In The Penguin Handbook, Lester Faigley rethinks the way handbooks present information and ideas with a reference that’s tailored for today’s visually and technologically oriented students.

Drawing on student feedback and a wealth of classroom experience to design a handbook that gives students the information they need in a format they will actually use, The Penguin Handbook, addresses the changing nature of today’s students as well as today’s writing assignments. This text uses unique, “at-a-glance” documentation pages to help students visually understand how to cite sources, while “Common Errors” boxes for grammar and style help students identify the building blocks necessary for academic writing so that they can successfully employ them in their work. Additional visuals throughout the text help students with everything from how to construct a descriptive paragraph to understanding how visual information can be used in a paper, presentation, or Website.

The Penguin Handbook, makes major advances over existing handbooks by broadening the context of communication, including concise, practical discussions of verbal and visual texts as well as detailed coverage of writing in its many forms. While an emphasis on the process of academic writing and research is maintained throughout, the book and its Website also include coverage of non-fiction genres—brochures, magazine articles, and letters of application—that are used more typically outside the classroom. In addition, The Penguin Handbook is the first handbook to combine this coverage with three purposes of writing: reflective, informative, and persuasive writing.

Throughout, Lester Faigley’s expertise in matters relating to technology is consistently evident, including integrated references to the text’s comprehensive and meticulously constructed Web site. This site extends the interactive nature of the text by providing self-scoring exercises linked to the “Common Error” boxes, “ESL Worksheets” for non-native speakers, “Writing in the World” projects linked to the writing process chapters, and more. On everything from Internet research and documenting online sources to cutting-edge chapters on writing for the Web and creating visuals for papers and oral presentations, The Brief Penguin Handbook, ensures that student writers are adequately prepared for anything they are likely to encounter in today’s academic environment and beyond.

• Placing a unique emphasis on communication in many context, this handbook includes concise, practical discussions of verbal, visual, and online texts, as well as detailed coverage of print texts in their many forms.
• A handbook for visual learners. For the student who has grown up with computers and will increasingly use the Internet for gathering information and communicating, this handbook innovates in its design as well as its content to make handbook topics accessible:
  • Visual images and photographs abound throughout the text, most of them by the author himself, giving it a more open, accessible look and feel.
  • Photographic icons are used in tandem with a keyword for each chapter to give students yet another way to find the topic they need.
  • Color is used throughout the handbook to help students visually process the information, especially in examples.
• Thorough treatment of analyzing/creating visual texts includes Chapter 6, “Critical Reading and Viewing,” which describes the critical analysis of words and images including sections on textual fallacies and visual fallacies. Part 3 on “Visual Rhetoric,” offers unique coverage of creating graphics, tables, and charts, as well as composing and delivering oral presentations with multimedia aids.
• Practical, accessible coverage of grammar and style issues includes the use of 40 “Common Errors” boxes—a key at the back of the book makes the most common errors student writers make easy to find and focus on. Each box contains a specific error with information on how to think about and correct it.
• Comprehensive, cutting-edge treatment of research includes more coverage of plagiarism and using sources than any other handbook on the market including a direct link to the Web site’s “Avoiding Plagiarism” interactive tutorial. Unique, at-a-glance pages for in-text citations provides a visual guide to documenting sources in the latest styles of MLA, APA, CMS, and CBE. Includes in-depth treatment of citing and evaluating electronic sources and more models for MLA citation than any other handbook on the market.
• Part 2, “Writing in College and Beyond,” addresses six nonfiction genres in the context of three different purposes for writing: writing to reflect, writing to inform, and writing to persuade. Traditional essays for each purpose are discussed, as well as genres such as the reflective magazine article, the brochure, and the résumé and accompanying letter of application.
• "Writing in the World” boxes offer tips on writing contexts. When, where, and why do various rules of usage apply? What is the norm in the professional world? Do reviewers use the past tense when evaluating films or music? (No. They use the present tense just as academic writers do.)
• Comprehensive coverage of technology throughout includes Part 4, “Writing for the Web,” with three chapters of detailed, step-by-step instructions for building Web sites using Web editors and HTML. "Computer Strategies” boxes give suggestions for working effectively on the computer while writing, revising, editing, and conducting research on the Web.
• Provides free, seamless access to the text’s Companion Website via URLS that link directly to the specific Web page needed. References to this useful, consistently relevant, Website can be found throughout the text including such features as:
  • "Writing in the World” projects & worksheets which offer students all the tools and source materials they need to complete projects in particular scenarios along with interactive worksheets to help walk them through a variety of writing tasks.
  • "Common Errors” & “ESL Workbooks” —interactive exercises that give students practice and immediate feedback in those areas of grammar and usage where they need the most help.
  • Model student papers with commentary.

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