Softbound - New, softbound print book.

How does good writing stand out? If its purpose is to convey facts, findings, or instructions, it need be read only once for its content to be clear. If its purpose is to entertain or to provoke thought, it makes readers want to come back for more. Revised and updated, this guide covers four essential aspects of good writing: Individual words: spelling variations, hyphenation, frequently confused homonyms, frequently misused words and phrases, irregular plurals and negatives, and uses of capitalization and type style to add special meanings Punctuation: the role of each mark in achieving clarity and affecting tone, and demonstration of how misuses can lead to ambiguity Syntax and structure: agreement of subject and verb, parallel construction, modifiers, tenses, pronouns, active versus passive voice, and more Style:advice on the less hard-and-fast areas of clarity and tone, including sentence length and order, conciseness, simplification, reading level, jargon and cliches, and subtlety Filled with self-test exercises and whimsical literary quotations, Grammatically Correct steers clear of academic stuffiness, focusing instead on practical strategies and intuitive explanations. Discussions are designed to get to the heart of a concept and provide a sufficient sense of when and how to use it, along with examples that show what ambiguities or misinterpretations might result if the rules are not followed. In cases where there is more than one acceptable way to do something, the approach is not to prescribe one over another but simply to describe the options. Readers of this book will never break the rules of language again – unintentionally.

How to Write for Class: A Student's Guide to Grammar, Punctuation, and Style is a comprehensive guide to the concepts students need to know to write effectively for school. Rather than treat grammar as a series of rules to be memorized, it emphasizes the logic behind the English language as well as the relationship between grammar and meaning. The approach taken in this book is also based on the observation that students often find it challenging to apply rules studied in isolation, or through overly-simplified examples, to the more complex statements they want to include in their own writing. How to Write for Class is designed to help bridge that gap: it makes use of numerous examples from actual papers and walks students through the process of constructing the type of sophisticated but grammatically coherent statements that will raise their academic writing to the next level. Appropriate for advanced middle-school through college writers.

Just Writing: Grammar, Punctuation, and Style for the Legal Writer, Sixth Edition

The bestselling workbook and grammar guide, revised and updated! Hailed as one of the best books around for teaching grammar, The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation includes easy-to-understand rules, abundant examples, dozens of reproducible quizzes, and pre- and post-tests to help teach grammar to middle and high schoolers, college students, ESL students, homeschoolers, and more. This concise, entertaining workbook makes learning English grammar and usage simple and fun. This updated 12th edition reflects the latest updates to English usage and grammar, and includes answers to all reproducible quizzes to facilitate self-assessment and learning. Clear and concise, with easy-to-follow explanations, offering "just the facts" on English grammar, punctuation, and usage Fully updated to reflect the latest rules, along with even more quizzes and pre- and post-tests to help teach grammar Ideal for students from seventh grade through adulthood in the US and abroad For anyone who wants to understand the major rules and subtle guidelines of English grammar and usage, The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation offers comprehensive, straightforward instruction.

Mastering the details of English grammar and style can be a slow and painful process. With clear, no-nonsense explanations and examples, Idiot's Guides: Grammar and Style makes learning the finer points of the English language easy. The book focuses on what people really need to know — the mechanics of writing, the parts of speech, proper punctuation and capitalization, and the most common errors (and how to avoid and fix them). Exercises that reinforce learning are also packed into this helpful guide.

An interactive, multimedia text that introduces students to reading and writing at the college level.