The Concise Canadian Writer's Handbook
4th Edition
Published on 28. October 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
436 pages
978-0-19-016397-6 (ISBN)
Description
This streamlined version of Canada's most trusted guide to research, writing, and documentation delivers invaluable advice on every aspect of the writing process, from composing a sentence to producing a full-length research paper. This handbook features descriptions and examples of the entire writing process from basic grammar and punctuation to constructing sentences and paragraphs. It also covers how to quote and paraphrase to avoid plagiarism, and includes updated coverage of MLA, APA, Chicago, CSE, and IEEE styles. This text is suitable for students of all levels of study and includes EAL icons that point to material of particular benefit to students learning English as an additional language.
More details
Edition
4th Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
4 figures; 45 tables
Dimensions
Height: 211 mm
Width: 182 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
712 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-016397-6 (9780190163976)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
William E. Messenger | Jan de Bruyn | Judy Brown
The Concise Canadian Writer's Handbook
Book
05/2017
3rd Edition
Oxford University Press, Canada
€45.39
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
William E. Messenger and Jan de Bruyn (both now deceased), both professors emeriti of the University of British Columbia, produced the first edition of The Canadian Writer's Handbook (main volume) in 1980. Judy Brown (now deceased) joined the project as an editorial consultant on the third edition; she was senior instructor and associate head in the English department at UBC. Ramona Montagnes is the former head of the Writing Centre at UBC, where she taught composition courses for the Writing Centre and the English Department.
Author
Professor emeritus (deceased)Professor emeritus (deceased), University of British Columbia
Professor emeritus (deceased)Professor emeritus (deceased), University of British Columbia
Former senior instructor and associate head, English (deceased)Former senior instructor and associate head, English (deceased), University of British Columbia
Former head of Writing CentreFormer head of Writing Centre, University of British Columbia
Content
- Important Topics for EAL Students
- Preface
- PART I: Principles of Composition
- 1. Kinds of Paragraphs
- 1a Functions of Paragraphs
- 1b Kinds of Paragraphs: Methods of Development
- Unity, Coherence, and Emphasis in Paragraphs
- 2. Paragraph Unity
- 3. Paragraph Coherence
- 4. Coherence Through Organization: Beginning, Middle, and Ending
- 4a The Beginning: Topic Sentences
- 4b The Middle
- 4c The Ending
- 5. Structural Coherence
- 5a Parallelism
- 5b Repetition
- 5c Pronouns and Demonstrative Adjectives
- 5d Transitional Terms
- 6. Emphasis in Paragraphs
- 7. Length of Paragraphs
- 7a Too Many Long Paragraphs
- 7b Too many Short Paragraphs
- 7c Variety
- 7d Review: A Sample Paragraph with an Analysis
- The Whole Essay
- 8. The Whole Essay: Unity, Coherence, and Emphasis
- 8a Unity
- 8b Coherence
- 8c Emphasis
- 9. The Process of Planning, Writing, and Revising the Essay
- 9a Finding a Subject and Pre-writing
- 9b Limiting the Subject
- 9c Considering Audience and Purpose
- 9d Gathering Evidence
- 9e Classifying and Organizing the Evidence
- 9f The Thesis Statement and the Outline
- 9g The Importance of Outlining
- 9h Kinds of Outlines
- 9i Sentence Outlines
- 9j Constructing Sentence Outlines
- 9k Writing the First Draft
- 9-l Notes on Beginnings
- 9m Revising
- 9n Preparing the Final Draft
- 9-o Proofreading
- 10. Argument: Writing to Convince or Persuade
- 10a Subject
- 10b Audience
- 10c Evidence
- 10d Organization
- 10e Being Reasonable
- 10f Including the Opposition
- 10g Using Induction and Deduction
- 10h Detecting and Avoiding Fallacies
- 11. Writing In-Class Essays and Essay Examinations
- PART II: Understanding Sentences
- 12. Sentence Patterns and Conventions
- 12a Subject and Predicate, Noun and Verb
- 12b Articles and Other Modifiers
- 12c Sentence Pattern 1: subject + verb
- 12d Sentence Pattern 2A: subject + verb + direct object
- 12e Sentence Pattern 2B (passive voice): subject + passive voice verb
- 12f Sentence Pattern 3: subject + verb + indirect object + direct object
- 12g Sentence Pattern 4A: subject + linking verb + subjective complement (predicate adjective)
- 12h Sentence Pattern 4B: subject + linking verb + subjective complement (predicate noun)
- 12i Sentence Pattern 5A: subject + verb + direct object + objective complement (adjective)
- 12j Sentence Pattern 5B: subject + verb + direct object + objective complement (noun)
- 12k Sentence Pattern 6 (expletive): there or it + linking verb (+ complement) + subject
- 12-l Other Elements: Structure Words
- 12m Independent (Main) Clauses
- 12n Subordinate (Dependent) Clauses
- 12-o Functions of Subordinate Clauses
- 12p Phrases
- 12q Appositives
- 12r Absolute Phrases
- 12s Order of Elements in Declarative Sentences
- 12t Order of Elements in Interrogative Sentences
- 12u The Structure of Imperative Sentences
- 12v What Is a Sentence?
- 12w Minor Sentences
- 12x Fragments
- 12y Major Sentences
- 12z Kinds of Major Sentences
- PART III: Parts of Speech
- 13. Nouns
- 13a Inflection of Nouns
- 13b Grammatical Function of Nouns
- 13c Nouns and Inclusive Language
- 14. Pronouns
- 14a Personal Pronouns
- 14b Impersonal Pronouns
- 14c Interrogative Pronouns
- 14d Relative Pronouns
- 14e Case
- 14f Demonstrative Pronouns
- 14g Indefinite Pronouns
- 14h Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns
- 14i Reciprocal Pronouns
- 15. Agreement of Pronouns with Their Antecedents
- 15a Antecedents Joined by and
- 15b Antecedents Joined by or or nor
- 15c Indefinite Pronoun as Antecedent
- 15d Pronouns and Inclusive Language: Avoiding Gender Bias
- 15e Sensitive Language
- 15f Collective Noun as Antecedent
- 15g Agreement with Demonstrative Adjectives
- 16. Reference of Pronouns
- 16a Remote Antecedent
- 16b Ambiguous Reference
- 16c Vague Reference
- 16d Missing Antecedent
- 16e Indefinite you, they, and it
- 17. Verbs
- 17a Kinds of Verbs: Transitive, Intransitive, and Linking
- 17b Inflection of Verbs: Principal Parts
- 17c Irregular Verbs
- 17d Inflection for Person and Number
- 17e Auxiliary Verbs
- 17f Inflection of do, be, and have
- 17g Time and the Verb: Inflection for Tense
- 17h Sequence of Tenses
- 17i Verb Phrases in Compound Predicates
- 17j Tenses in Writing about Literature
- 17k Mood
- 17-l Voice: Active and Passive
- 18. Agreement Between Subject and Verb
- 18a Words Intervening Between Subject and Verb
- 18b Compound Subject: Singular Nouns Joined by and
- 18c Compound Subject: Parts Joined by or or a Correlative
- 18d Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns
- 18e Subject Following Verb
- 18f Agreement with Collective Nouns
- 18g Nouns That Are Always Singular or Always Plural
- 18h Plurals: criteria, data, media, etc.
- 18i Agreement with Relative Pronouns
- 18j Titles of Works: Words Referred to as Words
- 19. Adjectives
- 19a Kind of Adjectives
- 19b Comparison of Descriptive Adjectives
- 19c Articles: a, an, and the
- 19d Placement of Adjectives
- 19e Order of Adjectives
- 19f Adjectives Functioning as Nouns
- 20. Adverbs
- 20a Kinds and Functions of Adverbs
- 20b Forms of Adverbs
- 20c Comparison of Adverbs
- 20d Placement of Adverbs
- 21. Verbals: Infinitives, Participles, and Gerunds
- 21a Infinitives
- 21b Tense and Voice of Infinitives
- 21c Split Infinitives
- 21d Participles
- 21e Tense and Voice of Participles
- 21f Gerunds
- 21g Tense and Voice of Gerunds
- 21h Possessives with Gerunds
- 21i Verbals in Absolute Phrases
- 22. Prepositions
- 22a Functions of Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
- 22b Placement of Prepositions
- 22c Common Prepositions
- 22d Two-Part Verbs; Verb Idioms
- 23. Conjunctions
- 23a Coordinating Conjunctions
- 23b Correlative Conjunctions
- 23c Subordinating Conjunctions
- 24. Interjections
- PART IV: Writing Effective Sentences
- Basic Sentence Elements and Their Modifiers
- 25. Basic Sentence Elements: Subject, Verb, Object, Complement
- 25a Subject
- 25b Finite Verb
- 25c Direct Object
- 25d Subjective Complement
- 26. Modifiers
- 26a Adjectival Modifiers
- 26b Adverbial Modifiers
- 26c Overlapping Modifiers
- 26d Using Modifiers: A Sample Scenario
- Sentence Length, Variety, and Emphasis
- 27. Sentence Length
- 27a Short Sentences
- 27b Long Sentences
- 28. Sentence Variety
- 28a Variety of Lengths
- 28b Variety of Kinds
- 28c Variety of Structures
- 29. Emphasis in Sentences
- 29a Endings and Beginnings
- 29b Loose Sentences and Periodic Sentences
- 29c The Importance of the Final Position
- 29d Changing Word Order
- 29e Movable Modifiers
- 29f Using the Expletive and the Passive Voice for Emphasis
- 29g Emphasis by Repetition
- 29h Emphasis by Stylistic Contrast
- 29i Emphasis by Syntax
- 29j Emphasis by Punctuation
- 30. Analyzing Sentences
- 30a The Chart Method
- 30b The Vertical Method
- Common Sentence Problems
- 31. Sentence Coherence
- 32. Fragments
- 33. Comma Splices
- 34. Run-on (Fused) Sentences
- 35. Misplaced Modifiers
- 35a Movability and Poor Placement
- 35b Only, almost, etc.
- 35c Squinting Modifiers
- 36. Dangling Modifiers
- 36a Dangling Participial Phrases
- 36b Dangling Gerund Phrases
- 36c Dangling Infinitive Phrases
- 36d Dangling Elliptical Clauses
- 36e Dangling Prepositional Phrases and Appositives
- 37. Mixed Constructions
- 38. Faulty Alignment
- 39. Shifts in Perspective: Inconsistent Point of View
- 39a Shifts in Tense
- 39b Shifts in Mood
- 39c Shifts in Voice
- 39d Shifts in Person of Pronoun
- 39e Shifts in Number of Pronoun
- 40. Faulty Parallelism
- 40a With Coordinate Elements
- 40b With Correlative Conjunctions
- 40c In a Series
- 41. Faulty Coordination: Logic, Emphasis, and Unity
- 42. Faulty Logic
- PART V: Punctuation
- 43. Internal Punctuation: The Comma
- 43a The Comma with Independent Clauses Joined by a Coordinating Conjunction
- 43b The Comma with Short Independent Clauses Not Joined by a Coordinating Conjunction
- 43c The Comma Between Items in a Series
- 43d The Comma Between Parallel Adjectives
- 43e The Comma with Introductory or Concluding Words, Phrases, and Clauses
- 43f The Comma with Nonrestrictive Elements
- 43g The Comma with Sentence Interrupters
- 44. Internal Punctuation: The Semicolon
- 44a The Semicolon Between Independent Clauses
- 44b The Semicolon Between Items in a Series
- 45. Internal Punctuation: The Colon
- 46. Internal Punctuation: The Dash
- 47. Parentheses
- 48. Brackets
- 49. End Punctuation: The Period
- 50. End Punctuation: The Question Mark
- 51. End Punctuation: The Exclamation Point
- 52. Quotation Marks
- 52a Direct Speech
- 52b Direct Quotation from a Source
- 52c Quotation Within Quotation
- 52d Words Used in a Special Sense
- 52e Other Marks with Quotation Marks
- 53. Ellipses for Omissions
- 54. Avoiding Common Errors in Punctuation
- 54a Run-on (Fused) Sentences
- 54b Comma Splice
- 54c Unwanted Comma Between Subject and Verb
- 54d Unwanted Comma Between Verb and Object or Complement
- 54e Unwanted Comma After Last Adjective of a Series
- 54f Unwanted Comma Between Coordinated Words and Phrases
- 54g Commas with Emphatic Repetition
- 54h Unwanted Comma with Short Introductory or Parenthetical Element
- 54i Unwanted Comma with Restrictive Appositive
- 54j Unwanted Comma with Indirect Quotation
- 54k Unwanted Question Mark After Indirect Question
- 54-l Unwanted Semicolon with Subordinate Element
- 54m Unwanted Colon After Incomplete Construction
- 54n Unwanted Double Punctuation: Comma or Semicolon with a Dash
- PART VI: Mechanics and Spelling
- 55. Abbreviations
- 55a Titles Before Proper Names
- 55b Titles and Degrees After Proper Names
- 55c Standard Words Used with Dates and Numerals
- 55d Agencies and Organizations Known by Their Initials
- 55e Scientific and Technical Terms Known by Their Initials
- 55f Latin Expressions Commonly Used in English
- 55g Terms in Official Titles
- 56. Capitalization
- 56a Names and Nicknames
- 56b Professional and Honorific Titles
- 56c Words Designating Family Relationships
- 56d Place Names
- 56e Months, Days, and Holidays
- 56f Religious Names
- 56g Names of Nationalities and Organizations
- 56h Names of Institutions, Sections of Government, Historical Events, and Buildings
- 56i Academic Courses and Languages
- 56j Derivatives of Proper Nouns
- 56k Abbreviations of Proper Nouns
- 56-l I and O
- 56m Titles of Written and Other Works
- 56n First Words
- 56-o With Personification and for Emphasis
- 57. Titles
- 57a Italics for Whole or Major Works
- 57b Quotation Marks for Short Works and Parts of Longer Works
- 57c Titles Within Titles
- 58. Italics
- 58a Names of Ships, Trains, and Planes
- 58b Non-English Words and Phrases
- 58c Words Referred to as Words
- 58d For Emphasis
- 59. Numerals
- 59a Time of Day
- 59b Dates
- 59c Addresses
- 59d Technical and Mathematical Numbers
- 59e Parts of a Written Work
- 59f Numbers of More Than Two Words
- 59g Commas with Numerals
- 60. Spelling Rules and Common Causes of Error
- 60a ie or ei
- 60b Prefixes
- 60c Suffixes
- 60d Final e Before a Suffix
- 60e Final y after a Consonant and Before a Suffix
- 60f Doubling of a Final Consonant Before a Suffix
- 60g Changes in Spelling of Roots
- 60h Confusion with Other Words
- 60i Homophones and Other Words Sometimes Confused
- 60j One Word or Two?
- 60k Hyphenation
- 60-l Plurals
- 60m Apostrophes to Indicate Omissions
- 60n Possessives
- 61. Spelling List
- PART VII: Diction
- Introduction: Style and the Larger Elements of Composition
- 62. About Dictionaries
- 62a Kinds of Dictionaries
- 62b Features of Dictionaries
- 62c Three Sample Dictionary Entries
- 63. Level
- 63a Slang
- 63b Informal, Colloquial
- 63c "Fine Writing"
- 64. Figurative Language
- 64a Inappropriate Metaphors
- 64b Overextended Metaphors
- 64c Dead Metaphors
- 64d Mixed Metaphors
- 65. Concrete and Abstract Diction; Weak Generalizations
- 65a Concreteness and Specificity
- 65b Weak Generalizations
- 66. Connotation and Denotation
- 67. Euphemism
- 68. Wrong Word
- 69. Idiom
- 70. Wordiness, Jargon, and Associated Problems
- 70a Wordiness
- 70b Repetition
- 70c Redundancy
- 70d Ready-Made Phrases
- 70e Triteness, Clichés
- 70f Overuse of Nouns
- 70g Nouns Used as Adjectives
- 70h Jargon
- 71. Usage: A Checklist of Troublesome Words and Phrases
- PART VIII: Research, Writing, and Documentation
- 72. Finding Resources
- 72a Libraries
- 72b The Internet
- 73. The Research Plan
- 73a Academic Proposals
- 73b A Preliminary Bibliography
- 73c A Working Bibliography
- 74. Taking Notes
- 74a The Note Itself
- 74b The Source
- 74c The Slug
- 74d Recording Your Own Ideas
- 75. Writing the Essay
- 75a Keeping Track of Notes in Your Drafts
- 76. Acknowledging Sources
- 76a "Common Knowledge"
- 77. Quotation, Paraphrase, Summary, and Plagiarism
- 77a Legitimate Paraphrase
- 77b Illegitimate Paraphrase
- 77c Paraphrase and Quotation Mixed
- 77d Summary
- 77e Maintaining Academic Integrity and Avoiding Plagiarism
- 77f Integrating and Contextualizing Quotations
- 78. Documentation
- 78a The Name-Page Method (MLA Style)
- 78b The Name-Date Method (APA Style)
- 78c The Note Method (Chicago Style)
- 78d The Number Method
- Appendix: Checklist for Use in Revising, Editing, and Proofreading
- Omnibus Checklist for Planning and Revising
- Specialized Checklist for Writers with English as an Additional Language
- Index