7499_fm_pi-xxxiv 12/2/08 11:16 AM Page i 7499_fm_pi-xxxiv 12/2/08 11:16 AM Page i SECOND EDITION The Norton Field Guide to Writing with handbook 7499_fm_pi-xxxiv 12/2/08 11:16 AM Page ii 7499_fm_pi-xxxiv 12/2/08 11:16 AM Page iii SECOND EDITION The Norton L Field Guide to Writing N with handbook Richard Bullock WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY Francine Weinberg B W. W. NORTON & COMPANY New York • London 7752_fm_pi-xxxiv 6/15/09 11:43 AM Page iv W. W. Norton & Company has been independent since its founding in 1923, when William Warder Norton and Mary D. Herter Norton rst published lectures delivered at the People’s Institute, the adult education division of New York City’s Cooper Union. The Nortons soon expanded their program beyond the Institute, publishing books by celebrated academics from America and abroad. By mid-century, the two major pillars of Norton’s publishing program—trade books and college texts—were rmly established. In the 1950s, the Norton family transferred control of the company to its employees, and today—with a sta of four hundred and a comparable number of trade, college, and professional titles published each year—W. W. Norton & Company stands as the largest and oldest publishing house owned wholly by its employees. Copyright © 2009, 2008, 2006 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Editor: Marilyn Moller Associate Editor: Erin Granville Editorial Assistant: Ana Cooke Project Editor: Rebecca A. Homiski Copy Editor: Mark Gallaher Managing Editor: Marian Johnson Electronic Media Editor: Eileen Connell Production Manager: Jane Searle Manufacturing: R.R. Donnelley, Crawfordsville Composition: Matrix Publishing Services Text Design: Anna Palchik Cover Design: Debra Morton Hoyt The Library of Congress has cataloged the second edition as follows: Bullock, Richard H. The Norton Field guide to writing : with handbook / Richard Bullock, Francine Weinberg. — 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN: 978-0-393-93247-8 (pbk.) 1. English language—Rhetoric—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. English language— Grammar—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Report writing—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Weinberg, Francine. II. Title. III Title: Field guide to writing, with handbook. PE1408.B8838243 2009 808 .042—dc22 2008040628 MLA Update edition ISBN: 978-0-393-93439-7 ISBN: 978-0-393-11637-3 (ebook) W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110 www.wwnorton.com W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 7499_fm_pi-xxxiv 12/2/08 11:16 AM Page v Preface The Norton Field Guide to Writing began as an attempt to offer the kind of writ- ing guidelines found in the best rhetorics in a format as user-friendly as the most popular handbooks, and on top of that to be as brief as could be. It was to be a handy guide to help college students with all their written work. Just as there are field guides for bird watchers and accountants, this would be one for writers. The book touched a chord with many instructors, and it quickly became the most widely used brief rhetoric. At the same time, many instructors asked for more on grammar and punctuation. So we are happy now to offer this second edition of the Field Guide in a version that includes a brief handbook. The Norton Field Guide still aims to offer the guidance new teachers and first-year writers need and the flexibility many experienced teachers want. From our experiences as teachers and WPAs, we know that explicit writ- ing guides work well for students and novice teachers. Many instructors chafe at the structure imposed by such books, however, and students com- plain about having to buy books that have much more detail than they need. So we’ve tried to provide enough structure without too much detail — to give the information college writers need to know, and to resist the temptation to tell them everything there is to know. Most of all, we’ve tried to keep the book brief and easy to use. To that end, it includes menus, directories, and a glossary / index to make it easy for students to find what they’re looking for — and color-coded links to help them navigate the book. These links are also the key to keeping the book brief: chapters are short, but the links point to pages elsewhere in the book if students need more detail. Students can access much of the Field Guide and the complete hand- book on the Web, and a color-coded Writing Toolbar provides online access when students most need it: as they write. v 7499_fm_pi-xxxiv 12/2/08 11:16 AM Page vi vi PREFACE What’s in the Book The Norton Field Guide covers 15 kinds of writing often assigned to college students. Much of the book is in the form of guidelines, designed to help students consider the choices they have as writers. Most chapters are brief, in response to students’ complaints about books with too much detail — but color-coded links send them to places in the book where they can find more information if they need it. The book has 7 parts: 1. RHETORICAL SITUATIONS. Chapters 1–5 focus on purpose, audience, genre, stance, and media and design. In addition, most chapters include tips to help students focus on their particular rhetorical situation. 2. GENRES. Chapters 6–20 offer guidelines for fifteen kinds of writing, from abstracts to lab reports to memoirs. Literacy narrative, textual analysis, report, and argument are treated in greater detail. 3. PROCESSES. Chapters 21–28 offer advice on generating ideas, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, compiling portfolios, collaborating, and writing as inquiry. 4. STRATEGIES. Chapters 29–41 cover familiar ways of developing and organizing text — writing effective beginnings and endings, coming up with good titles and developing effective thesis statements, compar- ing, describing, using dialogue, and other essential writing strategies. Chapters 40–41 offer useful strategies for reading and essay exams. 5. RESEARCH / DOCUMENTATION. Chapters 42–50 offer advice on how to do academic research; work with sources; quote, paraphrase, and summa- rize source materials; and document sources using MLA and APA styles. 6. MEDIA / DESIGN. Chapters 51–53 give general guidance on designing and presenting texts for print, spoken, and electronic media. 7. HANDBOOK. At the end of the book is a handbook to help students edit what they write. We’ve organized the handbook around the intuitive categories of sentences, words, and punctuation to make it easy for students to find the help they need. 7499_fm_pi-xxxiv 12/2/08 11:16 AM Page vii Preface vii What’s on the Website A free and open website provides instant access to much of The Norton Field Guide online. Visit the site at wwnorton.com/write/fieldguide. The Writing Toolbar, color-coded to match the book, downloads in Word so that students can access parts of the book on screen, as they write. Writing Guides offer guidelines on the 4 most common genres. Hyperlinks pop up more detailed information if students need it. MLA and APA templates help students document sources accurately. A Handbook helps students edit what they write, with 1,000ϩ exercises for practicing sentence-level writing issues. 7752_fm_pi-xxxiv 6/15/09 11:45 AM Page viii viii PREFACE Highlights It’s easy to use. Color-coding, menus, directories, and a glossary / index make it easy for students to find what they’re looking for; a minimum of jargon makes it easy to understand. Color-coded templates even make MLA and APA documentation easy. It has just enough detail, with short chapters that include color-coded links sending students to more detail if they need more. It’s uniquely flexible for teachers, with explicit assignment sequences if you want them — or you can create your own. See the facing page for ways of teaching with this book. A user-friendly handbook, with an intuitive organization around sen- tences, words, and punctuation to make it easy for students to find what they need. And we go easy on the grammatical terminology, with links to the glossary for students who need detailed definitions. What’s New 11 new readings, from a textual analysis of 24 to a report on the inevitabil- ity of air turbulence to a proposal for controlling the prices of textbooks. Updated 2009 MLA documentation guidelines and documentation maps showing where to look for publication information in common sources. A new chapter on synthesizing ideas, helping students connect ideas in multiple sources and use them in their own writing. (Chapter 45) A new chapter on mixing genres, showing how to combine a number of genres in a single text, as is done in much real-world writing. (Chapter 20) A new chapter on writing as inquiry, helping students approach writing projects with curiosity and providing strategies to help them get beyond what they already know about their topic. (Chapter 21) A new chapter on arguing, with strategies for articulating a position, giving good reasons and evidence, considering other positions, and more. (Chapter 32) A new chapter on taking essay exams (Chapter 41) 7752_fm_pi-xxxiv 6/15/09 11:45 AM Page ix Preface ix Ways of Teaching with The Norton Field Guide to Writing The Norton Field Guide is designed to give you both support and flexibility. It has clear assignment sequences if you want them, or you can create your own. If, for example, you assign a position paper, there’s a full chap- ter.