Cover: A Pocket Style Manual with 2021 MLA Update, 9th Edition by Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers

A Pocket Style Manual with 2021 MLA Update

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Ninth  Edition©2021  Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers

ISBN:9781319455569

About

Everything you need for writing and research—in college and beyond.

This ebook has been updated to provide you with the latest guidance on documenting sources in MLA style and follows the guidelines set forth in the MLA Handbook, 9th edition (April 2021).

How do I fix a comma splice? How do I cite a Youtube video? No matter your question or the writing project, A Pocket Style Manual has the answers. With its quick, easy-to-find explanations and plenty of examples--including full model papers and more than 200 documentation models--this book will become your go-to guide in your English class, the rest of college, and even your career.

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Table of Contents

Clarity
1 Tighten wordy sentences.
2 Prefer active verbs.
3 Balance parallel ideas.
4 Add needed words.
5 Eliminate distracting shifts.
6 Untangle mixed constructions.
7 Repair misplaced and dangling modifiers.
8 Provide sentence variety.
9 Find an appropriate voice.
Grammar
10 Make subjects and verbs agree.
11 Be alert to other problems with verbs.
12 Use pronouns with care.
13 Use adjectives and adverbs appropriately.
14 Repair sentence fragments.
15 Revise run-on sentences.
16 Consider grammar topics for multilingual writers.
Punctuation
17 The comma
18 The semicolon and the colon
19 The apostrophe
20 Quotation marks
21 Other punctuation marks
Mechanics
22 Capitalization
23 Abbreviations, numbers, and italics
24 Hyphenation
Research
25 Posing a research question
26 Finding appropriate sources
27 Managing information; avoiding plagiarism
28 Evaluating sources
MLA Papers
29 Supporting a thesis
30 Avoiding plagiarism
31 Integrating sources
32 Integrating literary quotations
33 MLA documentation style
34 MLA format; sample research paper
APA Papers
35 Supporting a thesis
36 Avoiding plagiarism
37 Integrating sources
38 APA documentation style
39 APA format; sample research paper
Chicago Papers
40 Supporting a thesis
41 Avoiding plagiarism
42 Integrating sources
43 Chicago documentation style
44 Chicago format; sample pages
CSE Papers
45 CSE documentation style
46 CSE format

Diana Hacker

Diana Hacker personally class-tested her handbooks with nearly four thousand students over thirty-five years at Prince George's Community College in Maryland, where she was a member of the English faculty. Hacker handbooks, built on innovation and on a keen understanding of the challenges facing student writers, are the most widely adopted in America. Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin's, include A Writer's Reference, Eleventh Edition (2025); A Pocket Style Manual, Tenth Edition (2025); The Bedford Handbook, Twelfth Edition (2023); Rules for Writers, Tenth Edition (2022); and Writer’s Help 2.0, Hacker Version.

Nancy Sommers

Nancy Sommers, who has taught composition and directed composition programs for thirty years, now teaches in Harvard's Graduate School of Education. She led Harvard's Expository Writing Program for twenty years, directing the first-year writing program and establishing Harvard's WAC program. A two-time Braddock Award winner, Sommers is well known for her research and publications on student writing. Her articles “Revision Strategies of Student and Experienced Writers” and “Responding to Student Writing” are two of the most widely read and anthologized articles in the field of composition. Recently she has been exploring different audiences through publishing in popular media. Sommers is the lead author on Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin’s, and editor of Tiny Teaching Stories on Macmillan Learning's Bits Blog.