Male or Female Pronoun 248 41 Unnecessary Words 250 a Conciseness 250 b Clichés 253 c Pretentious Language 254  42 Appropriate Words 255 a Standard English 255 b Colloquialisms, Slang, and Regionalisms 255 c Levels of Formality 257 d Jargon and Technical Terms 260 e General and Specific Words 261 f Concrete and Abstract Words 262 g Denotation and Connotation 264 h Offensive Language 264 ESL Concerns 43 American Style in Writing 267 44 Verbs 268 a Helping Verbs with Main Verbs 268 b Two-Word (Phrasal) Verbs 270 c Verbs with -ing and to + Verb Forms 271 45 Omitted Words 274 a Verbs 274 b Subjects and There or It 274 46 Repeated Words 275 a Subjects 275 b Pronouns and Adverbs 275 47 Count and Noncount Nouns 276 48 Adjectives and Adverbs 279 a Placement 279 b Order 279 c A/An/The 280 d Some/Any, Much/Many, Little/Few, Less/Fewer, Enough, No 283 49 Prepositions 284 50 Idioms 286 Research 51 Finding a Topic 289 a Deciding on a Purpose 290 b Understanding Why Plagiarism Is Wrong 292 c Deciding on a Topic 296 d Narrowing the Topic 297 e Formulating a Research Question 299 f Formulating a Thesis 300 52 Searching for Information 302 a Choosing Primary and Secondary Sources 302 b Searching the Internet 305 c Searching Libraries 312 d Searching Other Sources 315 53 Using Web Resources 318 a Web Site Bibliographic Information 318 b Useful Web Sites 321 54 Evaluating Sources 326 a Getting Started 327 b Evaluating Internet Sources 328 c Evaluating Bibliographic Citations 335 d Evaluating Content 337 55 Collecting Information 340 a Keeping Notes on a Computer 340 b Printing and Annotating Photocopies and Printouts 341 c Starting a Working Bibliography 344 d Writing Notecards 346 56 Using Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism 346 a Recognizing Plagiarism 346 b Summarizing Without Plagiarizing 352 c Paraphrasing Without Plagiarizing 354 d Using Quotation Marks to Avoid Plagiarizing 356 e Using Signal Words and Phrases to Integrate Sources 361 57 Writing the Research Paper 367 a Getting Started 367 b Planning and Organizing 368 c Writing a Draft 370 d Reviewing the Draft 371 e Revising, Editing, and Checking  the Format 371 MLA Documentation 58 Documenting in MLA Style 374 a In-Text Citations 375 b Endnotes 378 c Works Cited List 379 d Sample MLA-Style Research   59 Documenting in APA Style 422 a In-Text Citations 423 b Footnotes 426 c References List 426 d Sample APA-Style Research Paper 435 60 Documenting in Other Styles 462 a Chicago Manual of Style (CM) 462 b Council of Science Editors (CSE) 471 c Columbia Online Style (COS) 475 d Resources for Other Styles 482 Document Design, Public Writing, and Writing About Literature 61 Document Design 485 a Principles of Document Design 486 b Visual Elements 488 c Web Page Design 490 d Paper Preparation 497 62 Public Writing 504 a Public Documents 505 b Résumés 514 63 Writing About Literature 527 a Ways to Write About Literature 527 b Writing the Assignment 529 c A Glossary of Literary Terms 531 d Conventions in Writing About Literature 531 e Sample Paper 533 Glossary of Usage 539 Glossary of Grammatical Terms 550 Index 570