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Little, Brown Compact Handbook, The, 10th edition

Published by Pearson (January 2, 2019) © 2019

  • Jane E. Aaron
  • Michael Greer University of Memphis

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For courses in English composition.

The platinum standard of handbooks, unmatched in accuracy, currency and reliability

The Little, Brown Compact Handbook maintains the authority of its best-selling parent (The Little, Brown Handbook) in a briefer book with tabbed dividers and plentiful exercise sets. It's an essential reference tool, designed to help students find the answers they need quickly and easily. This meticulous compact handbook combines comprehensive research with grammar coverage that is second to none.

The 10th Edition includes timely new student samples, new learning objectives, updates to MLA and Chicago style, a new chapter on writing about literature and more.

Hallmark features of this title

  • A solid foundation in academic and research writing that emphasizes critical analysis and helps students find, evaluate, and integrate source material and avoid plagiarism (11 academic writing examples included).
  • Writing-as-a-process approach covers pre-assessment, idea generation, thesis development and revising.
  • Coverage of 4 documentation styles (APA/CSE/MLA/Chicago), usage, grammar and punctuation includes annotated examples, exercises and explanations of common errors.
  • Develops the visual and Media Literacy skills to process and apply nonverbal information to writing.
  • User-friendly, inclusive design is accessibly organized and provides rhetorical and grammatical help and examples for writers whose first language or dialect is not standard American English.
  • Free download: The Pearson Guide to the 2021 MLA Handbook.

New and updated features of this title

Comprehensive guide to academic and research writing

  • NEW: All student samples in this edition, from short works in progress to complete papers, are new and include topics and sources that are timely and attuned to student interests.
  • NEW: Coverage and visual examples of database searches are now in Ch. 51.
  • UPDATED: All model papers and sample citations have been updated to align with new MLA and Chicago Manual of Style documentation styles.

Relevance beyond an academic setting

  • NEW: Professional and personal composing for social media is now covered in Ch. 14, expanding content useful for writing beyond the classroom, which includes job application writing.

Accessible features for clarity and reference

  • NEW: A list of learning objectives now appears at the start of each chapter to help students understand what's to be learned and accomplished. Each objective's language reflects Bloom's taxonomy of learning and aligns (in many cases) with the WPA Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition.
  • NEW: An entirely new chapter on writing about literature (Ch. 55) follows a student as she reads, responds to and writes about a novel (The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett).
  • Preface

I: THE WRITING PROCESS

  1. The Writing Situation
    • 1.1 Writing situation
    • 1.2 Audience
    • 1.3 Purpose
    • 1.4 Subject
    • 1.5 Genre and medium
  2. Invention
    • 2.1 Journals
    • 2.2 Freewriting
    • 2.3 Brainstorming
    • 2.4 Mind mapping
    • 2.5 Questions
  3. Thesis and Organization
    • 3.1 Thesis
    • 3.2 Organization
      • Sample informative essay
  4. Drafting
    • 4.1 First draft
    • 4.2 Sample draft
      • Sample first draft
  5. Revising
    • 5.1 Revision plans
    • 5.2 Peer review
    • 5.3 Sample revision
      • Sample revised draft
  6. Editing, Formatting, and Proofreading
    • 6.1 Editing
      • Sample edited paragraph
    • 6.2 Final draft
      • Sample final draft
  7. Paragraphs
    • 7.1 Flow
    • 7.2 Unity
    • 7.3 Coherence
    • 7.4 Development
    • 7.5 Introductions and conclusions
  8. Presenting Writing
    • 8.1 Academic writing
      • Sample paper in MLA format
    • 8.2 Visuals and media
    • 8.3 Writing online
      • Sample literacy narrative blog post
    • 8.4 Portfolios

II: WRITING IN AND OUT OF COLLEGE

  1. Academic Writing
    • 9.1 Purpose and audience
    • 9.2 Genre
    • 9.3 Writing with sources
    • 9.4 Academic language
    • 9.5 Communication in academic settings
  2. Critical Reading and Writing
    • 10.1 Techniques of critical reading
    • 10.2 Summarizing
    • 10.3 Critical response
    • 10.4 Visual analysis
    • 10.5 Writing a critical analysis
    • 10.6 Sample critical analysis
      • Sample critical analysis of a text
  3. Argument
    • 11.1 Elements of argument
    • 11.2 Engaging readers
    • 11.3 Organization
    • 11.4 Visual arguments
    • 11.5 Sample argument
      • Sample proposal argument
  4. Essay Exams
    • 12.1 Preparing
    • 12.2 Planning
    • 12.3 Writing
      • Sample essay exam response
  5. Oral Presentations
    • 13.1 Organization
    • 13.2 Delivery
      • Sample presentation slides
  6. Public Writing
    • 14.1 Social media
    • 14.2 Business letters
      • Sample business letter
    • 14.3 Job applications
      • Sample résumés
    • 14.4 Memos, reports, and proposals
      • Sample memo and report
    • 14.5 Community service
      • Sample social-media post and newsletter

III: CLARITY AND STYLE

  1. Emphasis
    • 15.1 Subjects and verbs
    • 15.2 Sentence beginnings and endings
    • 15.3 Coordination
    • 15.4 Subordination
  2. Parallelism
    • 16.1 Understanding parallelism
    • 16.2 Equal elements
  3. Variety and Details
    • 17.1 Sentence length and structure
    • 17.2 Details
  4. Appropriate and Exact Language
    • 18.1 Standard English
    • 18.2 Sexist and biased language
    • 18.3 Exact language
  5. Completeness
    • 19.1 Compounds
    • 19.2 Adding needed words
  6. Conciseness
    • 20.1 Subjects and verbs
    • 20.2 Empty words
    • 20.3 Unnecessary repetition
    • 20.4 Other strategies

IV: SENTENCE PARTS AND PATTERNS

  • Basic Grammar
  1. Parts of Speech
    • 21.1 Nouns, pronouns, and verbs
    • 21.2 Adjectives and adverbs
    • 21.3 Prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections
  2. The Sentence
    • 22.1 Subjects and predicates
    • 22.2 Sentence patterns
  3. Phrases and Subordinate Clauses
    • 23.1 Phrases
    • 23.2 Subordinate clauses
  4. Sentence Types
    • 24.1 Types of sentences
      • Verbs
  5. Verb Forms
    • 25.1 Verb forms
    • 25.2 Easily confused verb forms
    • 25.3 Verb endings
    • 25.4 Helping verbs
    • 25.5 Verb + gerund or infinitive
    • 25.6 Verb + particle
  6. Verb Tenses
    • 26.1 Verb tenses
    • 26.2 Sequence of tenses
  7. Verb Mood
    • 27.1 Subjunctive mood
    • 27.2 Consistency
  8. Verb Voice
    • 28.1 Active and passive voice
    • 28.2 Consistency
  9. Agreement of Subject and Verb
    • 29.1 Subject-verb agreement
    • 29.2 Unusual word order
    • 29.3 Subjects joined by conjunctions
    • 29.4 Indefinite and relative pronouns
    • 29.5 Collective and plural nouns
      • Pronouns
  10. Pronoun Case
    • 30.1 Subjective, objective, and possessive cases
    • 30.2 Compound subjects and objects
    • 30.3 Who or whom
    • 30.4 Common questions
  11. Agreement of Pronoun and Antecedent
    • 31.1 Person, number, and gender
    • 31.2 Antecedents with and, or, or nor
    • 31.3 Indefinite pronouns
    • 31.4 Collective nouns
  12. Reference of Pronoun to Antecedent
    • 32.1 Clear reference
    • 32.2 Specific reference
    • 32.3 Appropriate you
      • Modifiers
  13. Adjectives and Adverbs
    • 33.1 Adjective vs. adverb
    • 33.2 Comparatives and superlatives
    • 33.3 Double negatives
    • 33.4 Participles as adjectives
    • 33.5 Determiners
  14. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
    • 34.1 Misplaced modifiers
    • 34.2 Dangling modifiers
      • Sentence Faults
  15. Sentence Fragments
    • 35.1 Identifying fragments
    • 35.2 Correcting fragments
    • 35.3 Acceptable fragments
  16. Comma Splices and Fused Sentences
    • 36.1 Identify comma splices
    • 36.2 Correcting comma splices
  17. Mixed Sentences
    • 37.1 Mixed meaning
    • 37.2 Mixed grammar
    • 37.3 Repeated elements

V: PUNCTUATION

  1. End Punctuation
    • 38.1 Period
    • 38.2 Question mark
    • 38.3 Exclamation point
  2. Comma
    • 39.1 Uses of the comma
    • 39.2 Main clauses with conjunctions
    • 39.3 Introductory elements
    • 39.4 Nonessential elements
    • 39.5 Series and coordinate adjectives
    • 39.6 Quotations
    • 39.7 Unnecessary commas
  3. Semicolon
    • 40.1 Main clauses without conjunctions
    • 40.2 Main clauses with transitional words
    • 40.3 Main clauses with commas
    • 40.4 Unnecessary semicolons
  4. Colon
    • 41.1 Uses of the colon
  5. Apostrophe
    • 42.1 Possession
    • 42.2 Contractions and abbreviations
  6. Quotation Marks
    • 43.1 Direct quotations
    • 43.2 Titles of works
    • 43.3 Words used in a special sense
    • 43.4 With other punctuation
  7. Other Marks
    • 44.1 Dash
    • 44.2 Parentheses
    • 44.3 Ellipsis mark
    • 44.4 Brackets
    • 44.5 Slash

VI. SPELLING AND MECHANICS

  1. Spelling and the Hyphen
    • 45.1 Common spelling problems
    • 45.2 Spelling rules
    • 45.3 Hyphenating
  2. Capital Letters
    • 46.1 Conventions
    • 46.2 First word of sentence
    • 46.3 Titles and subtitles
    • 46.4 Proper nouns and adjectives
  3. Italics or Underlining
    • 47.1 Titles of works
    • 47.2 Foreign words and emphasis
  4. Abbreviations
    • 48.1 Uses of abbreviations
    • 48.2 Misuses of abbreviations
  5. Numbers
    • 49.1 Numerals and words
    • 49.2 Dates and addresses

VII. RESEARCH WRITING

  1. Research Strategy
    • 50.1 Planning
    • 50.2 Research questions
    • 50.3 Search strategies
    • 50.4 Working bibliographies
      • Sample annotated bibliography entry
  2. Finding Sources
    • 51.1 Search strategies
    • 51.2 Reference works
    • 51.3 Books and periodicals
    • 51.4 Web search strategies
    • 51.5 Social media
    • 51.6 Government publications
    • 51.7 Visuals and media
    • 51.8 Primary research
  3. Working with Sources
    • 52.1 Gathering information
    • 52.2 Evaluating sources
    • 52.3 Synthesizing sources
    • 52.4 Summary, paraphrase, and quotation
    • 52.5 Integrating sources
  4. Avoiding Plagiarism
    • 53.1 Defining plagiarism
    • 53.2 Information you do not need to cite
    • 53.3 Information you must cite
    • 53.4 Documenting sources
    • 53.5 Copyright and permissions
  5. Writing the Paper
    • 54.1 Thesis and organization
    • 54.2 Drafting, revising, editing, formatting

VIII. WRITING IN THE DISCIPLINES

  1. Literature
    • 55.1 Literary analysis
    • 55.2 Writing assignments
    • 55.3 Tools and language
    • 55.4 Citing sources
    • 55.5 Sample literary analysis “The Healing Power of Mrs. Todd”
  2. Writing in Other Disciplines
    • 56.1 Humanities
    • 56.2 Social sciences
    • 56.3 Natural and applied sciences
  3. MLA Documentation and Format
    • Indexes to models
    • 57.1 In-text citations
    • 57.2 Works cited
    • 57.3 Paper format
    • 57.4 Sample MLA paper “The Dream of Sustainable Agriculture”
  4. APA Documentation and Format
    • Indexes to models
    • 58.1 In-text citations
    • 58.2 Reference list
    • 58.3 Paper format
    • 58.4 Sample research report “Perceptions of Mental Illness”
  5. Chicago Documentation
    • Indexes to models
    • 59.1 Notes and bibliography
    • 59.2 Models
  6. CSE Documentation
    • Indexes to models
    • 60.1 Name-year citations
    • 60.2 Numbered text citations
    • 60.3 Reference list

Glossary of Usage

Glossary of Terms

Index

Culture and Language Guide

About our authors

Jane E. Aaron has taught writing at New York University and several other schools. She is the author of 8 successful and long-lived composition textbooks, including The Little, Brown Handbook and The Little, Brown Compact Handbook.

Michael Greer teaches writing, editing and publishing in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He also teaches courses in multimedia, online course design and assessment for the Graduate Certificate in Online Writing Instruction at UA, Little Rock. Michael edits the journal Research in Online Literacy Education and is a founding member of the Global Society of Online Literacy Educators. He publishes and presents on topics including user-centered design, interactive media and digital publishing. Michael serves as a faculty advisor and author for Gadget Software, where he is helping to design and develop a mobile learning platform. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.

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