Francine Prose

Barbara Wallraff

Wherein Verbal Virtue Is Rewarded, Crimes Against the Language Are Punished, and Poetic Justice Is Done

Word Court

Mike Palmquist

This ebook has been updated to provide you with the latest guidance on documenting sources in MLA style and follows the guidelines set forth in the MLA Handbook, 9th edition (April 2021).

A Writer's Guidebook

In Conversation with 2020 APA and 2021 MLA Updates

Despite the many thousands of dictionary words at our disposal, our language can be dismayingly inadequate. How many times have you searched for a word that means just what you want it to but failed to find anything suitable anywhere? Most of us, it turns out, lead lives rife with experiences, people, and things that have no names. At least, they lacked names until now. Word Fugitives comes to the rescue, supplying hundreds of inspired words coined or redefined to meet everyday needs. For instance, wouldn't it be handy to have a word for the momentary confusion people experience when they hear a cell phone ringing and wonder whether it's theirs? (How about fauxcellarm, phonundrum, or pandephonium?) Or what about a word for offspring who are adults? (Try unchildren or offsprung.) Or a word for the irrational fear when you're throwing a party that no one will show up? (That might be guestlessness, empty-fest syndrome, or fete-alism.) This mind- and vocabulary-expanding book grew out -- way out -- of Barbara Wallraff's popular column in The Atlantic Monthly. Brimming with irresistible diversions and pop quizzes; illuminated by contributions and commentary from authors, linguists, and leading language authorities; and enlivened by pleas for help from people whose words have yet to be found, Word Fugitives will captivate and inspire anyone who ever struggles to describe the world that he or she, or they, or thon (thon? see page 141) lives in.

In Pursuit of Wanted Words

Word Fugitives

With a strong rhetorical foundation, In Conversation blends the comprehensive coverage and quick navigation of a pocket-size handbook with the guidance of a rhetoric. Students will see themselves in its vibrant visuals and real-world examples. The second edition of this approachable and affordable guidebook provides even more help for the kinds of writing students do in college, with new robust support for multilingual writers, new coverage of analytical writing, and a new appendix of sentence guides for academic writing.

In Conversation

Grounded in the best practices of effective writing instruction, Joining the Conversation's rhetorical approach teaches students the key critical thinking skills they will draw on as they begin to explore and respond thoughtfully to the complex conversations around them. From reflective and informative to analytical and persuasive writing, chapters follow real student writers as they find a conversation, develop, revise, and document their writing. Thoroughly revised, the fourth edition includes new student projects and more support for academic reading, critical thinking, and assessing credibility and bias.

Joining the Conversation: A Guide and Handbook for Writers

Answers to such questions as how to keep proper syntax from sounding stiff and keeping conversational language from being incorrect are offered in this guide to using and understanding language resources and making good form one's own. 50,000 first printing.

Your Own Words

The “witty and accessible” bestseller by the Atlantic Monthly editor who rules on linguistic disputes (San Francisco Chronicle). Atlantic Monthly senior editor Barbara Wallraff first began answering grammar questions on AOL in the 1990s, and the site’s success soon morphed into a regular magazine feature. In Word Court, Wallraff moves beyond her column to preside over common and uncommon cases, establishing rules for such issues as turns of phrase, slang, name usage, punctuation, and newly coined vocabulary. With true wit, she deliberates and decides on the right path for lovers of language, ranging from classic questions (is “a historical” or “an historical” correct?) to awkward issues (How long does someone have to be dead before we should all stop calling her “the late”?). The result is a warmly humorous, reassuring, and brilliantly perceptive tour of how and why we speak the way we do. “A logophile’s delight.” —San Diego Union-Tribune “Her approach to language is a beguiling mix of charm and research” —USA Today

Barbara Wallraff

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