The Beacon Handbook and Desk Reference - Softcover

Robert Perrin (Ph.D., University of Illinois--Champaign/Urbana) is currently Chairperson of the Department of English at Indiana State University, after serving as Director of Writing Programs for seventeen years. He has won the University's Caleb Mills Award for distinguished teaching and the Theodore Dreiser Award for distinguished research, as well as the College of Arts and Sciences' Distinguished Professor award. He has published numerous articles on composition and teaching and has published seven textbooks and research guides, including The Beacon Handbook (six editions) and Handbook for College Research (three editions).

The Composing Process 1. Planning 1a A General Subject 1b Ideas and Planning 1c A Specific Topic 1d Your Role, Readers, and Purpose 1e A Working Thesis Statement 2. Drafting 2a Organizing Materials 2b An Outline 2c A Rough Draft 2d A Title and Introductory and Concluding Paragraphs 3. Revising 3a Setting Aside the Rough Draft 3b Content Revision 3c Style Revision 3d Technical Revision 3e Peer Editing 3f The Final Draft 3g A Sample Paper 4. Paragraphs 4a Unified Paragraphs 4b Coherent Paragraphs 4c Paragraph Length 4d Organization and Development 5. Critical Thinking and Argumentation 5a Principles of Reasoning 5b Purpose of Writing 5c Ways to Respond Critically 5d Argumentation 5e A Sample Argument ESL Writers 6. ESL Writers: Working beyond Mechanics 6a Writing in the American Culture 6b General Issues of Writing 6c Special Concerns 6d Technical Issues for ESL Writers: A Guide Grammatical Sentences 7. Parts of Speech 7a Nouns 7b Pronouns 7c Verbs 7d Adjectives 7e Adverbs 7f Conjunctions 7g Prepositions 7h Interjections 8. Sentences 8a Parts of Sentences 8b Kinds of Sentences 9. Fragments 9a Without Subjects or Verbs 9b Subordinate Clauses 9c Special Use of Fragments 10. Comma Splices and Fused Sentences 10a Forming Two Sentences 10b Using a Semicolon 10c Using Coordinating or Subordinating Conjunctions 10d Conjunctive Adverbs 11. Agreement 11a Subjects and Verbs 11b Pronouns and Antecedents 12. Parallelism 12a With Coordinating Conjunctions 12b With Correlative Conjunctions 12c Repetition of Sentence Elements 13. Pronoun Reference 13a Unclear Pronoun References 13b Reflexive Pronouns and Subjects of Sentences 13c Clear Pronoun References 14. Pronoun Case 14a Subjective Case 14b Objective Case 14c Possessive Case 14d Appositives and Elliptical Constructions 14e Who and Whoever and Whom and Whomever 15. Positioning Modifiers 15a Clarity and Smoothness 15b Dangling Modifiers 15c Squinting Modifiers 16. Verb Tenses 16a Verb Forms 16b Simple Tenses 16c Perfect Tenses 16d Progressive Tenses 16e Relationships Among Actions and Conditions 16f Mood 17. Adjectives and Adverbs 17a Modifying Nouns and Pronouns 17b Modifying Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs 17c Positive, Comparative, and Superlative Adjective and Adverbs 17d Troublesome Adjective and Adverb Pairs 18. Sentence Variety 18a Sentence Length 18b Sentence Types 18c Sentence Beginnings 18d Coordination and Subordination 19. Emphasis 19a Active and Passive Sentences 19b Concision 20. Diction 20a Levels of Diction 20b Denotations and Connotations 20c Specific Words 20d Biased Language 20e Slang and Regionalisms 20f Cliches and Triteness 20g Forms of Idioms 20h Jargon 20i Euphemisms 20j Pretentious Language 20k Figures of Speech 20l Neologisms and Archaisms Punctuation and Mechanics 21. End Punctuation 21a Periods 21b Question Marks 21c Exclamation Points 22. Commas 22a Three or More Items in a Series 22b Compound and Compound-Complex Sentences 22c Introductory Words and Phrases 22d Nonrestrictive Information 22e Contrasting Sentence Elements 22f Expressions That Signal Direct Quotations 22g Numbers, Dates, Addresses, Place Names, and Titles 22h Unnecessary Commas 23. Semicolons and Colons 23a Independent Clauses 23b Sentence Elements That Contain Commas 23c Incorrect Use of Semicolons 23d To Introduce Elements 23e Numerals 23f Incorrect Use of Colons 24. Apostrophes 24a Possessive Case 24b Omission of Letters and Numbers 24c Not with Possessive Pronouns 25. Other Marks of Punctuation 25a Dashes 25b Hyphens 25c Parentheses 25d Brackets 25e Ellipsis Points 26. Capitals 26a The First Word in Every Sentence 26b Proper Nouns and Proper Adjectives 26c Titles and Subtitles 27. Italics 27a Titles of Lengthy Published Works 27b Specific Names of Ships, Trains, Aircraft, and Spacecraft 27c Unfamiliar Foreign Words and Phrases 27d Words Used as Words, Letters Used as Letters, and Numbers Used as Numbers 27e For Emphasis 28. Quotation Marks 28a Direct Quotations and Dialogue 28b Punctuation with Quotation Marks 28c Titles of Brief Works, Parts of Long Works, and Unpublished Works 28d Ironic or Other Special Use of a Word 29. Numbers and Abbreviations 29a Numbers 29b Abbreviations 30. Spelling 30a General Rules 30b Dictionaries 30c Technical Words and British Variants Research 31. Topic, Research, and Note Taking 31a Subject to Topic 31b A Working Thesis Statement or Research Question 31c The Library 31d Electronic Search Systems 31e Online Periodical Databases 31f Using Electronic Sources 31g Selecting and Evaluating Sources 31h Taking Notes 31i Plagiarism 32. Works-Cited Entries 32a Citation Format 32b Accuracy and Completeness 32c Books 32d Periodicals 32e Nonprint Sources 32f The Internet and Other Electronic Sources 33. Organizing, Writing, and Documenting 33a Organization 33b A Rough Draft 33c Incorporating Notes 33d Parenthetical Notes 33e Revision 33f A Final Manuscript 33g A Sample Research Paper Document Design 34. Document Design and Manuscript Preparation 34a A Document's Purpose 34b Basic Printing Features 34c Visual Elements 34d Web Site Design Desk Reference Appendixes A. APA Documentation Style B. Writing Essay Exams C. Business Writing D. Writing About Literature Glossary of Usage Glossary of Grammatical Terms General Index