Practical English Handbook, MLA Update

I was required to purchase this text as a freshman in high school in 1972. Its use was required in my English classes all four years of high school, and I continued to refer to it often during both my undergraduate and graduate classes. I have kept my original copy all these years. I am now a high school teacher, and still use many of the examples and exercises with my students. This and The Elements of Style should be on any serious writer's desk.

About six years ago as an English major at Emory University in Atlanta, I took a wonderful literature course under Dr. William B. Dillingham, one of this book's coauthors. This book was a required purchase (of course). When I pulled it out to use yet again today, I decided to see if it was still being sold on Amazon. I'm so glad it is.

This little book (of which I own the 10th edition) has been an invaluable resource through the years. With a B.A. in English, I am a magazine editor and pride myself on knowing grammar and punctuation, but every once in a while I need a good resource to answer my questions, and this one comes through for me.

Really written for students, with brief quizzes at the end of each chapter, this book is a handy desk reference. The first part of the book goes over the basics (parts of speech, punctuation). The last part addresses the rules for writing research papers.