Prentice Hall Reference Guide

For introductory and advanced composition courses.

When Muriel Harris was first asked about the textbooks she used for tutoring in her Purdue University writing center, she said she didn't use any.  At that time she hadn't found any text that could effectively help her students. When asked what would make a textbook effective, the answer came easily: 30 years of tutoring experience had taught her that a truly useful textbook would have ways to help students find the information they were looking for without having to know the terminology, would be clear and easy to understand for all students, and would be written in a student-friendly language and tone to avoid the intimidating formal instructional tone of some handbooks. Before long, these principles became the foundation of Harris's Prentice Hall Reference Guide, now its 7th edition. With new material and emphasis on writing research papers, visual argument, multimedia, document design, and a visual guide to documentation, PHRG 7e continues to help students find the information they need.

With easy to find information, clarity of instruction, and a student-friendly language and tone, PHRG 7e continues to help students effectively use and understand their handbook.

Muriel Harris was the director of the Purdue Writing Center where she worked elbow-to-elbow with students for over twenty-five years. Based on her experience assisting thousands of writing students, she authored the Prentice Hall Reference Guide with several goals in mind. The handbook is brief, with the most concise explanations possible. It is conveniently tabbed, enabling students to efficiently locate resources. It also features the foundational teaching tools she developed during her tenure at the writing center: the innovative Question and Correct and Compare and Correct features. These features address the challenges that student writers face in an accessible, easy-to-use manner. The streamlined and user-friendly organization and innovative student-focused features make the Prentice Hall Reference Guide the easiest handbook for students and instructors to use.