Keys for Writers,
9th Edition

Susan K. Miller-Cochran, Ann Raimes

ISBN-13: 9780357656600
Copyright 2025 | Published
400 pages | List Price: USD $93.95

Offering a wealth of examples, tips and tools, Miller-Cochran/Raimes' KEYS FOR WRITERS, 9th Edition, is an easy-to-use resource for improving your writing for all your coursework and career. Color-coded tabs allow you to quickly find answers to grammar and writing questions. The Critical Thinking Framework enables you to read, write and research with better results, and Key Examples help you compare strong and weak ways to apply critical thinking. Sample student papers provide excellent models of writing in different disciplines, while the Assignment Guide in the appendix provides steps for writing in 15 common genres you might encounter in your academic and professional career. Up-to-date with the latest MLA and APA guidelines, the 9th edition includes discussions of the use of artificial intelligence applications for writing and the implications for academic integrity and plagiarism.

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Part I: THE WRITING PROCESS.
1. Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing.
2. Drafting in Stages.
3. Revising, Editing, and Proofreading.
4. Writing and Analyzing Arguments.
5. Writing in Academic Disciplines.
ASSIGNMENT GUIDE: KEYS TO COMMON GENRES.
Part II: THE RESEARCH PROCESS.
6. Research: A Conversation with Sources.
7. Searching for Sources.
8. How to Evaluate Sources.
9. How to Avoid Plagiarizing.
10. How to Use, Integrate, and Document Sources.
Part III: MLA DOCUMENTATION.
11. Citing Sources in Your Paper, MLA Style.
12. MLA List of Works Cited.
13. A Student's Research Paper, MLA Style.
Part IV: APA, CSE, AND CHICAGO DOCUMENTATION.
14. Citing Sources in Your Paper, APA Style.
15. APA List of References.
16. A Student's Research Paper, APA Style.
17. CSE Style of Documentation.
18. Excerpt from a Student's Research Paper, CSE Style.
19. Chicago Manual of Style: Endnotes, Footnotes, and Bibliography.
20. Excerpt from a Student's Research Paper, Chicago Style.
Part V: DESIGN, MEDIA, AND PRESENTATION.
21. Document Design.
22. Visuals.
23. Online Communication Forums.
24. Oral and Multimedia Presentations.
25. Portfolios.
26. Resumes and Letters of Application.
27. Business Letters and Memos.
Part VI: STYLE: THE FIVE C'S.
28. First C: Cut.
29. Second C: Check for Action.
30. Third C: Connect.
31. Fourth C: Commit.
32. Fifth C: Choose the Best Words.
33. Revising for Style: A Student's Drafts.
34. Style Tips.
Part VII: COMMON SENTENCE PROBLEMS.
35. Trouble Spots and Terms.
36. Fixing a Sentence Fragment.
37. Run-ons and Comma Splices.
38. Sentence Snarls.
39. Verbs.
40. Passive Voice.
41. Subject-Verb Agreement.
42. Pronouns.
43. Adjectives and Adverbs.
44. Relative Clauses and Relative Pronouns.
Part VIII: PUNCTUATION, MECHANICS, AND SPELLING.
45. Commas.
46. Apostrophes.
47. Quotation Marks.
48. Semicolons and Colons.
49. Other Punctuation Marks.
50. Italics/Underlining.
51. Capitalization.
52. Abbreviations.
53. Numbers.
54. Hyphens.
55. Online Guidelines.
56. Spelling.
Part IX: WRITING ACROSS LANGUAGES AND CULTURES.
57. Language Diversity and Edited American English: Challenges for Multilingual Writers.
58. Nouns and Articles.
59. Verbs and Verb Forms.
60. Sentence Structure and Word Order.
61. Prepositions and Idioms.
62. Language Learners' FAQs.
Part X: GLOSSARIES.
63. Words to Watch For: Glossary of Usage.
64. Glossary of Grammatical Terms.
Index.

  • Susan K. Miller-Cochran

    Susan K. Miller-Cochran, now director of the Writing Program at The University of Arizona, helped shape the First-Year Writing Program at North Carolina State University while serving as director from 2007-2015. Prior to that, she was a faculty member at Mesa Community College in Arizona. Dr. Miller-Cochran serves as president of the Council of Writing Program Administrators (2015-2017). Her work focuses on the intersections of technology, second-language writing, and writing program administration. Widely published and a popular presenter, Dr. Miller-Cochran is also a co-author with Rochelle L. Rodrigo on the CENGAGE GUIDE TO RESEARCH (Cengage Learning). She received both her Master of Teaching English as a Second Language (MTESL) and her Ph.D. in English, with a concentration in Rhetoric/Composition and Linguistics, from Arizona State University.

  • Ann Raimes

    Ann Raimes, a respected authority on writing, research, grammar, and ESL, created the KEYS FOR WRITERS family of handbooks (Cengage Learning) to be the most accessible, user-friendly handbooks available.

  • The text includes discussions of new technologies for academic writing and research, including easy-to-follow discussions of how artificial intelligence impacts considerations of academic integrity and plagiarism. Examples of how to use artificial intelligence in an ethical way to generate and build upon ideas for writing are also featured.

  • Enhanced discussions of evaluating credibility and accuracy of information found online are provided, as well as consideration of the way the information is updated and who has access to updating that information.

  • The text includes updated discussions of academic integrity, plagiarism and citation of new types of sources, including enhanced discussion of the cultural differences in academic integrity guidelines, especially appropriate for international students and multilingual writers.

  • Up-to-date MLA and APA documentation guidelines and examples is included.

  • Popular Source Shots for citation appear in Parts 3–4 and show students where they are likely to find elements needed to cite common research sources in MLA, APA, CSE and Chicago styles. Clearly labeled citation models illustrate at a glance what types of information students need to include and how to format, arrange and punctuate that information when documenting sources.

  • Thorough Coverage of Style: The entire Part 6, Style: The Five C's is devoted to the important area of style, covering sentence- and word-related style issues with a straightforward and easy-to-remember approach that teaches students to Cut, Check for Action, Connect, Commit, and Choose the Best Words.

  • Thorough, streamlined and clear coverage of grammar in Part 7, Common Sentence Problems, gives students one central place to turn to when they have grammar questions. While other handbooks often confuse students by dividing grammar coverage over several parts, the reader-friendly KEYS FOR WRITERS summarizes answers to students' frequently asked grammar questions in Part 7.

  • Its distinctive "difference, not deficit" emphasis is presented within Language and Culture boxes, an extensive "Editing guide to multilingual transfer patterns," an "Editing guide to vernacular Englishes" and Notes for Multilingual Writers are integrated throughout the text.

  • Exercises on Writing, Research and Grammar at the ends of these sections of the text (including Writing across Languages and Cultures) give students plenty of opportunities to put what they learn into practice.

  • The text prepares students for a range of writing and communicating tasks they may encounter in college and as they make their way in the community and workplace. Part 1 and the Assignment Guides in the appendix support students' writing efforts in different academic disciplines, while Part 5 provides model documents, Web pages, presentations and other resources for writing, communicating and document design in a variety of media for diverse audiences.

  • Practical Key Points boxes provide quick-reference summaries of essential information, including What Every Librarian Wishes You Knew (Part 2), How to Cite and List Sources in MLA Style (Part 3), DOIs and URLs: Locating and Citing Electronic Sources (Part 4) and Guidelines for College Essay Format (Part 5).

Cengage provides a range of supplements that are updated in coordination with the main title selection. For more information about these supplements, contact your Learning Consultant.

Instructor's Manual for Keys for Writers
9780357656617