LaunchPad for The Bedford Handbook

 

Part I The Writing Process 
1  Exploring, planning, and drafting [e-Pages]     
Becoming a college writer: Choose topics you care about 
       a  Assessing the writing situation 
       b  Exploring your subject 
       c  Drafting and revising a working thesis  
       d  Drafting a plan 
       e  Drafting an introduction 
       f  Drafting the body 
       g  Drafting a conclusion 
       h  Managing your files   
2  Revising, editing, and reflecting [e-Pages]     
Becoming a college writer: Form a community of readers around you  
       a  Revising with comments  
       b  Approaching global revision in cycles  
       c  Revising and editing sentences; proofreading a final draft 
       d  Student writing: Literacy narrative  
            Writing guide: Literacy narrative 
       e  Preparing a portfolio; reflecting on your writing  
            Writing guide: Reflective opening statement for a portfolio 
3 Building effective paragraphs [e-Pages]     
       a  Focusing on a main point 
       b  Developing the main point 
       c  Choosing a suitable pattern of organization 
       d  Making paragraphs coherent 
       e  Adjusting paragraph length 
Part II  Academic Reading and Writing 
4  Reading and writing critically [e-Pages]     
Becoming a college writer: Engage with the texts you read  
       a  Reading actively 
       b  Outlining a text to identify main ideas 
       c  Summarizing to deepen your understanding 
       d  Analyzing to demonstrate your critical reading 
       e  Sample student essay: Analysis of an article 
           Writing Guide: Analyzing a written text  
5  Reading and writing about images and multimodal texts [e-Pages]      
       a  Reading actively 
       b  Outlining to identify main ideas 
       c  Summarizing to deepen your understanding 
       d  Analyzing to demonstrate your critical reading  
       e  Sample student essay: Analysis of an advertisement 
6  Reading and writing arguments [e-Pages]     
Becoming a college writer
       a  Distinguishing between reasonable and fallacious argumentative tactics 
       b  Distinguishing between legitimate and unfair emotional appeals   
       c  Judging how fairly a writer handles opposing views 
       d  Identifying your purpose and context  
       e  Viewing your audience as a panel of jurors 
       f  Establishing credibility and stating your position 
       g  Backing up your thesis with persuasive lines of argument 
       h  Supporting your claims with specific evidence  
       i  Anticipating objections; countering opposing arguments  
       j  Building common ground 
       k  Sample argument paper 
           Writing Guide: Constructing an argument  
7  Reading and writing about literature [e-Pages]     
       a  Reading actively 
       b  Forming an interpretation 
       c  Drafting a working thesis 
       d  Using evidence from the text; avoiding plot summary 
       e  Observing the conventions of literature papers   
       f  Integrating quotations from the text 
       g  Documenting secondary sources and avoiding plagiarism 
       h  Sample student essays 

           ANALYSIS with a primary source and secondary sources  

Part III Clear Sentences  
8 Prefer active verbs. [e-Pages, LC]
       a  Active versus passive verbs  
       b  Active versus be verbs  
       c  Subject that names the actor  
9 Balance parallel ideas. [e-Pages, LC]
       a  Parallel ideas in a series  
       b  Parallel ideas presented as pairs  
       c  Repetition of function words  
10 Add needed words.     
       a  In compound structures  
       b  that  
       c  In comparisons  
       d  a, an, and the  
11 Untangle mixed constructions.    
       a  Mixed grammar  
       b  Illogical connections  
       c  is when, is where, and reason . . . is because  
12 Repair misplaced and dangling modifiers. [e-Pages]    
       a  Limiting modifiers  
       b  Misplaced phrases and clauses  
       c  Awkwardly placed modifiers  
       d  Split infinitives  
       e  Dangling modifiers  
13 Eliminate distracting shifts. [e-Pages, LC]

       a  Point of view (person, number)  
       b  Verb tense   
       c  Verb mood, voice  
       d  Indirect to direct questions or quotations  
14 Emphasize key ideas. [e-Pages]     
       a  Coordination and subordination  
       b  Choppy sentences  
       c  Ineffective or excessive coordination  
       d  Ineffective subordination  
       e  Excessive subordination  
       f  Other techniques  
15 Provide some variety. [e-Pages]     
       a  Sentence openings  
       b  Sentence structures  
       c  Inverted order  
       d  Question or quotation 

Part IV Word Choice  
16 Tighten wordy sentences. [e-Pages, LC]     
       a  Redundancies  
       b  Unnecessary repetition  
       c  Empty or inflated phrases  
       d  Simplifying the structure  
       e  Reducing clauses to phrases, phrases to single words  
17 Choose appropriate language. [e-Pages, LC]     
       a  Jargon  
       b  Pretentious language, euphemisms, “doublespeak”  
       c  Obsolete and invented words  
       d  Slang, regional expressions, nonstandard English  
       e  Levels of formality  
       f  Sexist language  
       g  Offensive language  
18 Find the exact words. [e-Pages, LC]     
       a  Connotations  
       b  Specific, concrete nouns  
       c  Misused words  
       d  Standard idioms  
       e  Clichés  
       f  Figures of speech  

Part V Grammatical Sentences  
19 Repair sentence fragments. [e-Pages, LC]
       a  Subordinate clauses  
       b  Phrases  
       c  Other fragmented word groups  
       d  Acceptable fragments  
20 Revise run-on sentences. [e-Pages, LC]

       a  Correction with coordinating conjunction  
       b  Correction with semicolon, colon, or dash  
       c  Correction by separating sentences  
       d  Correction by restructuring  
21 Make subjects and verbs agree. [e-Pages, LC] 

       a  Standard subject-verb combinations  
       b  Words between subject and verb 
       c  Subjects joined with and  
       d  Subjects joined with or, nor, either . . . or, or neither . . . nor  
       e  Indefinite pronouns  
       f  Collective nouns  
       g  Subject following verb  
       h  Subject, not subject complement  
       i  who, which, and that  
       j  Words with plural form, singular meaning  
       k  Titles of works, company names, words mentioned as words, gerund phrases  
22 Make pronouns and antecedents agree. [e-Pages, LC]

       a  Singular with singular, plural with plural (indefinite pronouns, generic nouns)  
       b  Collective nouns  
       c  Antecedents joined with and  
       d  Antecedents joined with or, nor, either . . or, or neither . . . nor  
23 Make pronoun references clear. [e-Pages, LC]
       a  Ambiguous or remote reference  
       b  Broad reference of this, that, which, and it  
       c  Implied antecedents  
       d  Indefinite use of they, it, and you  
       e  who for persons, which or that for things  
24 Distinguish between pronouns such as I and me. [e-Pages]     
       a  Subjective case for subjects and subject complements  
       b  Objective case for objects  
       c  Appositives  
       d  Pronoun following than or as  
       e  we or us before a noun  
       f  ubjects and objects of infinitives  
       g  Pronoun modifying a gerund  
25 Distinguish between who and whom. [e-Pages]     
       a  In subordinate clauses  
       b  In questions  
       c  As subjects or objects of infinitives  
26 Choose adjectives and adverbs with care. [e-Pages]     
       a  Adjectives to modify nouns  
       b  Adverbs to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs  
       c  good and well, bad and badly  
       d  Comparatives and superlatives  
       e  Double negatives  
27 Choose appropriate verb forms, tenses, and moods in standard English. [e-Pages, LC]
       a  Irregular verbs  
       b  lie and lay  
       c  -s (or -es) endings  
       d  -ed endings  
       e  Omitted verbs  
       f  Verb tense  
       g  Subjunctive mood  

Part VI Multilingual Writers and ESL Challenges   
28 Verbs [e-Pages, LC]      
       a  Appropriate form and tense  
       b  Passive voice  
       c  Base form after a modal  
       d  Negative verb forms  
       e  Verbs in conditional sentences  
       f  Verbs followed by gerunds or infinitives  
29 Articles [e-Pages, LC]     
       a  Articles and other noun markers  
       b  When to use the  
       c  When to use a or an  
       d  When not to use a or an  
       e  No articles with general nouns  
       f  Articles with proper nouns  
30 Sentence structure [e-Pages, LC]      
       a  Linking verb between a subject and its complement  
       b  A subject in every sentence  
       c  Repeated nouns or pronouns with the same grammatical function  
       d  Repeated objects, adverbs in adjective clauses  
       e  Mixed constructions with although or because  
       f  Placement of adverbs  
       g  Present participles and past participles  
       h  Order of cumulative adjectives  
31 Prepositions and idiomatic expressions [e-Pages]     
       a  Prepositions showing time and place  
       b  Noun (including -ing form) after a preposition  
       c  Common adjective + preposition combinations  
       d  Common verb + preposition combinations  

Part VII Punctuation  
32 The comma [e-Pages, LC]
       a  Independent clauses joined with and, but, etc.  
       b  Introductory clauses or phrases 
       c  Items in a series  
       d  Coordinate adjectives  
       e  Nonrestrictive elements  
       f  Transitions, parenthetical expressions, absolute phrases, contrasts  
       g  Direct address, yes and no, interrogative tags, interjections  
       h  he said, etc.  
       i  Dates, addresses, titles, numbers  
33 Unnecessary commas [e-Pages]     
       a  Between two words, phrases, or subordinate clauses  
       b  Between a verb and its subject or object  
       c  Before the first or after the last item in a series  
       d  Between cumulative adjectives, an adjective and a noun, or an adverb and an adjective  
       e  Before and after restrictive or mildly parenthetical elements  
       f  Before essential concluding adverbial elements  
       g  After a phrase beginning an inverted sentence  
       h  Other misuses  
34 The semicolon [e-Pages]      
       a  Independent clauses not joined with a coordinating conjunction  
       b  Independent clauses linked with a transitional expression  
       c  Series containing internal punctuation  
       d  Misuses  
35 The colon [e-Pages]
       a  Before a list, an appositive, a quotation, or a summary  
       b  Conventional uses 
       c  Misuses  
36 The apostrophe [e-Pages, LC]

       a  Possessive nouns  
       b  Possessive indefinite pronouns  
       c  Contractions  
       d  Not for plural numbers, letters, abbreviations, words as words  
       e  Misuses  
37 Quotation marks [e-Pages]     
       a  Direct quotations  
       b  Quotation within a quotation  
       c  Titles of works  
       d  Words as words  
       e  With other punctuation marks  
       f  Misuses  
38 End punctuation   
       a  The period  
       b  The question mark  
       c  The exclamation point  
39 Other punctuation marks [e-Pages]     
       a  Dash  
       b  Parentheses  
       c  Brackets  
       d  Ellipsis mark  
       e  Slash  

Part VIII Mechanics  
40 Abbreviations [e-Pages]     
       a  Titles with proper names  
       b  Familiar abbreviations  
       c  Conventional abbreviations  
       d  Units of measurement 
       e  Latin abbreviations  
       f  Plural of abbreviations 
       g  Misuses  
41 Numbers [e-Pages]     
       a  Spelling out  
       b  Using numerals  
42 Italics [e-Pages]     
       a  Titles of works  
       b  Names of spacecraft, aircraft, and ships  
       c  Foreign words  
       d  Words as words, letters as letters, and numbers as numbers 
43 Spelling   
       a  Spelling rules  
       b  The dictionary  
       c  Words that sound alike  
       d  Commonly misspelled words  
44 The hyphen [e-Pages]    
       a  Compound words  
       b  Hyphenated adjectives  
       c  Fractions and compound numbers  
       d  With certain prefixes and suffixes  
       e  To avoid ambiguity or to separate awkward double or triple letters  
       f  Word division  
45 Capitalization [e-Pages, LC] 
       a  Proper versus common nouns  
       b  Titles with proper names 
       c  Titles and subtitles of works  
       d  First word of a sentence  
       e  First word of a quoted sentence  
       f  First word after a colon 
       g  Abbreviations  

Part IX Grammar Basics  
46 Parts of speech [e-Pages, LC]
       a  Nouns  
       b  Pronouns    
       c  Verbs   
       d  Adjectives    
       e  Adverbs   
       f  Prepositions   
       g  Conjunctions   
       h  Interjections  
47 Sentence patterns [e-Pages]  
       a  Subjects  
       b  Verbs, objects, and complements  
       c  Pattern variations  
48 Subordinate word groups [e-Pages]      
       a  Prepositional phrases 
       b  Verbal phrases  
       c  Appositive phrases 
       d  Absolute phrases  
       e  Subordinate clauses 
49 Sentence types [e-Pages]     
       a  Sentence structures 
       b  Sentence purposes 

Part X Researched Writing  
50 Conducting research [e-Pages]      
Becoming a college writer: Join a research conversation  
       a  Managing stress by managing the project 
       b  Posing questions worth exploring  
       c  Mapping out a search strategy  
       d  Searching efficiently; mastering a few shortcuts to finding good sources  
       e  Conducting field research, if appropriate 
51 Managing information; taking notes responsibly [e-Pages]    
       a  Maintaining a working bibliography  
       b  Keeping track of source materials  
       c  Avoiding unintentional plagiarism  
52 Evaluating sources [e-Pages]      
       a  Determining how sources might contribute to your writing  
       b  Selecting sources worth your time and attention  
       c  Selecting appropriate versions of online sources   
       d  Reading with an open mind and a critical eye   
       e  Assessing Web sources with care   
       f  Constructing an annotated bibliography  
           Writing Guide: Annotated bibliography  

Writing MLA papers  
53 Supporting a thesis [e-Pages]     
       a  Forming a working thesis  
       b  Organizing ideas with a rough outline  
       c  Using sources to inform and support your argument  
       d  Drafting an introduction for your thesis  
       e  Providing organizational cues  
       f  Drafting the paper in an appropriate voice  
54 Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism [e-Pages]      
       a  Understanding how the MLA system works  
       b  Avoiding plagiarism when quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing sources  
55 Integrating sources [e-Pages]      
Becoming a college writer: Provide context for sources    
       a  Using quotations appropriately  
       b  Using signal phrases to integrate sources  
       c  Synthesizing sources   

56 MLA documentation style [e-Pages]      
       a  MLA in-text citations  
       b  MLA list of works cited  
       c  MLA information notes (optional)  
57 MLA manuscript format; sample research paper  
       a  MLA manuscript format  
       b  Sample MLA research paper  
           Writing guide: Research paper  

Writing APA papers  
58 Supporting a thesis [e-Pages]      
       a  Forming a working thesis 
       b  Organizing your ideas 
       c  Using sources to inform and support your argument 
59 Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism [e-Pages]      
       a  Using the APA system for citing sources 
       b  Avoiding plagiarism  
60 Integrating sources [e-Pages]   
       a  Using quotations appropriately  
       b  Using signal phrases to integrate sources  
       c  Synthesizing sources    
61 APA documentation style [e-Pages]     
       a  APA in-text citations 
       b  APA list of references 
62 APA manuscript format; sample research paper  
       a  APA manuscript format 
       b  Sample APA research paper 

Writing Chicago papers  
63 Chicago papers [e-Pages]     
       a  Supporting a thesis  
       b  Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism  
       c  Integrating sources  
       d  Chicago documentation style    
       e  Chicago manuscript format  
       f  Sample Chicago research paper  

Part XI Writing in the Disciplines   
64 Learning to write in a discipline 
       a  Finding commonalities across disciplines 
       b  Recognizing the questions that writers in a discipline ask 
       c  Understanding the kinds of evidence that writers in a discipline use 
       d  Becoming familiar with the discipline’s language conventions 
       e  Using a discipline’s preferred citation style 
65 Approaching writing assignments in the disciplines 
       a  Writing in psychology 
       b  Writing in business  
       c  Writing in biology 
       d  Writing in nursing 

APPENDIX: A Document Design Gallery