DIANA HACKER personally class-tested her handbooks with nearly four thousand students over 35 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. Other Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin�s, include The Bedford Handbook, Seventh
Edition (2006); A Writer�s Reference, Sixth Edition (2007); and A Pocket Style Manual, Fifth Edition (2008).
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 recent work
involves a longitudinal study of undergraduate writing. Nancy Sommers is co-author of Fields of Reading, Eighth
Edition (2007) for 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.
JANE ROSENZWEIG 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.
Summary
The first of its kind,A Pocket Style Manualcontinues to help student writers get answers to their writing and research questions. Its concise and straightforward content is flexible enough to suit the needs of writers in the humanities, social sciences, sciences, health professions, business courses, fine arts, teacher training courses, and beyond. Its slim format, brief length, and spiral binding make it a portable and practical tool. With its signature Diana Hacker quick-reference features,A Pocket Style Manualhas always provided quick solutions to writing problems. Supplemented by the best free and open Web resources,A Pocket Style Manualoffers the best value for students. In the Hacker tradition,the new contributing authors - Nancy Sommers, Tom Jehn, Jane Rosenzweig, and Marcy Carbajal Van Horn -have crafted solutions for the challenges today's college students face. Together they give us a new edition that provides more help with research writing and one that works better for a wider range of students.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
CLARITY
1. Tighten wordy sentences.
2. Prefer active verbs.
3. Balance parallel ideas.
4. Add needed words.
5. Eliminate confusing shifts.
6. Untangle mixed constructions.
7. Repair misplaced and dangling modifiers.
8. Provide some 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. Choose adjectives and adverbs with care.
14. Repair sentence fragments.
15. Revise run-on sentences.
16. If English is not your native language, check for common ESL problems.
PUNCTUATION
17. The comma
18. The semicolon and the colon
19. The apostrophe
20. Quotation marks
21. Other marks
MECHANICS
22. Capitalization
23. Abbreviations, numbers, and italics (underlining)
24. Spelling and the hyphen
RESEARCH RESOURCES
25. Finding print and online sources
26. Evaluating sources
MLA PAPERS
27. Supporting a thesis
28. Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism
29. Integrating nonfiction sources
30. Integrating literary quotations
31. MLA documentation style
32. MLA manuscript format; sample MLA pages
APA PAPERS
33. Supporting a thesis
34. Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism
35. Integrating sources
36. APA documentation style
37. APA manuscript format; sample APA pages
CHICAGO-STYLE PAPERS
38. Supporting a thesis
39. Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism
40. Integrating sources
41. Chicago documentation style
42. Chicago manuscript format; sample Chicago pages
