Writing Lab

1. Writing Lab Brackets and Parentheses

2. Parentheses • insert aside information into a sentence or between two sentences • The diagram (see page twelve) shows Columbus, Georgia’s 2012 education budget. • cite a work after it has been quoted or paraphrased • Reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (N. Baron 194). • 8thEdition MLA Handbook • enclose numbers of letters in a list • Her essay on the United Nations discusses the organization’s (1) general history, (2) structure and current members, and (3) goals and activities.

3. Brackets • insert changes or additional information into quoted material • Mr. McGregor said, “You [Peter Rabbit] had better never come back to my garden.” • Use inside parentheses to show extra information within information already enclosed in parentheses. • In 1598, William Shakespeare performed in the play Every Man in His Humour (by Ben Johnson [1572-1637]), which was a great success. • insert an original foreign title after an English title in a Works Cited. The original title should be italicized as well. • Like Water for Chocolate [Como agua para chocolate]. Screenplay by Laura Esquivel. Dir. Alfonso Arau. Perf. Lumi Cavazos, Marco Lombardi, and Regina Torne. Miramax, 1993. Film

4. That’s all, folks! • This lesson is part of the UWF Writing Lab Grammar Mini-Lesson Series • Lessons adapted from Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon • To find out more, visit the Writing Lab’s website where you can take a self-scoring quiz corresponding to this lesson