Synopses & Reviews
Renowned for its clear presentation of grammar, Kessler and McDonald's WHEN WORDS COLLIDE, 9e equips you with the tips and tools you need to succeed in today's dynamic, cross-platform, multi-media writing environment. This versatile grammar and usage handbook provides an excellent resource for learners and seasoned media writers alike. With its simplified rules, the book appeals to writers from a variety of backgrounds. It combines straightforward explanations and examples with quick and accurate answers to common grammar and usage questions, problems and potential pitfalls. In addition, its unique "from writer to writer" perspective guides you step by step through the entire writing process.
Review
"I can unhesitatingly recommend WHEN WORDS COLLIDE to any colleague in media studies and journalism, but I've also recommended it to my colleagues in the areas of Composition/Rhetoric. I think it could easily work as an English handbook-and is actually superior to most handbooks dedicated to English."
Review
"An engaging approach to style and grammar targeted at a college audience that has for the most part not studied or practiced grammar since middle school."
About the Author
Duncan McDonald is professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, where he also served as dean of the School of Journalism and Communications as well as vice president of Public Affairs and Development. He is a former deputy director of the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University. A former newspaper reporter, editor and publisher, he has co-authored texts in grammar, media writing, information gathering and graphics.
Table of Contents
PART I: UNDERSTANDING GRAMMAR AND STYLE. 1. Grammar Lives! Grammar Is More Important Than Ever. What Does Your E-mail Say about You? 2. Ten Little Secrets: Ten Big Mistakes. The Ten Secrets of Writing Well. Grammar Is Everywhere. Making Mistakes. What You Don't Know. 3. The Sentence. Sentence Parts. Phrases and Clauses. Types of Sentences. Sentence Errors. The Lead Sentence. 4. Power UP with the Verb! Verbs Propel Our Sentences. Verb Forms and Functions. Verb Number and Person. Verb Tense. Principal Parts of Verbs. Voice. The Mood of Verbs. Verbals. 5. Working with the Verb: The Captain's View. Nouns. Pronouns. Adjectives. Adverbs. Prepositions. Conjunctions. Interjections. 6. Making the Case for Agreement. Subject-Verb Agreement. Pronoun Reference: The Antecedent Search. Case: It's All about Relationships. Nominative Case. Objective Case. Possessive Case. Parallel Structure. A Final Note. 7. Punctuation: Your Symphony of Signals and Stops. Some Basic Guidelines. Period. Comma. Semicolon. Colon. Dash. Quotation Marks. Hyphen. Apostrophe. Ellipses. Parentheses. Question Mark and Exclamation Point. 8. Clarity and Conciseness. Choosing Words. Putting Words Together. Making Sense. Clarity, Conciseness, Coherence. 9. Style. What is Style? Liveliness. Originality. Rhythm and Sound. Imagery. Writing with Style. PART II: YOUR SPEEDY GRAMMAR AND WORD USE GUIDE. Appendix A: Homonyms, Homophones, Spell-Checks, Oh My! Appendix B: Irregular (Make That Troublesome) Verb Forms. Index.