A Writer's Reference: 2003 MLA Update (Plastic Comb)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A proven success. The best-selling college textbook of any kind. Thoroughly class tested and enthusiastically endorsed by millions of students and their instructors at more than 1300 colleges and universities across the country. Updated with MLA's 1999 guidelines. Spiral. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

DIANA HACKER's handbooks, used at almost half of the colleges and universities in the country, are the most widely adopted in America. A member of the English faculty at Prince George's Community College in Maryland for almost 35 years, Diana Hacker personally class-tested her handbooks with nearly four thousand students. Diana Hacker's other handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin's, include The Bedford Handbook (2006); Rules for Writers (2004); andA Pocket Style Manual (2004).

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS
NANCY SOMMERS, Sosland Director of Expository Writing at Harvard University, has also taught composition at Rutgers University and at Monmouth College and has directed the writing program at the University of Oklahoma. 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 in the field. Her recent work involves a longitudinal study of undergraduate writing. Nancy Sommers is coauthor of Fields of Reading (2007) and tudent Writers at Work: The Bedford Prizes, both published by Bedford/St. Martin's.

TOM JEHN teaches composition and directs the writing across the disciplines program at Harvard University. A recipient of numerous teaching awards both at Harvard and at the University of Virginia, he also leads professional development seminars on writing instruction for public high school teachers through the Calderwood Writing Fellows Project.

JANE ROSENZWEIG, a published author of fiction and non-fiction, teaches composition and directs the writing center at Harvard University. She has also taught writing at Yale University and the University of Iowa.

MARCY CARBAJAL VAN HORN, assistant professor of English and ESL at Santa Fe Community College (FL), teaches composition to native and nonnative speakers of English and teaches the Advanced ESL Writing course. She has also taught university-level academic writing and critical thinking at Instituto Technológico y de Estudios Superiores in Mexico.

 

EDITORIAL ADVISERS:

Of the more than 500 experienced composition instructors who reviewed the new edition, a core group served as an editorial advisory board — carefully reviewing all new material in depth, making sure the book would work as well for their students as it always had.

Joanne ADDISON
University of Colorado, Denver

 

Derick BURLESON
University of Alaska, Fairbanks

 

Paige BYAM
Northern Kentucky University

 

Elizabeth CANFIELD
Virginia Commonwealth University

 

Richard CARR
University of Alaska, Fairbanks

 

Michele CHEUNG
University of Southern Maine

 

Jon CULLICK
Northern Kentucky University

 

David ENDICOTT
Tacoma Community College

 

Lin FRASER
Sacramento City College

 

Hank GALMISH
Green River Community College

 

Nancy GISH
University of Southern Maine

 

Jacqueline GRAY
St. Charles Community College

 

Barclay GREEN
Northern Kentucky University

 

Karen GROSSWEINER
University of Alaska, Fairbanks

 

D. J. HENRY
Daytona Beach Community College

 

Kandace KNUDSON
Sacramento City College

 

Tonya KROUSE
Northern Kentucky University

 

Tamara KUZMENKOV
Tacoma Community College

 

Cheryl LAZ
University of Southern Maine

 

Lydia Lynn LEWELLEN
Tacoma Community College

 

Jeanette LONIA
Delaware Technical and Community College

 

Walter LOWE
Green River Community College

 

Michael MACKEY
Community College of Denver

 

Tammy MATA
Tarrant County Community College

 

Holly MCSPADDEN
Missouri Southern State University

 

Liora MORIEL
University of Maryland, College Park

 

Patricia MURPHY
Missouri Southern State University

 

Melissa NICOLAS
University of Louisiana, Lafayette

 

Diane Allen O’HERON
Broome Community College

 

Sarah QUIRK
Waubonsee Community College

 

Ann SMITH
Modesto Junior College

 

Steve THOMAS
Community College of Denver

 

Nick TINGLE
University of California, Santa Barbara

 

Terry Myers ZAWACKI
George Mason University

 

--This text refers to an alternate Plastic Comb edition.

Product Details

• Plastic Comb: 466 pages
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's; 5th edition (May 12, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312412622
• ISBN-13: 978-0312412623
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,139 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent writing support..., September 7, 2000

By	Alan R. Holyoak (Idaho) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Writer's Reference (with 1999 MLA Update) (Spiral-bound)

All students at Manchester College, IN, (where I teach) are expected to own and use a copy of this extremely helpful, user friendly reference guide to writing. The spiral bound format of the book is outstanding, since someone can have it open as they type, or jot down notes, or thoughts.

The book is organized into three major sections: 1) Composition/Style, 2) Correctness, and 3) Format/Basic grammar. Each of those major sections are subdivided into four supporting subsections as follows:

Composition/Style -- 1) Composing and revising, 2) Research writing, 3) Effective sentences, and 4) Word Choice.

Correctness -- 1) Grammatical sentences, 2) ESL Trouble spots, 3) Punctuation, and 4) Spelling and mechanics.

Format/Basic Grammar -- 1) Document design, 2) MLA documentation, 3) Alternative styles of documentation, and 4) Basic grammar.

In addition to those sections, there are tutorials at the front of the book that helps the user get the best benefit from support available in the book. There are also ESL hints throughout the text, not just in the section dedicated to ESL challenges. The index is helpful, there are several URLs at the back of the book where a writer can go for more help, and there is even a page that shows revision symbols.

There are ample examples throughout, and anyone who conscientiously applies the lessons in this book will become a better writer.

This is a top-flight book with great things to offer everyone -- from struggling first-year college students taking their first composition class to the polished professional writer.

The strengths of this text made this book the top choice to support our writing across the curriculum program at Manchester College. Many other colleges and universities also use this great book.

5 stars for utility and support.

Alan Holyoak, Dept of Biology, Manchester College, IN

59 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a "must have" writer or editor's tool., April 30, 2002

By	Victoria Tarrani "writer, editor, artist, des... (Betwixt FL and CA, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Writer's Reference (Paperback)

Describing the contents of one of the most beneficial grammar books I study is difficult, though it is easy to read, research, check, verify, and use. Diana Hacker has written many books to help people understand and use the English language in the correct way. This is a heritage that also protects the language for future generations, just as dictionaries do.

The Main Menu is divided into topics and the sections that relate to it. Within each of these is a category breakdown, as follows:

Composition/Style:
(C) Composing and revising, (D) Document Design, (E) Effective sentences, and (W) Word Choices.
Correctness:
(G) Grammatical sentences, (T) ESL Trouble spots, (P) Punctuation, and (S) Spelling and mechanics.
Research/ Basic Grammar:
(R) Research Writing, (M) MLA documentation, (A) Alternative styles of documentation, and (B) Basic grammar.

The index is also helpful. I selected a topic at random--adjective phrases: (1) Infinite, 350, (2) participle, 349, (3) prepositional, 348-349, (4) punctuation of, 198, 205.

The format displays what type of information is on that page. (1) Page 350 is B for basic grammar information, as are 348 and 349. Pages 98 and 205 are P or punctuation.

This book is on my desk, and is one of the most useful tools I own. I cannot recommend it enough. Any serious writer, editor, or student needs it. 5 stars.

Victoria Tarrani

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good tool, except as an aid for revision., November 17, 1999

By	Jacqueline L. McGrath (Columbia, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Writer's Reference (Plastic Comb)

Hacker's handbook is a wonderful resource for student writers. I require my freshman composition students to purchase a copy, and we use her book to enhance our classroom writing projects. My students rely on her handbook for its guides for peer review, as well as for all the basics of grammar and "correctness" in writing. However, the gaping flaw in this handbook is its de-emphasis on revision in writing. Its "Revising" section barely suggests that students should revise *ideas*, and focuses instead on sentence revision and the structure of a paper (the minutia of student composition), to the detriment of promoting whole and significant revision of *thought*.