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PA RT 6
Editing for Clarity 215
25 Avoiding Wordiness 216
26 Adding Missing Words 219
42 Checking for Problems with
Adjectives and Adverbs 322
43 Watching for Problems of
Special Concern to Multilingual
Writers 327
27 Unscrambling Mixed
Constructions 222
PA RT 8
29 Using Parallel Construction 228
Editing for Correctness: Punctuation,
Mechanics, and Spelling 335
30 Fixing Misplaced and Dangling
44 Commas 336
28 Fixing Confusing Shifts 224
Modifiers 230
31 Using Coordination and
Subordination Effectively 236
32 Varying Your Sentences 239
33 Choosing Active Verbs 244
34 Using Appropriate Language 247
35 Using Exact Language 253
36 Glossary of Usage 257
PA RT 7
45 Semicolons 352
46 Colons 355
47 Apostrophes 358
48 Quotation Marks 362
49 Other Punctuation Marks 370
50 Capitalization 377
51 Abbreviations and Symbols 382
52 Numbers 387
53 Italics (Underlining) 388
Editing for Grammar Conventions 271
54 Hyphens 392
37 Fixing Sentence Fragments 272
55 Spelling 395
38 Repairing Comma Splices and
Run-on Sentences 279
39 Maintaining Subject-Verb
Agreement 285
40 Checking for Problems with
Verbs 295
41 Checking for Problems with
Pronouns 308
Glossary of Grammatical Terms G–1
Index I–1
Index for Multilingual Writers IM–1
Abbreviations and Symbols for Editing
and Proofreading
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Writing
Intensive
Essentials for College Writers
Elaine P. Maimon
University of Alaska Anchorage
Janice H. Peritz
Queens College,
City University of New York
Boston Burr Ridge, IL Dubuque, IA Madison, WI New York
San Francisco St. Louis Bangkok Bogotá Caracas Kuala Lumpur
Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan Montreal New Delhi
Santiago Seoul Singapore Sydney Taipei Toronto
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Page iv
Higher Education
Published by McGraw-Hill, an imprint of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,
1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright © 2009, 2007. All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in
any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without
the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but
not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or
broadcast for distance learning.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 DOC/DOC 0 9 8
ISBN-13:
978-0-07-332768-6
ISBN-10:
0-07-332768-9
Editor in Chief: Michael Ryan, Publisher: David S. Patterson, Sponsoring
Editor: Christopher Bennem, Director of Development: Dawn Groundwater,
Marketing Manager: Allison Jones, Development Editor: Anne Kemper, Media
Producer: Alex Rohrs, Production Editor: Chanda Feldman, Manuscript Editor:
Amy Marks, Design Manager: Cassandra Chu, Text and Cover Designer:
Maureen McCutcheon, Art Editor: Robin Mouat, Production Supervisor: Randy
Hurst, Composition: 9/11 pt. New Century Schoolbook by Thompson Type,
Printing: PMS 355 and PMS 648, 45# New Era Plus, R. R. Donnelley & Sons
Credits: The credits section for this book begins on page C-1 and is considered
an extension of the copyright page.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2005054421
The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of
publication. The inclusion of a Web site does not indicate an endorsement
by the authors or McGraw-Hill, and McGraw-Hill does not guarantee the
accuracy of the information presented at these sites.
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www.mhhe.com
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Page v
How to Find the Help You Need in Writing Intensive
Writing Intensive is a reference for all writers and researchers. When
writing in any context, you are bound to come across questions about
writing and research. Writing Intensive provides you with answers to
your questions.
Check the tables of contents.
If you know the topic you are looking for, try scanning the brief contents
on the inside front cover or the complete contents on the inside back
cover. The brief contents lists all part and chapter titles in the book. The
complete contents also includes each section number and title in addition to the part and chapter numbers and titles. If you are looking for
specific information within a general topic (how to correct an unclear
pronoun reference, for example), scanning the detailed table of contents
on the inside back cover will help you find the section you need.
Look up your topic in the index.
The comprehensive index at the end of Writing Intensive (pp. I-1–I-40)
includes all of the topics covered in the book. For example, if you are not
sure whether to use I or me in a sentence, you can look up “I vs. me” in
the index.
In the List of Discipline-Specific Resources.
In Chapter 13 (pp. 86–92), you will find a comprehensive list of sources
that have already been checked for relevance and credibility.
1
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HOW TO FIND THE HELP YOU NEED
Check the documentation flowcharts.
By answering the questions posed in the charts on pages 94–96 (for the
MLA documentation style) and 143–45 (for the APA documentation
style), you can usually find the model that you are looking for.
Look up a word in the Glossary of Usage or a term in the
Glossary of Grammatical Terms.
If you are not sure that you are using a particular word such as farther or
further correctly, try looking it up in the Glossary of Usage on pages
257–70. If you need the definition for a grammatical term such as linking
verb, consult the Glossary of Grammatical Terms on pages G-1–G-15.
Use the reference tools on each page.
The reference features shown on page vii, most of which appear throughout Writing Intensive, will help you find the advice you need:
■
The chapter number and title give the topic of the chapter.
■
The running head gives the topic covered on the page.
■
The marginal reference to Catalyst 2.0 provides the URL
for Catalyst 2.0 and a path to follow for more information and
practice exercises on the topic.
■
The main heading includes the chapter number and section
letter (for example, 29a) as well as the title of the section.
■
Examples, many of them with hand corrections, illustrate
typical errors and how to correct them.
■
Thumb tabs, each containing the number and letter of the
last section on the page (for example, 29a on p. 229) and an
abbreviation or symbol for that section, help you find the topic
you are looking for.
■
The “Identify and Edit” boxes help you recognize and correct errors.
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HOW TO FIND THE HELP YOU NEED
29
29a
//
Use parallel constructions. ➤
vii
Chapter number
and title
Parallel constructions present equally important ideas in the same
grammatical form.
➤
At Gettysburg in 1863, Lincoln said that the Civil War was
being fought to make sure that government of the people, by
the people, and for the people might not perish from the earth.
Correct items in a series or paired ideas that do not have the same
grammatical form by making them parallel. Put items at the same level
in an outline or items in a list in parallel form.
➤
Reference
to Catalyst 2.0
www.mhhe.com/
wi
For information
and exercises
on parallelism,
go to
Editing >
Coordination and
Subordination
29a
➤
Making items in a series parallel
Main heading with
chapter number and
section letter
A list or series of equally important items should be parallel in grammatical structure.
➤
The Census Bureau classifies people as employed if they
Running head
receive payment for any kind of labor, are temporarily
work
^
unpaid laborers in a family business.
Parallel construction can make a sentence more forceful and
memorable.
too
➤ My sister obviously thought that I was too young, ignorant,
too troublesome.
^
EDITING FOR CLARITY
■
Making items in a series parallel
229
and a troublemaker.
^
IDENTIFY AND EDIT
Faulty Parallelism
//
To avoid faulty parallelism, ask yourself these questions as
you edit your writing:
➤
?
➤
Thumb
tab
◆
glanced angrily at
The senator stepped to the podium, an angry glance
shooting toward her challenger, and began to refute his
charges.
?
2. Are paired items in parallel form?
◆
had
She claimed that her challenger had not only accused her
also
falsely of accepting illegal campaign contributions, but his
had himself accepted illegal contributions.
contributions were from illegal sources also.
v
“Identify and
Edit” box
29a
//
1. Are the items in a series in parallel form?
v
228
absent from their jobs, or working at least fifteen hours as
➤
➤
v
Example
with hand
correction
?
3. Are the items in outlines and lists in parallel form?
FAULTY
PARALLELISM
She listed four reasons for voters to send her back
to Washington:
1. Ability to protect the state’s interests
2. Her seniority on important committees
3. Works with members of both parties to get things done
4. Has a close working relationship with the President
REVISED
She listed four reasons for voters to send her back
to Washington:
1. Her ability to protect the state’s interests
2. Her seniority on important committees
3. Her ability to work with members of both parties to get
things done
4. Her close working relationship with the President
1
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HOW TO FIND THE HELP YOU NEED
Refer to Chapter 43 if you are a multilingual student.
Chapter 43 provides help with the use of articles, helping verbs, and
other problem areas for multilingual students.
Go to Catalyst 2.0 for online help with learning, writing,
research, and editing.
Catalyst 2.0 includes diagnostic tests; practice exercises in grammar,
punctuation, and mechanics; Bibliomaker software that formats source
information in the MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE documentation styles;
access to the Factiva database with thousands of full-text articles; a tutorial on recognizing and avoiding plagiarism; and much more.
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