For courses in Writing.
Applying the fundamentals of good writing to a modern world
The Writer’s Brief Handbook, 6th Edition continues the long celebrated tradition of T he Brief Penguin Handbook with a new name. The text teaches students the traditional qualities of good writing that remain sound even during an era of rapid transformation in multimedia. Based on Faigley’s experiences as a writing teacher, the book emphasizes clarity, brevity, readability, consistency, effective design, accurate documentation, freedom from errors, and a human voice: qualities that are prized more than ever in writing for a digital age.
The
6th Edition continues the book’s tradition of starting by asking, How do students learn best? The answer helps instructors understand the importance of students being able to find the right information when they need it without being overwhelmed by detail. Complicated subjects are broken down into processes to help students understand and employ critical skills in their writing.
The Writer’s Brief Handbook, 6th Edition is also available via
Revel™, an interactive learning environment that enables students to read, practice, and study in one continuous experience. Learn more.
Lester Faigley holds the Robert Adger Law and Thos. H. Law Professorship in Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin. He was the founding director of the Division (now Department) of Rhetoric and Writing at Texas in 1993, and he later served as Director of the University Writing Center. He was the 1996 Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication. Faigley has published over thirty books and editions, including Fragments of Rationality (Pittsburgh, 1992), which received the MLA Mina P. Shaughnessy Prize.
Part 1: Planning, Drafting, and Revising
1. Think as a Writer
2. Plan and Draft
3. Compose Paragraphs
4. Rewrite, Edit, and Proofread
Part 2: Analyzing, Informing, Arguing
5. Read with a Critical Eye
6. View with a Critical Eye
7. Write an Analysis
8. Write an Informative Essay
9. Write a Position Argument
10. Write a Proposal Argument
Part 3: Writing in the Disciplines
11. Write About Literature and the Humanities
12. Write in the Sciences and Social Sciences
13. Compose for the Workplace
Part 4: Multimedia And Online Composing
14. Communicate in Multimedia
15. Design Presentations
16. Compose in Online Genres
Part 5: Planning Research and Finding Sources
17. Plan Your Research
18. Find Sources
19. Evaluate Sources
20. Plan Field Research
Part 6: Incorporating and Documenting Sources
21. Use Sources Effectively and Avoid Plagiarism
22. Write and Revise the Research Project
Part 7: Effective Style and Language
27. Write with Power
28. Write Concisely
29. Write with Emphasis
30. Find the Right Words
31. Write to Be Inclusive
8. Understanding Grammar
32. Grammar Basics
33. Fragments, Run-ons, and Comma Splices
34. Subject-Verb Agreement
35. Verbs
36. Pronouns
37. Modifiers
Part 9: Understanding Punctuation And Mechanics
38. Commas
39. Semicolons and Colons
40. Hyphens
41. Dashes and Parentheses
42. Apostrophes
43. Quotation Marks
44. Other Punctuation Marks
45. Write with Accurate Spelling
46. Capitalization and Italics
47. Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Numbers
Part 10: If English Is Not Your First Language
48. Writing in a Second Language
49. Nouns, Articles, and Prepositions
50. Verbs
51. English Sentence Structure
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