The Least You Should Know About English (Form A) Book

	What Is the Least You Should Know?	1
1.	Word Choice and Spelling	4
	Your Own List of Misspelled Words	4
	Words Often Confused	5
	Proofreading Exercise	14
	Sentence Writing	14
	Words Often Confused (Set 2)	15
	Proofreading Exercise	24
	Sentence Writing	24
	The Eight Parts of Speech	25
	Paragraph Exercise	29
	Sentence Writing	30
	Contractions	30
	Proofreading Exercise	36
	Sentence Writing	37
	Possessives	38
	Proofreading Exercise	44
	Sentence Writing	44
	Review of Contractions and Possessives	44
	Words That Can Be Broken into Parts	46
	Rule for Doubling a Final Letter	47
	Progress Test	50
	Using a Dictionary	51
2.	Sentence Structure	57
	Finding Subjects and Verbs	58
	Paragraph Exercise	64
	Sentence Writing	64
	Locating Prepositional Phrases	65
	Paragraph Exercise	70
	Sentence Writing	71
	Understanding Dependent Clauses	71
	Paragraph Exercise	77
	Sentence Writing	78
	Correcting Fragments	79
	Proofreading Exercise	85
	Sentence Writing	86
	Correcting Run-on Sentences	86
	Review of Fragments and Run-On Sentences	93
	Proofreading Exercise	94
	Sentence Writing	94
	Identifying Verb Phrases	95
	Review Exercise	99
	Using Standard English Verbs	100
	Proofreading Exercise	106
	Sentence Writing	107
	Using Regular and Irregular Verbs	108
	Progress Test	117
	Maintaining Subject/Verb Agreement	118
	Proofreading Exercise	124
	Sentence Writing	125
	Avoiding Shifts in Time	125
	Proofreading Exercises	126
	Recognizing Verbal Phrases	127
	Paragraph Exercise	132
	Sentence Writing	133
	Correcting Misplaced or Dangling Modifiers	134
	Proofreading Exercise	137
	Sentence Writing	138
	Following Sentence Patterns	138
	Paragraph Exercise	144
	Sentence Writing	145
	Avoiding Cliches, Awkward Phrasing, and Wordiness	146
	Proofreading Exercise	153
	Sentence Writing	154
	Correcting for Parallel Structure	155
	Proofreading Exercise	160
	Sentence Writing	161
	Using Pronouns	161
	Proofreading Exercise	169
	Sentence Writing	169
	Avoiding Shifts in Person	170
	Proofreading Exercises	170
	Review of Sentence Structure Errors	172
	Proofreading Exercise	174
3.	Punctuation and Capital Letters	175
	Period, Question Mark, Exclamation Point, Semicolon, Colon, Dash	175
	Proofreading Exercise	181
	Sentence Writing	182
	Comma Rules	182
	Proofreading Exercise	188
	Sentence Writing	188
	Comma Rules 4, 5, and 6	189
	Proofreading Exercise	194
	Sentence Writing	195
	Review of the Comma	196
	Comma Review Exercise	196
	Sentence Writing	197
	Quotation Marks and Underlining/Italics	197
	Proofreading Exercise	202
	Sentence Writing	202
	Capital Letters	203
	Review of Punctuation and Capital Letters	209
	Comprehensive Test	210
4.	Writing	212
	What Is the Least You Should Know about Writing?	213
	Basic Structures	213
I.	The Paragraph	213
	Defining a Paragraph	214
	Types of Paragraphs	214
II.	The Essay	216
	The Five-Paragraph Essay and Beyond	217
	Defining an Essay	217
	A Sample Essay	217
	"Verbal Shorthand"	218
	Writing Skills	219
III.	Writing in Your Own Voice	219
	Narration	220
	Description	222
	Writing Assignments	223
Assignment 1	Narration: Famous Sayings	223
Assignment 2	Description: A Picture Worth 250 Words?	224
IV.	Finding a Topic	224
	Look to Your Interests	224
	Focused Free Writing (or Brainstorming)	225
	Clustering	225
	Talking with Other Students	226
Assignment 3	List Your Interests	226
Assignment 4	Do Some Free Writing	226
Assignment 5	Try Clustering Ideas	227
V.	Organizing Ideas	227
	Thesis Statements	227
Exercise 1	Thesis or Fact?	228
Assignment 6	Write a Thesis Statement	228
	Organizing an Essay	228
	Topic Sentences	229
	Organizing Body Paragraphs (or Single Paragraphs)	229
	Transitional Expressions	230
Exercise 2	Adding Transitional Expressions	231
Assignment 7	Can You Communicate Without Words?	231
VI.	Supporting with Details	231
	Types of Support	232
Assignment 8	Write an Essay on One of Your Interests	234
Assignment 9	Making Decisions	234
VII.	Revising Your Papers	235
Assignment 10	What Does It Take to Be a Leader?	237
	Revision Checklist	237
	Exchanging Papers	237
	Proofreading Aloud	238
Assignment 11	What's in a Name?	238
Assignment 12	"Clothes Make the Man"	238
Assignment 13	A Movie or TV Show That Has Made an Impression	238
Assignment 14	Making "Sense" of It All	239
VIII.	Presenting Your Work	239
	Paper Formats	239
	Titles	239
IX.	Writing about What You Read	240
	Writing a Reaction	240
Assignment 15	Write a Reaction Paragraph	241
	excerpt from Backtalk: 4 Steps to Ending Rude Behavior in Your Kids	241
	Coming to Your Own Conclusions	242
	excerpt from Little Journeys	242
Assignment 16	What Are Your Conclusions?	243
Assignment 17	Write a 100-Word Summary	245
	"Straight Talk"	245
Assignment 18	Write a Reaction or a 100-Word Summary	248
	"Wandering Home"	248
	Answers	251
	Index	327