Preface for instructors

Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021


Preface for instructors

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the tenth edition of Rules for Writers. This edition comes to you as a complete teaching program. You have the handbook you love, a trusted writing guide to answer students’ questions and to solve their writing problems, available as both an interactive e-book and a print handbook. And you have Achieve, Macmillan’s new digital course experience that helps you design assignments, comment on students’ drafts, and measure students’ writing progress. This program includes everything you need to make college success more achievable for all students.

Over ten editions, Rules for Writers has been shaped by the students and instructors who love the handbook. My Macmillan editors and I listen to students’ questions about college writing; we listen to instructors’ suggestions about new topics and examples to solve their instructional challenges. We listen and learn; we reimagine and revise — just like our students. With the help of 1,000 students and 600 instructors, we co-designed Achieve to offer an interactive e-book and digital platform to develop and deepen students’ writing skills. Achieve answers students’ basic question “How do I write a good college paper?” with a suite of tools, including adaptive quizzing, to support and personalize each student’s success as a college writer.

These digital learning tools — and the handbook itself — are now more important than ever. Our classrooms and our face-to-face teaching were upended in 2020. Almost overnight, the pandemic required our students to become online learners, and we became online instructors. The intersections of racial, social, and public health issues widened students’ worldviews and offered more to think and write about. The world needs to hear their voices, now more than ever. As my own teaching moved online, I found that Rules for Writers connected our online writing community. The book gave us a common language to talk about writing, acting as a trusted resource for students’ big questions about quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing sources and about building paragraphs and punctuating sentences. In any classroom, the handbook’s explanations and examples anchor students, giving them the confidence to question sources, for example, or to craft more nuanced argumentative thesis statements. Especially for online learning, Rules for Writers gives students the courage to try something new, assured that they have their handbook’s advice supporting them throughout their writing process.

Just as students need tools to navigate online learning, they need the guidance and confidence to express themselves in their writing — and that requires some flexibility. As national conversations around equity and inclusivity expanded, our editorial team took a closer, more critical look at the “rules” that the handbook’s title suggests. We made it our mission to ensure that students can see themselves in the handbook and to no longer endorse one “standard” English. Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Board, a talented team of writing faculty, reviewed early manuscript, questioned some of our assumptions, and encouraged us to widen our instruction around language and usage — and we did so. In the tenth edition, we revised the handbook’s coverage of noninclusive, stereotypical, and other harmful language to stress the importance of equity and respect in writing. We took a close look at how we phrased our grammar instruction and at the examples presented, revising where appropriate to emphasize flexibility and inclusivity. And we expanded our research instruction to show students how to incorporate diverse perspectives and underrepresented voices. Thanks to our DEI Board, students will find new instruction on widening the research conversation (see 51c), strategies for entering a research conversation and seeking out underrepresented voices. You can learn more about our DEI board on page xxix.

In the tenth edition of Rules for Writers, you’ll find other new features, including more instruction on annotating, analyzing, and paraphrasing sources, and on how to write an argument about an argument. In our updated chapter on writing arguments, you’ll find a new researched argument paper about the relationship between zoos and endangered animals. In Achieve, students will follow the student’s writing process, see drafts and important documents from her research, and hear her talk about how she took a position on a debatable issue. Students have an opportunity to learn alongside the writer with scorable activities on establishing common ground, balancing rhetorical appeals, and contributing to research conversations.

The Hacker tradition is one of innovation, and the tenth edition of Rules for Writers, combined with Achieve’s digital course experience, will transform the way we teach and the way students learn. I am eager to share the tenth edition with you, confident that you will find everything here that you and your students value about Rules for Writers. Our handbook remains a trusted resource to support students’ progress as writers, providing structure and building confidence — especially in online classes. I can’t imagine teaching without it.

Welcome to the Tenth Edition

Achieve with Rules for Writers

Achieve is an exciting and comprehensive set of interconnected teaching and assessment tools. It integrates the most effective elements from Bedford/St. Martin’s digital content that you may be familiar with — including LaunchPad and LearningCurve — in a single powerful, easy-to-use platform.

Values we share.

We are proud to present Achieve with Rules for Writers, which rests on three core values:

Engaging students for better outcomes. Prebuilt assignments include a variety of activities — from skill-building exercises to multidraft writing assignments — to engage students both in and out of class.

Supporting students of all levels. Achieve was designed for all students, whether they are high achievers or they need extra support.

Partnering with teachers and learners. Bedford/St. Martin’s is dedicated to unparalleled customer experience. We depend on extensive learning research and rigorous testing, and we co-designed Achieve with instructors and students over several years and in hundreds of courses.

Superior content you trust.

We know that you have long depended on Bedford/St. Martin’s to provide content from respected authors whose work is based on expert teaching, vetted scholarship, and bright-eyed innovation. The best, most effective, most thoroughly tested course materials — developed in the Bedford tradition — live in Achieve and provide a foundation for your course.

An interactive e-book for Rules for Writers brings together the resources students need to prepare for your class. Students can download the e-book to read offline or to have read aloud to them.

LearningCurve adaptive quizzing offers personalized question sets and feedback for each student based on correct and incorrect responses. Questions are conveniently tied back to the e-book to encourage students to access help when they need it.

Videos, writing prompts, and other activities have been developed to support the Hacker/Sommers approach; are designed to deliver a coherent learning experience; and will make prep, practice, and review both easy and engaging. This edition features a case study around the new student argument essay, following the writer’s process through videos, notes, drafts, and exercises.

Innovative writing videos build students’ confidence as they write analysis and argument essays and annotated bibliographies.

Writing tools that keep writing and revision at the center of your course.

Achieve with Rules for Writers gives teachers deeper visibility into students’ writing processes so they can target instruction and feedback to help writers grow and develop across drafts, across assignments, and across courses. Students do the work of the course in a contained and active writing space that promotes revision, reflection, and peer review.

Assignments and units that make your life easier.

A flexible assignment building tool allows you to assign ready-made writing prompts — all fully customizable — or create your own. For Rules for Writers, Achieve includes the following assignments, all with rubrics and Draft Goals that you can use as is or tailor to your needs: annotated bibliography, argument essay, narrative essay, researched argument, and rhetorical analysis. Achieve for Rules for Writers also comes with a prebuilt course option that you can adapt to fit your needs; add, hide, and rearrange resources and assignments — conveniently available in a searchable library — until the course works for you.

Source Check plagiarism prevention that teaches.

This tool helps students become more responsible and ethical research writers. It allows students to scan their work for potential plagiarism before they submit it for review so that they learn academic habits and citation practices in the context of their own writing.

Diagnostics and study plans that give students ownership.

Promoting personalized learning, diagnostics for reading and sentence skills establish a baseline for student performance and point students to actionable study plans that build skills and confidence.

Reporting and insights that inform your teaching.

An innovative dashboard highlights student engagement, opportunities for intervention, and both whole-class and individual progress toward goals.

What’s new in the book?

A new argument essay and a look into the writing process. Section 7, Writing Arguments, features a new student essay. The chapter is built around examples from the writer’s essay and process. A companion case study in Achieve brings the writer’s process to life for students, from developing a working thesis and organizing an argument to selecting and integrating evidence. Videos, notes, and drafts from the writer illustrate concepts, and the corresponding exercises have students apply what they’ve learned and test their understanding.

More help finding and working with sources. Updated chapters on finding and evaluating sources have a new focus on online research. Instruction on widening the research conversation helps students conduct research and seek out sources from diverse viewpoints (see 51c). Sentence guides give students a road map for integrating sources effectively (see 56c). Three new features in Academic Reading and Writing — a how-to box on annotating sources effectively, a guide for analyzing digital sources, and a case study of a student responding to an argument — provide much-needed advice on crafting analyses and arguments. A new chapter in Multilingual Writers and ESL Topics offers guided instruction in paraphrasing sources effectively, focusing on common concerns for writers who are new to writing in English.

Step-by-step help with grammar and punctuation. New features guide students in building two important skills: revising run-on sentences (see 20a) and using quotation marks with other punctuation (see 56b).

Up-to-date MLA and APA formatting and documentation guidelines. The advice, models, and student essays in the tenth edition of Rules for Writers align with MLA’s 2021 update and APA’s 2020 guidelines.

New affordable options. To allow you to meet the price point that you and your students are comfortable with, Bedford/St. Martin’s offers Rules for Writers in a number of options, all with our signature quality: Achieve with e-book, classic spiral-bound with and without tabs, paperbound with no tabs, and stand-alone e-book.

A new resource for corequisite composition

Writers develop over time — and some writers need more time and more practice to develop the skills and habits that help them meet the challenges of the first-year writing course. For those students enrolled in paired, corequisite, or ALP sections of composition, A Student’s Companion to Hacker Handbooks offers practical support that will help them get up to speed and perform on-level. The workbook offers college success and reading strategies; graphic organizers for many kinds of writing; opportunities for reflection; and more than sixty exercises covering everything from thesis statements and plagiarism to fragments, run-ons, commas, and verb tenses.

A Student’s Companion to Hacker Handbooks is available as a print workbook, as a convenient e-book, or as a module through Achieve. Even better, the print companion is available packaged with the handbook at no additional cost to students.

What hasn’t changed?

Neither Google nor an OWL can give students the confidence that comes with a coherent reference that covers all the topics they need in a writing course. Rules for Writers supports students as they compose for different purposes and audiences and in a variety of genres, and as they collaborate, revise deeply, conduct research, document sources, format their writing, and edit for clarity. The ninth edition’s authoritative and trustworthy instruction, brief and accessible explanations, and step-by-step help in writing guides and how-to boxes are still here in the tenth. With examples that teach and plenty of boxes, checklists, and navigation tools, the book is easy to use and understand. It also comes with the service and support you have come to expect from Bedford/St. Martin’s — including professional resources, training for digital tools, and quick, personal service when you need it.

Bedford/St. Martin’s puts you first

From day one, our goal has been simple: to provide inspiring resources that are grounded in best practices for teaching reading and writing. For more than 40 years, Bedford/St. Martin’s has partnered with the field, listening to teachers, scholars, and students about the support writers need. No matter the moment or teaching context, we are committed to helping every writing instructor make the most of our resources — resources designed to engage every student.

HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?

✵ Our editors can align our resources to your outcomes through correlation and transition guides for your syllabus. Just ask us.

✵ Our sales representatives specialize in helping you find the right materials to support your course goals.

✵ Our learning solutions and product specialists help you make the most of the digital resources you choose for your course.

✵ Our Bits blog on the Bedford/St. Martin’s English Community (community.macmillan.com) publishes fresh teaching ideas regularly. You’ll also find easily downloadable professional resources and links to author webinars on our community site.

Contact your Bedford/St. Martin’s sales representative or visit macmillanlearning.com to learn more.

Digital and print options for Rules for Writers

DIGITAL

Achieve with Rules for Writers. Achieve is a flexible, integrated suite of tools for designing and facilitating writing assignments, paired with actionable insights that make students’ progress towards outcomes clear and measurable. Fully editable pre-built assignments support the book’s approach and an e-book is included. To order Achieve with Rules for Writers, use ISBN 978-1-319-39295-6. For details, visit macmillanlearning.com/college/us/achieve/english.

Popular e-book formats. For details about our e-book partners, visit macmillanlearning.com/ebooks.

Inclusive Access. Enable every student to receive their course materials through your LMS on the first day of class. Macmillan Learning’s Inclusive Access program is the easiest, most affordable way to ensure all students have access to quality educational resources. Find out more at macmillanlearning.com/inclusiveaccess.

PRINT

Rules for Writers (Classic), Tenth Edition. To order the spiral bound version, use ISBN 978-1-319-24425-5. To order Rules for Writers (Classic) spiral bound version packaged with Achieve, use ISBN 978-1-319-44385-6. To order the paperback version, use ISBN 978-1-319-39294-9. To order the paperback version packaged with Achieve, use ISBN 978-1-319-44389-4.

Rules for Writers with Writing about Literature, Tenth Edition. To order the spiral bound tabbed version, use ISBN 978-1-319-39301-4. To order Rules for Writers with Writing about Literature packaged with Achieve, use ISBN 978-1-319-44387-0.

A Student’s Companion to Hacker Handbooks, Second Edition. To order the paperback workbook, use ISBN 978-1-319-24421-7. To package the workbook with the print handbook at no additional cost, contact your sales representative.

Your Course, Your Way

No two writing programs or classrooms are exactly alike. Our Curriculum Solutions team works with you to design custom options that provide the resources your students need. (Options below require enrollment minimums.)

ForeWords for English. Customize any print resource to fit the focus of your course or program by choosing from a range of prepared topics, such as Sentence Guides for Academic Writers.

Macmillan Author Program (MAP). Add excerpts or package acclaimed works from Macmillan’s trade imprints to connect students with prominent authors and public conversations. A list of popular examples or academic themes is available upon request.

Mix and Match. With our simplest solution, you can add up to 50 pages of curated content to your Bedford/St. Martin’s text. Contact your sales representative for additional details.

Instructor Resources

You have a lot to do in your course. We want to make it easy for you to find the support you need — and to get it quickly.

Teaching with Hacker Handbooks is available as a PDF that can be downloaded from macmillanlearning.com and is also available in Achieve. In addition to chapter overviews and teaching tips, this instructor’s manual includes sample syllabi, correlations to the Council of Writing Program Administrators’ Outcomes Statement, and classroom activities.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful for the expertise, enthusiasm, and classroom experience that so many individuals brought to the tenth edition.

Meet our Advisory Board for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The following fellow teachers of writing worked with us to make sure students can see themselves and their experiences represented in the tenth edition, to review terminology and instruction, and to promote inclusion and openness. We are grateful for their important contributions.

Kendra N. Bryant, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

Javier Dueñas, Miami Dade College, North

Symmetris Jefferson Gohanna, Calhoun Community College

David F. Green, Howard University

Jamila Kareem, University of Central Florida

Esther Milu, University of Central Florida

Kristin vanEyk, University of Michigan

Reviewers

John Allen, Milwaukee ATC—Downtown; Dana Anderson, Indiana University Bloomington; Beth Baldwin, Prince George’s Community College; Margaret Barnhart, Dickinson State University; Victoria Bowman, Camden County College; Amber Nicole Brooks, Georgia State University; Siobhan Craft Brownson, Winthrop University; Daniel S. Burt, Cape Cod Community College; Joseph Couch, Montgomery College—Takoma Park; Kirstin Cronn-Mills, South Central College; Michael G. Davros, Northeastern Illinois University; Christina Marie Devlin, Montgomery College—Germantown; Semire Dikli, Georgia Gwinnett College; Theresa M. Dolan, Los Angeles Trade Technical College; Elizabeth Donley, Clark College; Lisa DuRose, Inver Hills Community College; Anthony T. Fulton, Prince George’s Community College; Robert Goldberg, Prince George’s Community College; W. Gary Griswold, California State University—Long Beach; John Hansen, Missouri State University—West Plains; John L. Hare, Montgomery College—Germantown; Erik S. Hill, Davidson-Davie Community College; Mary Ann Leiby, El Camino Community College District; R. Elise Lozano, Tarrant County College—Southeast Campus; Amanda S. McBride, Davidson County Community College; Kevin P. Moore, County College of Morris; William Nessly, West Chester University of Pennsylvania; Clayann Gilliam Panetta, Christian Brothers University; Patricia Pantano, Medaille College; Elizabeth Quirk, Wake Technical Community College; Tristan Destry Saldaña, College of Marin; Jennifer Schaefer, Lord Fairfax Community College; Joshua Scheidler, Western Michigan University; Lisa M. Spaulding, Penn Valley Community College.

Contributors

I thank the following fellow writing teachers for important content and smart revisions. Our exciting new resource for corequisite composition, A Student’s Companion to Hacker Handbooks, was made possible with the help of Sylvia Basile (Midlands Technical College), who wrote material on integrating sources; Sandra Chumchal (Blinn College), who wrote advice and activities for two chapters on active reading; Sarah Gottschall (Prince George’s Community College), who contributed content to help students avoid plagiarism and write stronger thesis statements; and Paul Madachy (Prince George’s Community College), who wrote an important chapter on audience awareness. I am also grateful to colleagues who have contributed to the previous editions, as their important work informs the tenth edition: Margaret Price (The Ohio State University) helped us to think about gender and pronouns and inclusivity; Kimberli Huster (Robert Morris University and Duquesne University) updated advice for multilingual writers; and Sara McCurry laid the groundwork for the current version of Teaching with Hacker Handbooks.

Student Contributors

Including sample student writing in each edition of the handbook and its media makes these resources more useful for you and your students. I would like to thank these students for letting us adapt their work as models: Sophie Harba, Dan Larson, Michelle Nguyen, Margaret Peel, Julia Riew, Emilia Sanchez, April Bo Wang, and Ren Yoshida.

Bedford/St. Martin’s

Developing handbooks, e-books, and digital writing tools is a highly collaborative business, and it is my pleasure to acknowledge and thank the enormously talented Bedford/St. Martin’s media and editorial teams, whose commitment to student success informs each new feature of Rules for Writers and Achieve for Rules for Writers. Leasa Burton, vice president for Humanities, generously offers her deep knowledge of composition to help us understand how the field continues to transform. Leasa’s leadership is a source of inspiration and instruction for those who work with her. Stacey Purviance, program director for English, and Adam Whitehurst, director of media editorial for Humanities, led an extraordinary effort to develop and test the writing tools in Achieve. Stacey is a treasured source of thoughtful and innovative ideas, always quick to imagine digital solutions to support student writers. And Adam is a constant source of practical answers to our media questions. I thank them for their creative energy and their dedication to engaging instructors and students in the process of building Achieve. Laura Arcari, program manager for English, offers her superb judgment and big-picture thinking to make sure that Rules for Writers remains the handbook instructors trust and love. I am grateful for Laura’s commitment to our handbooks, especially her deep understanding of our digital writing tools to build students’ success and confidence. Many thanks to Bedford marketing colleagues Joy Fisher Williams and Vivian Garcia for their treasured advice and feedback. Doug Silver, product manager, helps us to reimagine writers’ and teachers’ opportunities with digital tools.

Michelle Clark, senior executive editor for handbooks, is the editor every author dreams of having. She manages to be exacting and endearing all at once — a treasured friend and colleague and an endless source of creativity. Michelle combines imagination with practicality and hard work with good cheer. Melissa Rostek, development editor and lead editor of the tenth edition, brings her excellent editorial instincts and bold questions to our collaboration. Always an advocate for students, she is a close reader extraordinaire who knows how to make every idea more interesting and every sentence more precise. Thank you, Melissa, for your unshakable optimism and steadiness, for being such an awesome editor, and for our friendship. Barbara Flanagan, recently retired as senior media editor, managed content development for Achieve and acted as our guide to all things digital. For more than 30 years, Barbara brought her unrelenting insistence on clarity and precision, as well as her expertise in documentation, to the Hacker/Sommers handbooks. Barbara set the bar high for all of us, and we benefited from her tremendous talents. We miss you, Barbara! Thanks also to Aislyn Fredsall, assistant editor, for developing the new researched argument paper, overseeing the review and permissions processes, and developing ancillary materials. Aislyn jumps in to assist on any project with her “can do” spirit, always showing us how to accomplish a task better than we imagined. She suggests innovative ways to make our handbook smarter.

Many thanks to the media production team, especially Allison Hart, senior media project manager, for delivering engaging and accessible handbook tools for students composing in the digital age. Thanks also to Gregory Erb, executive content project manager, for his experience with our handbooks and for his careful eye and smart management of the content production process; to Arthur Johnson, copy editor, for his thoroughness and attention to detail; to Claire Seng-Niemoeller, who kept our design clean, simple, and elegant — as always; and to Billy Boardman, senior design manager, who has created a striking new cover for this milestone tenth edition.

Last, but never least, I offer thanks to my own students who, over many years, have shaped my teaching and helped me understand their challenges. Thanks to my friends and colleagues Jenny Doggett, Sarah Garfinkel, Joan Feinberg, Suzanne Lane, Elisabeth McKetta, Maxine Rodburg, Laura Saltz, and Kerry Walk for sustaining conversations about the teaching of writing. And thanks to my family: to Joshua Alper, an attentive reader of life and literature, for his steadfastness across the drafts, and for his grace and good humor; to my parents, Walter and Louise Sommers, who encouraged me to write and set me forth on a career of writing and teaching; to my extended family, Ron, Charles, Mary, Demian, Liz, Devin, Yuval, Kate, Nik, Sam, Steve, and Alexander, for their encouragement and affection; and to Rachel, Alexandra, and Brian, world-class listeners, witty and wise beyond measure, always generous with their instruction and inspiration in all things that matter. They give point and purpose to writing and share my thrill when they hold this handbook in their hands. And to my grandchildren, Lailah and Oren, thanks for the joy and sweetness you bring to life.

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Nancy Sommers

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Scavenger Hunt

Using one of the five paths described on the inside front cover of this book, practice locating the help that writers typically need in college. Knowing how the book works and being able to quickly find answers means you get more for your money. Answers appear at the back of the book.

Image Finding answers to common writing questions

1. Your first assignment requires an effective thesis statement. This section of Rules for Writers covers drafting and revising a thesis statement.

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Book section numbers (4a, 2d, for example)

2. You have been asked to format your essay in MLA style. Where in Rules for Writers can you find an example showing MLA format?

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3. You are writing a research paper and want to cite a short article from a website in your APA references list. Where will you find a model that shows you how?

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4. Where in the book will you find a two-page writing guide on how to write an argument essay?

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5. Where in Rules for Writers will you find advice that will help you to detect fake or misleading news?

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6. Locate the box that gives you advice on how to write better peer review comments.

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Image Using the Brief Menu, Contents, or Glossary of usage

Each of the following sentences includes an error. Identify the number of the section in Rules for Writers that includes advice that will help you edit the sentence. As a bonus, try to edit each of the following sentences correctly!

7. A verb have to agree with its subject.

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Book section numbers (4a, 12d, for example)

8. Commas are useful, but are generally overused.

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9. About sentence fragments. Academic writers should avoid them.

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10. I plan to lay down for a nap before my shift begins.

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11. Professor, will you except late papers?

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12. The city felt the affects of the hurricane for months afterward.

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