Attention to good writing, not just to surface correctness. The St. Martin’s Handbook helps students understand that effective texts in every genre and medium follow conventions that always depend on their audience, situation, and discipline.

Help solving the most common writing problems. A nationwide study that I conducted with Karen Lunsford—revisiting the original 1980s research that Bob Connors and I did on student writing—shows the problems U.S. college students are most likely to have in their writing today. In this book, a special section presents a quick guide to troubleshooting the Top Twenty—with examples, explanations, and information on where to turn in the book for more detailed information.

A focus on bridging social and academic writing. My recent research shows that students today are writing more than any generation ever has, and that they often make well-informed decisions in their social writing. The St. Martin’s Handbook helps students recognize and use the rhetorical strategies that they employ in their extracurricular writing to create more effective academic writing.

A focus on helping students produce as well as consume texts. Many students define good writing as active and participatory; they tell me that their most important writing aims to “make something happen in the world.” Sample student writing in The St. Martin’s Handbook reflects the writing students are doing today, both in and out of class—from tweets and fundraising pages to reports and literary analyses. And I encourage students throughout the book to engage with issues and ideas that interest them and put their growing media savvy and rhetorical smarts to good use!

Up-to-date advice on research and documentation. As best practices for research continue to evolve, The St. Martin’s Handbook continues to offer excellent coverage of library and online research to help students find authoritative and credible information in any medium, plus advice on integrating sources, avoiding plagiarism, and citing sources in MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE documentation styles.

Comprehensive coverage of critical thinking and argument. Because first-year writing assignments increasingly call for argument, The St. Martin’s Handbook provides all the information student writers need to respond effectively to their writing assignments, including practical advice on critical reading and analysis of all kinds of texts, instruction on composing arguments, and two complete student projects.

Essential help for writing in the disciplines. Student writers will find strategies for understanding discipline-specific assignments, vocabulary, style, and use of evidence, along with student writing assignments, including research projects in MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE styles; first-year writing assignments in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences; and business documents, including traditional and creative résumés.

Unique coverage of language and style. Unique chapters on language help students think about language in context and about the consequences that language choices have on writers and readers. Boxed tips throughout the book help students communicate effectively across cultures—and use varieties of language both wisely and well.

A user-friendly, all-in-one index. Entries include both everyday words (such as that or which) and grammatical terms (such as pronoun, which is defined in the index), so students can find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.