The Everyday Writer with 2020 APA and 2021 MLA Updates

Writing Rhetorically
1 Expectations for College Writing: Open your book, open your mind
a Choose openness
b Use social media wisely
c Position yourself as an academic writer
d Read and listen respectfully, actively, and critically
e Plan research
f  Use digital tools effectively

2 Rhetorical Situations
a Make good choices for your rhetorical situation
b Plan your text’s topic and message
c Consider your purpose and stance as a communicator
d Analyze your audience
e Think about genres and media
f  Consider language and style
g A SAMPLE RHETORICAL SITUATION

3 Exploring, Planning, and Drafting
a Explore your topic
b Narrow your topic
c Craft a working thesis
d Gather information
e Organize information
f  Make a plan
g Create a draft

4 Developing Paragraphs
a Focus on a main idea
b Provide details
c Use effective methods of development
d Make paragraphs flow
e Work on opening and closing paragraphs

5 Reviewing, Revising, and Editing
a Review your writing
b Get the most from peer review
c Consult instructor comments
d Revise
e Edit

6 Reflecting
a Reflect to present your work effectively
A STUDENT’s REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
b Reflect to learn
A STUDENT’s REFLECTIVE BLOG POST
 
Critical Thinking and Argument
7 Critical Reading
a Consider reading collaboratively 
b Preview the text; consider the source
c Read and annotate the text
d Summarize the main ideas
e Analyze and reflect on the text
f Think critically about visual texts
g A STUDENT’S CRITICAL READING

8 Analyzing Arguments
a Think critically about argument
b Recognize cultural contexts
c Identify an arguments’s basic appeals
d Recognize the use of stories in argument
e Understand Toulmin’s elements of argument
f Think critically about fallacies
g A STUDENT’S RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

9 Constructing arguments
a Understand purposes for argument
b Determine whether a statement can be argued
c Make a claim and draft a working thesis
d Examine your assumptions
e Shape your appeal to your audience
f  Consider the use of narratives or stories
g Establish credibility through ethical appeals
h Use effective logical appeals
i Use appropriate emotional appeals
j Consult sources
k Organize your argument
l  Consider design and delivery
m A STUDENT’S ARGUMENT ESSAY
 
Research
10 Doing research
a  Preparefor a research project
b  Form a research question and hypothesis
c  Plan your research
d  Move from hypothesis to working thesis
e  Understand different kinds of sources
f   Use web and library resources
g  Consulting your library’s staff, databases, and other resources
h  Conduct field research

11  Evaluating Sources
a  Understand why writers use sources
b  Create a working bibliography or an annotated bibliography
c  Evaluate a source’s usefulness and credibility
d  Read critically, and interpret sources
e  Synthesize sources

12  Integrating Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
a  Decide whether to quote, paraphrase, or summarize
b  Integrate quotations, paraphrases, and summaries effectively
c  Integrate visuals and media effectively and ethically
d  Understand why acknowledging sources matters
e  Know which sources to acknowledge
f   Recognize patch writing
g  Uphold your academic integrity, and avoid plagiarism
h  Write and revise a research project
 
Academic, Professional, and Public Writing
13 Writing Well in Any Discipline or Profession
a Consider genres across disciplines and professions
b Consider expectations for academic assignments
c Learn specialized vocabularies and styles
d Use evidence effectively
e Pay attention to ethical issues
f  Collaborate effectively and with an open mind

14  Writing for the Humanities
a Read texts in the humanities
b Write texts in the humanities
c A STUDENT’S CLOSE READING OF POETRY

15  Writing for the Social Sciences
a Read texts in the social sciences
b Write texts in the social sciences
c EXCERPT FROM A STUDENT’S PSYCHOLOGY LITERATURE REVIEW                       

16 Writing for the Natural and Applied Sciences
a Read texts in the natural and applied sciences
b Write texts in the natural and applied sciences
c EXCERPT FROM A STUDENT’S CHEMISTRY LAB REPORT

17 Writing in Professional Settings
a Read texts for business
b Write texts for business
STUDENT MEMO
TRADITIONAL RÉSUMÉ
CREATIVE RÉSUMÉ

18 Making Design Decisions
a Choose a type of text
b Plan a visual structure
c Format print and digital texts appropriately
d Consider visuals and media
  
19 Creating Presentations
a Consider assignment, purpose, and audience for presentations
b Write to be heard and remembered
c Create slides or other visuals
d Practice and deliver the presentation
e Consider other kinds of presentations

20 Communicating in Other Media
a Consider your rhetorical context
b Consider types of multimodal texts
c Plan features of texts

21  Writing to Make Something Happen in the World
a Decide what should happen
b Connect with your audience
c SAMPLE WRITING TO MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN IN THE WORLD
 
Language and Style
22  Language and Identity
a Recognize how the language of others can shape identity
b Use language to shape your own identity

23  Language Varieties
a  Use “standard” varieties of English appropriately
b  Use varieties of English to evoke a place or community
c  Build credibility within a community with language variety
d  Bring in other languages appropriately

24 Writing to the World
a  Think about what seems “normal”
b  Clarify meaning
c  Meet audience expectations

25  Language That Builds Common Ground
a  Examine assumptions and avoid stereotypes
b  Examine assumptions about gender
c  Examine assumptions about race and ethnicity
d  Consider other kinds of difference

26  Style Matters
a Use effective words and figures of speech
b Use powerful verbs
c Use varied sentence lengths and openings

27 Coordination, Subordination, and Emphasis
a Use coordination to relate equal ideas
b Use subordination to distinguish main ideas
c Use closing and opening positions for emphasis

28 Consistency and Completeness
a Revise faulty sentence structure
b Match up subjects and predicates
c Use elliptical structures carefully
d Check for missing words
e Make comparisons complete, consistent, and clear

29 Parallelism
a Make items in a series parallel
b Make paired ideas parallel
c Include all necessary words

30 Shifts
a Revise unnecessary shifts in verb tense
b Revise unnecessary shifts in mood
c Revise unnecessary shifts in voice
d Revise unnecessary shifts in person and number
e Revise shifts between direct and indirect discourse
f Revise shifts in tone and word choice

31 Conciseness
a Eliminate unnecessary words
b Simplify sentence structure
 
The Top Twenty
32 The Top Twenty: A Quick Guide to Editing Your Writing
Wrong word
Missing comma after an introductory element
Incomplete or missing documentation
Vague pronoun reference
Spelling (including homonyms)
Mechanical error with a quotation
Unnecessary comma
Unnecessary or missing capitalization
Missing word
Faulty sentence structure
Missing comma with nonrestrictive element
Unnecessary shift in verb tense
Missing comma in a compound sentence
Unnecessary or missing apostrophe (including its/it’s)
Fused (run-on) sentence
Comma splice
Lack of pronoun-antecedent agreement
Poorly integrated quotation
Unnecessary or missing hyphen
Sentence fragment
 
Sentence Grammar
33 Parts of Speech
a Verbs
b Nouns
c Pronouns
d Adjectives
e Adverbs
f Prepositions
g Conjunctions
h Interjections

34 Parts of Sentences
a The basic grammar of sentences
b Subjects
c Predicates
d Phrases
e Clauses
f Types of sentences

35 Verbs and Verb Phrases
a Understand the five forms of verbs
b Form verb phrases appropriately
c Use appropriate forms of irregular verbs
d Choose between lie and lay, sit and set, rise and raise
e Use verb tenses appropriately
f Sequence verb tenses effectively
g Use active and passive voice effectively
h Understand mood and conditional sentences

36 Nouns and Noun Phrases
a Use count and noncount nouns appropriately
b Use determiners appropriately
c Use articles conventionally

37 Subject-Verb Agreement
a Understand subject-verb agreement
b Make separated subjects and verbs agree
c Make verbs agree with compound subjects
d Make verbs agree with collective nouns
e Make verbs agree with indefinite pronouns
f Make verbs agree with who, which, and that
g Make linking verbs agree with subjects
h Make verbs agree with subjects ending in -s
i Make verbs agree with subjects that follow
j Make verbs agree with titles and words used as words

38 Pronouns
a Consider a pronoun’s role in the sentence
b Use who, whoever, whom, and whomever appropriately
c Consider case in compound structures
d Consider case in elliptical constructions
e Use we and us appropriately before a noun
f Make pronouns agree with antecedents
g Make pronouns refer to clear antecedents

39 Adjectives and Adverbs
a Understand adjectives and adverbs
b Use adjectives after linking verbs
c Use adverbs to modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs
d Choose appropriate comparative and superlative forms
e Consider nouns as modifiers
f Understand adjectives ending in -ed and -ing
g Put adjectives in order
h Avoid overuse of adverbs and adjectives

40 Modifier Placement
a Revise misplaced modifiers
b Revise disruptive modifiers
c Revise dangling modifiers

41 Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
a Use prepositions idiomatically
b Use two-word verbs idiomatically

42 Comma Splices and Fused Sentences
a Identify comma splices and fused sentences
b Separate clauses into two sentences
c Link the clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction
d Link the clauses with a semicolon
e Rewrite the clauses as one independent clause
f Rewrite one independent clause as a dependent clause
g Link the two clauses with a dash

43 Sentence Fragments
a Identify sentence fragments
b Revise phrase fragments
c Revise compound-predicate fragments
d Revise dependent-clause fragments
 
Punctuation and Mechanics
44 Commas
a Use commas to set off introductory words, phrases, and clauses
b Use commas with conjunctions that join clauses in compound sentences
c Use commas to set off nonrestrictive elements
d Use commas with items in a series
e Use commas to set off parenthetical and transitional expressions
f Use commas to set off contrasting elements, interjections, direct address, and tag questions
g Use commas with dates, addresses, titles, and numbers
h Use commas to set off most quotations
i Use commas to prevent confusion
j Eliminate unnecessary commas

45 Semicolons
a Use semicolons to link independent clauses
b Use semicolons to separate items in a series containing other punctuation
c Revise misused semicolons

46 End Punctuation
a Use periods appropriately
b Use question marks appropriately
c Use exclamation points appropriately
d Consider end punctuation in informal writing

47 Apostrophes
a Use apostrophes appropriately to show possession
b Use apostrophes in contractions
c Avoid apostrophes in most plural forms

48 Quotation Marks
a Use quotation marks to identify direct quotations
b Punctuate block quotations and poetry appropriately
c Use quotation marks for titles of short works
d Use quotation marks appropriately for definitions
e Use quotation marks to identify irony and invented terms
f Follow conventions for other punctuation with quotation marks
g Revise misused quotation marks

49 Other Punctuation Marks
a Use parentheses appropriately
b Use brackets appropriately
c Use dashes appropriately
d Use colons appropriately
e Use slashes appropriately
f Use ellipses appropriately

50 Capital Letters
a Capitalize the first word of a sentence or line of poetry
b Capitalize proper nouns and proper adjectives
c Capitalize titles of works
d Revise unnecessary capitalization

51 Abbreviations and Numbers
a Abbreviate some titles before and all titles after proper names
b Abbreviate years and hours appropriately
c Abbreviate some business, government, and science terms
d Use abbreviations in official company names
e Use Latin abbreviations appropriately
f Use symbols and unit abbreviations appropriately
g Use other abbreviations according to convention
h Spell out numbers expressed in one or two words
i Spell out numbers that begin sentences
j Use figures according to convention

52 Italics
a Italicize titles of long works
b Italicize words, letters, and numbers used as terms
c Italicize non-English words and phrases

53 Hyphens
a Use hyphens with compound words
b Use hyphens with prefixes and suffixes
c Avoid unnecessary hyphens
 
MLA Documentation
54 The Basics of MLA Style
a Think about what readers need from you
b Consider the context of your sources
c Plan and connect your citations
d Include notes as needed
e Format MLA manuscripts appropriately

55 MLA Style for In-Text Citations
Directory: In-text citations

56 MLA Style for a List of Works Cited
Directory: Works-cited entries

57 A Student Research Essay, MLA Style
 
APA Documentation
58 The Basics of APA Style
a Think about what readers need from you
b Identify the type of source you are using
c Plan and connect your citations
d Include notes as needed
e Format APA manuscripts appropriately

59 APA Style for In-Text Citations
Directory: In-text citations

60 APA Style for a List of References
Directory: References

61 A Student Research Essay, APA Style
 
Chicago Documentation
62 The Basics of Chicago Style
a Consider what readers need from you
b Connect parts of citations
c Format Chicago manuscripts appropriately

63 Chicago Style for Notes and Bibliographic Entries
Directory: Notes and bibliographic entries

64 An Excerpt from a Student Research Essay, Chicago Style
 
Glossaries and Index
Glossary of Usage
Index with Glossary of Terms