''The Bedford Handbook'' is a guide written by

Diana Hacker Diana Hacker (July 7, 1942 – January 12, 2004) was an American writer and educator who authored several prominent writing manuals. Her guide, ''A Writer's Reference'', co-written with Nancy Sommers, became the number one best-selling college t ...

, now in its eleventh edition, that provides basic explanations of proper

English grammar English grammar is the set of structural rules of the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, Sentence (linguistics), sentences, and whole texts. This article describes a generalized, present-day Standard English ...

, composition,

citation A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of ...

, and textual analysis. The guide includes a number of sample texts (including

essays An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

) and illustrations throughout its sections. It also covers the concept of

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

. ''The Bedford Handbook'' contains guides to the MLA, APA, and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

citation styles and includes examples of each style in essay form. The book is paired with a companion website that has exercises and more writing models. The hardback is 820 pages and the paperback is 960 pages and are published by United States publisher Bedford/St. Martin's.

References

Style guides for American English Macmillan Publishers books {{Ref-book-stub