How old are you, anway?

4.5 billion years, and I've looked better.

If the Doomsday Clock reached one second to midnight, what would you say to the Earth if she stood in front of you? As the planet prepares to collide with itself, ten humans must unite to see the planet through her change and find a way to rebuild society or let it perish entirely.

A Writer's Reference has offered clear and quick answers to tough questions for millions of college writers. With a groundbreaking tabbed, lay-flat format and a first-of-its-kind directness, it helped a generation of students engage in their own writing and meet the challenges of the composition course. As we celebrate the 10th edition, we invite you to see our latest innovation--our latest answer to the question we have been asking for 35 years: How can we help? We help with superior content developed by experienced authors and shaped by faculty and student advisers. And we help with Achieve, a first-of-its-kind suite of digital tools paired with content you trust.
Achieve with A Writer's Reference lets you engage students in new ways. They do the work of the composition course in a contained and active writing space: they read, write, reflect, respond to peers, consult the handbook, and make action plans. And instructors use Achieve to design and facilitate writing assignments, peer review, and reflection. The best part? Achieve gives you deeper visibility into students' writing processes--lets you see between the drafts. Insights for each writer and for each class provide actionable information about how your students are responding to expectations, allowing you to see, foster, and measure progress. The 10th edition is an innovation celebration--a continued commitment to college writers and teachers of writing.

THIS TITLE HAS BEEN UPDATED TO REFLECT THE 2016 MLA UPDATES Our editorial team has updated this text based on content from The MLA Handbook, 8th Edition. Browse our catalog or contact your representative for a full listing of updated titles and packages, or to request a custom ISBN.

This version of the best-selling college handbook prepares students to write well in college courses outside of composition. With practical advice and plenty of student models, a tabbed section D provides a jump start for writing college papers in nine disciplines -- biology, business, criminal justice/criminology, education, engineering, history, music, nursing, and psychology. Each discipline section features information on audience expectations in that area of study, the types of questions asked, the types of documents produced, the kinds of evidence used, appropriate language conventions, and appropriate citation styles. Each section features a model student paper (two in business) written in response to a typical assignment in the discipline.