Second Edition. ALPHA. 432 p.
Contents
Part 1: No Uncertain Terms
1 Are You Grammarphobic?
Probe your feeling about grammar and get clear definitions for grammar, usage, mechanics, and style.
2 Conan the Grammarian
Discover the most common grammar errors, assess your own writing strengths, and find out how you can improve your writing—right now!
Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer
3 Parts of Speech: Coming to Terms
Play with the building blocks of language to grasp the underpinnings of writing and speech. This chapter teaches you all about nouns, verbs, conjunctions, and prepositions.
4 Terms of Endearment: More Parts of Speech
Master the rest of the gang, too: adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and interjections.
5 Altered States: Verbs
Lea how to use the basic English tenses—and why its so important to do so. Also untangle the web of English verbs; lea how to form the irregular past tense.
6 Woe Is I: Pronouns and Case
Who versus whom. (Or should I just shoot myself now? )
7 Multiple-Vehicle Wrecks: Pronoun Reference Discover how the meaning of a pronoun comes from its antecedent, the noun or pronoun to which it refers.
8 How to Write and Speak Good: Adjectives Versus Adverbs
Good or well? Lea which part of speech to use when.
9 Reaching an Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts Find out how to match subjects and verbs, pronouns and antecedents.
10 Dazed and Confused: Common Usage Dilemmas Get a grip on dangling and misplaced modifiers, mixed metaphors, and split infinitives.
Part 3: Usage and Abusage
11 Phrases: Prime-Time Players
Probe prepositional phrases, admire appositives, and visit with some verbals.
12 Clauses: Kickin' It Up a Notch
Lea about independent clauses, dependent clauses, adverb clauses, adjective clauses, and noun clauses.
13 Sentence and Sensibility
Discover how to avoid fragments, run-ons, and comma splices.
14 Coordination and Subordination: What to Say When the Cops Come
Select the sentence pattes that best convey your meaning.
Part 4: Tools of the Trade
15 The Writer's Tools: Round Up the Usual Suspects Find out which tools can help you write better—and how.
16 Punctuation: Commas Are Our Friends
Lea the nuts and bolts: end marks, commas, semicolons and colons, apostrophes, and the rest of the gang (quotation marks, slash and dash, parentheses, brackets, and ellipses).
17 Capitalization and Abbreviations: Go to the Head of the Class
Master the guideposts of our language.
18 Guide to Spelling: Hooked on Phonics Bee a good speller.
Part 5: Style: All the Write Stuff
19 What Is Style, and How Do I Get Some?
Define "style" in writing and lea why it is so important to crafting clear, effective prose.
20 In Style
First, analyze the importance of audience to writing. Then discover the four kinds of writing: exposition, narration, argumentation, and description.
21 Stylish Sentences
Discover how to vary your sentence form and types to create a more polished and effective writing style.
22 Conciseness: The Department of Redundancy Department
Define "redundancy" and lea how to improve your writing style by simplifying your sentences.
23 Diction: Find the Right Word, Not Its First Cousin Lea the different levels of diction and how to distinguish between confusing words.
24 Don't Go There: Words and Expressions to Avoid Find out why its so important to avoid sexist language, doublespeak, and cliches.
Part 6: In Your Write Mind
2 5 Business Writing: Write Angles
Design effective documents for the world of work. These include resumes, cover letters, thank you notes, and good news and bad news letters.
26 Personal Writing: In Your Write Mind
Write friendly letters, social notes, and letters of opinion.
Appendixes
A Glossary
B Model Documents
C Guide to Grammar and Usage
Index
Contents
Part 1: No Uncertain Terms
1 Are You Grammarphobic?
Probe your feeling about grammar and get clear definitions for grammar, usage, mechanics, and style.
2 Conan the Grammarian
Discover the most common grammar errors, assess your own writing strengths, and find out how you can improve your writing—right now!
Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer
3 Parts of Speech: Coming to Terms
Play with the building blocks of language to grasp the underpinnings of writing and speech. This chapter teaches you all about nouns, verbs, conjunctions, and prepositions.
4 Terms of Endearment: More Parts of Speech
Master the rest of the gang, too: adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and interjections.
5 Altered States: Verbs
Lea how to use the basic English tenses—and why its so important to do so. Also untangle the web of English verbs; lea how to form the irregular past tense.
6 Woe Is I: Pronouns and Case
Who versus whom. (Or should I just shoot myself now? )
7 Multiple-Vehicle Wrecks: Pronoun Reference Discover how the meaning of a pronoun comes from its antecedent, the noun or pronoun to which it refers.
8 How to Write and Speak Good: Adjectives Versus Adverbs
Good or well? Lea which part of speech to use when.
9 Reaching an Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts Find out how to match subjects and verbs, pronouns and antecedents.
10 Dazed and Confused: Common Usage Dilemmas Get a grip on dangling and misplaced modifiers, mixed metaphors, and split infinitives.
Part 3: Usage and Abusage
11 Phrases: Prime-Time Players
Probe prepositional phrases, admire appositives, and visit with some verbals.
12 Clauses: Kickin' It Up a Notch
Lea about independent clauses, dependent clauses, adverb clauses, adjective clauses, and noun clauses.
13 Sentence and Sensibility
Discover how to avoid fragments, run-ons, and comma splices.
14 Coordination and Subordination: What to Say When the Cops Come
Select the sentence pattes that best convey your meaning.
Part 4: Tools of the Trade
15 The Writer's Tools: Round Up the Usual Suspects Find out which tools can help you write better—and how.
16 Punctuation: Commas Are Our Friends
Lea the nuts and bolts: end marks, commas, semicolons and colons, apostrophes, and the rest of the gang (quotation marks, slash and dash, parentheses, brackets, and ellipses).
17 Capitalization and Abbreviations: Go to the Head of the Class
Master the guideposts of our language.
18 Guide to Spelling: Hooked on Phonics Bee a good speller.
Part 5: Style: All the Write Stuff
19 What Is Style, and How Do I Get Some?
Define "style" in writing and lea why it is so important to crafting clear, effective prose.
20 In Style
First, analyze the importance of audience to writing. Then discover the four kinds of writing: exposition, narration, argumentation, and description.
21 Stylish Sentences
Discover how to vary your sentence form and types to create a more polished and effective writing style.
22 Conciseness: The Department of Redundancy Department
Define "redundancy" and lea how to improve your writing style by simplifying your sentences.
23 Diction: Find the Right Word, Not Its First Cousin Lea the different levels of diction and how to distinguish between confusing words.
24 Don't Go There: Words and Expressions to Avoid Find out why its so important to avoid sexist language, doublespeak, and cliches.
Part 6: In Your Write Mind
2 5 Business Writing: Write Angles
Design effective documents for the world of work. These include resumes, cover letters, thank you notes, and good news and bad news letters.
26 Personal Writing: In Your Write Mind
Write friendly letters, social notes, and letters of opinion.
Appendixes
A Glossary
B Model Documents
C Guide to Grammar and Usage
Index