Product Details
A Writer's Reference

A Writer's Reference
By Diana Hacker

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Product Description

A Writer’s Reference is the most widely adopted college handbook ever published. The new edition is available in a classic version that provides more help with academic writing, serves a wider range of multilingual students, and lends more support for college research — all in an easy-to-use quick-reference format. Now for all the ways you teach your course, you can choose the classic version or choose from among 4 additional versions with varied content.
  • A Writer’s Reference with Exercises is tailor-made for classroom use or for additional grammar practice with 86 integrated exercise sets.
  • A Writer’s Reference with Writing in the Disciplines provides help for college writing beyond composition with advice and models in six academic disciplines.
  • A Writer’s Reference with Writing about Literature includes an entire tabbed section on interpreting and writing about works of literature, with two annotated student essays.
  • A Writer’s Reference with Extra Help for ESL Writers includes an entire tabbed section for nonnative speakers of English; it offers targeted advice and strategies for college writing and research.
 
 


Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #21857 in Books
  • Published on: 2006-11-23
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Plastic Comb
  • 512 pages

Editorial Reviews

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
 


Customer Reviews

Excellent writing support...5
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

This is a "must have" writer or editor's tool.5
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

This book is the First Aid Manual for Every Serious Writer.5
As an English instructor, I have mulled over various texts in the search for the most student and instructor accessible book. My search ended when I found Professor Hacker's A Writer's Reference. This concise work includes introduction to grammar and style, a review of the basics, and an extensive guide to research.

My colleagues and I agree that Professor Hacker's book should be required as a resource in English courses. The book is true to its title; it is a writer's reference.