A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update
Tenth Edition| ©2021 Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers
The ebook has been updated to give your students 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 Reference has offered clear and quick answers to tough...
The ebook has been updated to give your students 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 Reference has offered clear and quick answers to tough questions for millions of college writers. With a groundbreaking tabbed, lay-flat format and a first-of-its-kind directness, it helped a generation of students engage in their own writing and meet the challenges of the composition course. As we celebrate the 10th edition, we invite you to see our latest innovation--our latest answer to the question we have been asking for 35 years: How can we help? We help with superior content developed by experienced authors and shaped by faculty and student advisers. And we help with Achieve, a first-of-its-kind suite of digital tools paired with content you trust.
Achieve with A Writer’s Reference lets you engage students in new ways. They do the work of the composition course in a contained and active writing space: they read, write, reflect, respond to peers, consult the handbook, and make action plans. And instructors use Achieve to design and facilitate writing assignments, peer review, and reflection. The best part? Achieve gives you deeper visibility into students’ writing processes--lets you see “between the drafts.” Insights for each writer and for each class provide actionable information about how your students are responding to expectations, allowing you to see, foster, and measure progress. The 10th edition is an innovation celebration--a continued commitment to college writers and teachers of writing.
ISBN:9781319454487
Take notes, add highlights, and download our mobile-friendly e-books.
![Cover: A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update, 10th Edition by Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers](http://prod-cat-files.macmillan.cloud/MediaResources/Jackets/258W/9781319454487.jpg)
Helping college writers achieve more. As always.
The ebook has been updated to give your students 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 Reference has offered clear and quick answers to tough questions for millions of college writers. With a groundbreaking tabbed, lay-flat format and a first-of-its-kind directness, it helped a generation of students engage in their own writing and meet the challenges of the composition course. As we celebrate the 10th edition, we invite you to see our latest innovation--our latest answer to the question we have been asking for 35 years: How can we help? We help with superior content developed by experienced authors and shaped by faculty and student advisers. And we help with Achieve, a first-of-its-kind suite of digital tools paired with content you trust.
Achieve with A Writer’s Reference lets you engage students in new ways. They do the work of the composition course in a contained and active writing space: they read, write, reflect, respond to peers, consult the handbook, and make action plans. And instructors use Achieve to design and facilitate writing assignments, peer review, and reflection. The best part? Achieve gives you deeper visibility into students’ writing processes--lets you see “between the drafts.” Insights for each writer and for each class provide actionable information about how your students are responding to expectations, allowing you to see, foster, and measure progress. The 10th edition is an innovation celebration--a continued commitment to college writers and teachers of writing.
Features
New to This Edition
The ebook has been updated to give your students the latest guidance on documenting sources in MLA style and follows the guidelines set forth in the MLA Handbook, 9th edition (April 2021).
- Writing tools keep writing and revising at the center of your course. Draft Goals focus students, feedback tools help you target problems, reflection prompts increase rhetorical awareness, and the Revision Plan makes feedback actionable.
- Pre-built assignments make your life easier. Each one can be assigned as-is or customized: analysis, argument, annotated bibliography, narrative, reflection, and research.
- An interactive e-book version of A Writer’s Reference, built in to Achieve, brings together the resources students need to prepare for class. Students can download the e-book to read offline or to have read aloud to them.
- Built-in Source Check plagiarism prevention software guides students as they learn to be responsible academic researchers.
- Diagnostics and individualized study plans give students ownership of their learning process.
- Powerful trends, insights, and reports for each assignment inform your teaching and feedback and help you visualize and measure students’ progress.
“A Writer’s Reference is the premier writing handbook--a hallmark for our discipline.”
--C. Cole Osborne, Guilford Technical Community College
“A Writer’s Reference is the only textbook that every single faculty member agrees on.”
--Kristin Redfield, Forsyth Technical Community College
“This book is an invaluable resource, but more than that, it is a critical voice in the larger conversation about the shifting landscape of rhetoric, composition, and the lives of all learners.”
--Kathleen Adams, Appalachian State University
“The new visuals make me excited about their potential as teaching tools. The new visual approach will help students stay engaged, retain information, and recall information.”
--Bridgette Weir, Nashville State Community College
“Students can achieve their own writing growth and their own writing success with the right tool. Achieve is that tool.”
--Jennifer Duncan, Georgia State University, Perimeter College
“Achieve presents a new way for students not only to receive feedback but to act on it.”
--Joel Wilson, Keiser University and Community College of Allegheny County
![Cover: A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update, 10th Edition by Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers](http://prod-cat-files.macmillan.cloud/MediaResources/Jackets/258W/9781319454487.jpg)
A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update
Tenth Edition| ©2021
Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers
Digital Options
![EPUB3_EBOOK icon](https://prod-cat-files.macmillan.cloud/MediaResources/studentstore/visuals/SS_Search_Icons_eBook.png)
E-book
Read online (or offline) with all the highlighting and notetaking tools you need to be successful in this course.
![Cover: A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update, 10th Edition by Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers](http://prod-cat-files.macmillan.cloud/MediaResources/Jackets/258W/9781319454487.jpg)
A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update
Tenth Edition| 2021
Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers
Table of Contents
C | Composing and RevisingC1 Planning
C2 Drafting
C3 Writing paragraphs
C4 Reviewing, revising, and editing
C5 Preparing a portfolio; reflecting on your writing
A | Academic Reading, Writing, and Speaking
A1 Reading and writing critically
A2 Reading and writing about multimodal texts
A3 Reading arguments
A4 Writing arguments
A5 Speaking confidently
A6 Writing in the disciplines
R | Researched writing
R1 Thinking like a researcher; gathering sources
R2 Managing information; taking notes responsibly
R3 Evaluating sources
MLA | MLA Style
MLA-1 Supporting a thesis
MLA-2 Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism
MLA-3 Integrating sources
MLA-4 Documenting sources
MLA-5 Format and sample research essay
APA CMS | APA Style and CMS Style
APA-1 Supporting a thesis
APA-2 Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism
APA-3 Integrating sources
APA-4 Documenting sources
APA-5 Format and sample research essay
CMS-1 Supporting a thesis
CMS-2 Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism
CMS-3 Integrating sources
CMS-4 Documenting sources
CMS-5 Format and sample research essay
S | Sentence Style
S1 Parallelism
S2 Needed words
S3 Problems with modifiers
S4 Shifts
S5 Mixed constructions
S6 Sentence emphasis
S7 Sentence variety
W | Word choice
W1 Glossary of usage
W2 Wordy sentences
W3 Active verbs
W4 Appropriate language
W5 Exact language
G | Grammatical sentences
G1 Subject-verb agreement
G2 Verb form, tenses, and moods
G3 Pronouns
G4 Adjectives and adverbs
G5 Sentence fragments
G6 Run-on sentences
M | Multilingual Writers and ESL topics
M1 Verbs
M2 Articles
M3 Sentence structure
M4 Using adjectives
M5 Prepositions and idiomatic expressions
M6 Paraphrasing sources effectively
P | Punctuation and Mechanics
P1 The comma
P2 Unnecessary commas
P3 The semicolon and the colon
P4 The apostrophe
P5 Quotation marks
P6 Other punctuation marks
P7 Spelling and hyphenation
P8 Capitalization
P9 Abbreviations and numbers
P10 Italics
B | Basic Grammar
B1 Parts of speech
B2 Sentence patterns
B3 Subordinate word groups
B4 Sentence types
I | Index
[[only for WAL edition]]
L | Writing about Literature
L1 Reading to form an interpretation
L2 Planning the paper
L3 Writing the paper
L4 Observing conventions
L5 Integrating quotations from the text
L6 Using secondary sources
L7 Sample papers
![Cover: A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update, 10th Edition by Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers](http://prod-cat-files.macmillan.cloud/MediaResources/Jackets/258W/9781319454487.jpg)
A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update
Tenth Edition| 2021
Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers
Authors
![Headshot of Diana Hacker](http://prod-cat-files.macmillan.cloud/MediaResources/Authors/207W/4179.jpg)
Diana Hacker
Diana Hacker personally class-tested her handbooks with nearly four thousand students over thirty-five years at Prince George’s Community College in Maryland, where she was a member of the English faculty. Hacker handbooks, built on innovation and on a keen understanding of the challenges facing student writers, are the most widely adopted in America. Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin’s, include A Writer’s Reference, Eleventh Edition (2025); A Pocket Style Manual, Tenth Edition (2025); The Bedford Handbook, Twelfth Edition (2023); Rules for Writers, Tenth Edition (2022); and Writer’s Help 2.0, Hacker Version.
![Headshot of Nancy Sommers](http://prod-cat-files.macmillan.cloud/MediaResources/Authors/207W/4529.jpg)
Nancy Sommers
Nancy Sommers, who has taught composition and directed composition programs for thirty years, now teaches in Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. She led Harvard’s Expository Writing Program for twenty years, directing the first-year writing program and establishing Harvard’s WAC program. A two-time Braddock Award winner, Sommers is well known for her research and publications on student writing. Her articles “Revision Strategies of Student and Experienced Writers” and “Responding to Student Writing” are two of the most widely read and anthologized articles in the field of composition. Recently she has been exploring different audiences through publishing in popular media. Sommers is the lead author on Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin’s, and editor of Tiny Teaching Stories on Macmillan Learning’s Bits Blog.
![Cover: A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update, 10th Edition by Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers](http://prod-cat-files.macmillan.cloud/MediaResources/Jackets/258W/9781319454487.jpg)
A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update
Tenth Edition| 2021
Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers
Instructor Resources
Need instructor resources for your course?
Unlock Your ResourcesInstructor Resources
Download Resources
You need to sign in to unlock your resources.
Teaching with Hacker Handbooks (Online Only)
Diana Hacker; Marcy Carbajal Van Horn; Jonathan S. Cullick; Sara McCurry | Fourth Edition | ©2021 | ISBN:9781319342029You've selected:
Click the E-mail Download Link button and we'll send you an e-mail at with links to download your instructor resources. Please note there may be a delay in delivering your e-mail depending on the size of the files.
Warning! These materials are owned by Macmillan Learning or its licensors and are protected by copyright laws in the United States and other jurisdictions. Such materials may include a digital watermark that is linked to your name and email address in your Macmillan Learning account to identify the source of any materials used in an unauthorised way and prevent online piracy. These materials are being provided solely for instructional use by instructors who have adopted Macmillan Learning’s accompanying textbooks or online products for use by students in their courses. These materials may not be copied, distributed, sold, shared, posted online, or used, in print or electronic format, except in the limited circumstances set forth in the Macmillan Learning Terms of Use and any other reproduction or distribution is illegal. These materials may not be made publicly available under any circumstances. All other rights reserved. For more information about the use of your personal data including for the purposes of anti-piracy enforcement, please refer to Macmillan Learning's.Privacy Notice
Thank you!
Your download request has been received and your download link will be sent to .
Please note you could wait up to 30 to 60 minutes to receive your download e-mail depending on the number and size of the files. We appreciate your patience while we process your request.
Check your inbox, trash, and spam folders for an e-mail from InstructorResources@macmillan.com.
If you do not receive your e-mail, please visit macmillanlearning.com/support.
![Cover: A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update, 10th Edition by Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers](http://prod-cat-files.macmillan.cloud/MediaResources/Jackets/258W/9781319454487.jpg)
A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update
Tenth Edition| 2021
Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers
Related Titles
![Cover: A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update, 10th Edition by Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers](http://prod-cat-files.macmillan.cloud/MediaResources/Jackets/258W/9781319454487.jpg)
A Writer's Reference with 2021 MLA Update
Tenth Edition| 2021
Diana Hacker; Nancy Sommers
Videos
Meet Nancy Sommers
Select a demo to view:
![Achieve icon](http://prod-cat-files.macmillan.cloud/MediaResources/instructorcatalog/college/digital/digital-icons/PNG/digital-icon-achieve.png)
![](/college/_ui/responsive/common/images/spinner.gif)