English and Literature

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Straus This entertaining and concise reference guide and workbook answers your most pressing questions about English usage. Author Jane Straus has unraveled the mysteries of grammar, punctuation, and capitalization to help the reader feel competent in their writing and speaking skills. Tens of thousands of copies of this indispensable book are purchased worldwide every year by business professionals, government agencies, universities, high schools, middle schools, and homeschooling families.

English for Everyone: English Grammar Guide by DK Puzzled by past tenses? Confused be comparatives? The English for Everyone Grammar Guide is packed with easy-to-follow English grammar rules and annotated sample sentences.  Ideal for English test preparations or ESL lesson plans, the Grammar Guide uses visual teaching methods to introduce English grammar for beginners, reinforced through a variety of exercises and examples when used alongside our Grammar Practice Book. Once you have built up your confidence in the written English language, the Grammar Guide can act as a reference point for more advanced sentence structures in practical English usage. About English For Everyone English for Everyone is a series of guides and practice books that support English learning for teenagers and adults from a beginner level, to intermediate, and advanced practical English. Offering an easy-to-follow format that offers guidance for both teaching English as a foreign language, and a self-study approach with resources available to improve English speaking, reading, and writing. Whether you are looking for ESL teaching resources, or a structured program for adults to learn English as a second language, the English for Everyone Series provides: - Sample language examples: New language topics are introduced in context using clear, illustrated, and color-coded explanations - Supporting audio: Extensive English-speaking audio materials integrated into every unit, giving vital oral and listening practice. (All supplementary audio is available on the DK English for Everyone website and IOS/Android App). - Quick referencing: Easy-to-follow units, mirrored in both the Course and Practice Books for easy referencing and teaching - Sentence formation guides: Visual break downs of essential English grammar in use, showing learners how to recreate even complex English sentences - Visual English vocabulary cues: Lists of useful English words and common phrases with visual aids are available throughout the book - Personalised learning: Write-on lines encourage ESL learners to write their prompts and translations  The English for Everyone Series covers the skills and topics required for all major global English-language exams and reference frameworks including: - CEFR - TOEFL  - IELTS   - TOEIC

How to Write Better Essays by Bryan Greetham (Contribution by) For every student who needs to write essays, from whatever discipline, this book is an essential resource, offering the help and inspiration they need to tackle their essays with confidence. This book takes the reader carefully through each landmark stage of the essay writing process from the interpretation of the question, to the research, planning and revision. They are shown not just how to improve their study skills such as note-taking, reading, organisation and writing, but their thinking skills too. Full of techniques and worked examples, this bestselling guide teaches students how to analyse difficult concepts, criticise and evaluate arguments, use evidence and develop more ideas of their own. It provides clear and practical advice throughout and gives students the confidence they need to tackle written assignments. New for this edition The fifth edition includes a new chapter on staying focused and managing distractions. It also features new techniques for reading sources that will help you form your own judgements and craft strong and original arguments.

Mastering the 5-Paragraph Essay by Susan Van Zile A master teacher shares her meaningful, student-centered lessons and activities that have helped her meet national and state standards. Includes models and rubrics for teaching informational, narrative, persuasive essays. Perfect for engaging students and helping them succeed on the tests!

Spunk and Bite by Arthur Plotnik Today's writer needs more than just a solid knowledge of usage and composition to write successfully. Bestselling author Arthur Plotnik reveals the secrets to attention-grabbing, unforgettable writing, in this trade paperback edition. Updated with all-new writing exercises, Spunk & Bite will help writers take books, articles, business reports, memos, and even e-mail messages to the next level.

Write to the Point by Sam Leith Good writers follow the rules. Great writers know the rules--and follow their instincts! Finding the right words, in the right order, matters--whether you're a student embarking on an essay, a job applicant drafting your cover letter, an employee composing an email . . . even a (hopeful) lover writing a text. Do it wrong and you just might get an F, miss the interview, lose a client, or spoil your chance at a second date. Do it right, and the world is yours. In Write to the Point, accomplished author and literary critic Sam Leith kicks the age-old lists of dos and don'ts to the curb. Yes, he covers the nuts and bolts we need to be in complete command of the language: grammar, punctuation, parts of speech, and other subjects half-remembered from grade school. But more importantly, he charts a commonsense course between the "Armies of Correctness" and the "Descriptivist Irregulars." For Leith, knowing not just the rules but also how and when to ignore them--developing an ear for what works best in context--is everything. In this master class, Leith teaches us a skill of paramount importance in this smartphone age, when we all carry a keyboard in our pockets: to write clearly and persuasively for any purpose--to write to the point.

Oxford Guide to Effective Writing and Speaking by John Seely The Oxford Guide to Effective Writing and Speaking is the essential guide for everyone who needs to communicate in clear and effective English, both written and spoken. John Seely looks at the key factors to consider in tailoring your material so that you get your message across, such asunderstanding the demands of particular audiences, subjects, and situations.Clearly organized, the book is arranged in four sections:A: Communicating in everyday life - covers a wide range of communications including writing emails to giving presentations and preparing reports.B: Getting your message across - focuses on important factors such as the audience, the subject, time, and purpose.C: Communication tools - offers advice on grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation to ensure that communication is accurate as well as appropriate.D: The process of writing - looks at what's involved in writing longer pieces, including planning and drafting, research, summaries, editing, and presentation.Full of practical guidance, this book also includes helpful "You Try" sections and "guidelines" to practise and reinforce what you've learnt. The answers to the exercises in the "You Try" sections can be found at the back of the book.This is the most comprehensive guide to using English for effective communication available; it covers an unrivalled range of situations and requirements, making it ideal for use at work, at school and university, or at home.

The Quick Fix Guide to Academic Writing by Phillip C. Shon Whether you're writing a paper, essay, assignment, or dissertation, this short and punchy book helps you improve your writing skills through minimal effort. Providing you with a quick set of writing rules to follow, this tried and tested guide uses a unique and easy to follow grid-based system.  Packed with advice on understanding (big and little) common errors made in academic writing, it helps you identify patterns in your own writing and demonstrates how to reshape or re-evaluate them - and raise your writing game in any academic context.  How-to tutorials include: Synthesizing and critiquing literature - and using your coding sheet to develop critical arguments  Shaping abstracts, introductions, discussions, and conclusions - to improve the logic and structure of your writing Applying lessons-learned to future projects, whatever format of academic writing. Save time and improve your grades, with this essential quick fix guide! The Student Success series are essential guides for students of all levels. From how to think critically and write great essays to planning your dream career, the Student Success series helps you study smarter and get the best from your time at university.

Seductive Academic Writing by Danyal Freeman This volume teaches academics and graduate students how to write seductive academic prose by learning a literacy rarely taught in academic writing or style handbooks: to use literary devices and figures of speech to meet ideals of stylish communication; and how these ideals and supposed literary techniques serve academic readers and writers. Part one explores the persistent problem of the bad academic writing style called academese and argues stylish academic writers avoid it by writing with figures of speech. Part two teaches and illustrates figures of speech seductive writers write into academic prose to convey the music and rhythms of good speech, cohesion, coherence and storytelling, and the personality and passions of the author. Part three argues the academy will not heal itself of academese until academic writing pedagogies teach students to care enough for their readers to write with figures of speech that craft seductive academic writing.

A Student's Writing Guide by Gordon Taylor Are you struggling to meet your coursework deadlines? Finding it hard to get to grips with your essay topics? Does your writing sometimes lack structure and style? Would you like to improve your grades? This text covers everything a student needs to know about writing essays and papers in the humanities and social sciences. Starting from the common difficulties students face, it gives practical examples of all the stages necessary to produce a good piece of academic work: * interpreting assignment topics * drawing on your own experience and background * reading analytically and taking efficient notes * developing your argument through introductions, middles and conclusions * evaluating and using online resources * understanding the conventions of academic culture * honing your ideas into clear, vigorous English. This book will provide you with all the tools and insights you need to write confident, convincing essays and coursework papers.

Emma by Jane Austen Beautiful, clever, rich-and single-Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen's most flawless work.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens; Margaret Cardwell (Editor); Robert Douglas-Fairhurst 'You are to understand, Mr. Pip, that the name of the person who is your liberal benefactor remains a profound secret...'Young Pip lives with his sister and her husband the blacksmith, with few prospects for advancement until a mysterious benefaction takes him from the Kent marshes to London.  Pip is haunted by figures from his past - the escaped convict Magwitch, the time-withered Miss Havisham and her proud and beautiful ward, Estella - and in time uncovers not just the origins of his great expectations but the mystery of his own heart.A powerful and moving novel, Great Expectations is suffused with Dickens's memories of the past and its grip on the present, and it raises disturbing questions about the extent to which individuals affect each other's lives. This edition includes a lively introduction, Dickens's working notes, the novel's original ending, and an extract from an early theatrical adaptation. It reprints the definitive Clarendon text.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 2021 Reprint of the 1925 Edition. The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald's third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted "gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession," it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s. The Great Gatsby received mixed reviews upon publication and sold poorly. In its first year, the book sold only 20,000 copies. Fitzgerald died in 1940, believing himself to be a failure and his work forgotten. However, the novel experienced a revival during World War II, and became a part of American high school curricula and numerous stage and film adaptations in the following decades. Today, The Great Gatsby is widely considered to be a literary classic and a contender for the title of the "Great American Novel." Following the novel's revival, later critical writings on The Great Gatsby focus in particular on Fitzgerald's disillusionment with the American dream in the context of the hedonistic Jazz Age, a name for the era which Fitzgerald claimed to have coined.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, caught in the tragic sweep of history, The Kite Runner transports readers to Afghanistan at a tense and crucial moment of change and destruction. A powerful story of friendship, it is also about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the influence of fathers over sons--their love, their sacrifices, their lies.