Puga 1

Jordan Puga
Dr. Khadka
English 600a
13 March 2016
The Little Seagull Handbook Review
I will be reviewing The Little Seagull Handbook: With Exercises. One thing that I liked
immediately when I saw this book was the size. The Seagull Handbook is small and organized
with easily identifiable color labels that make locating sections of the text simple for students.
The flow of the book is perfect for first year writing since it basically goes from academic
writing such as rhetorical analysis, literary analysis, and research based writing to source
integration and avoiding plagiarism. The handbook also has detailed style guides for MLA,
APA, and CMS. At the end of the text appears a brief section about grammar and exercises that
will help utilize the skills and information conveyed from the handbook.
The first section of the handbook introduces the reader to the basics of writing such as
purpose, audience, genre, topic, stance/tone, and media/ design. The handbook also has a section
devoted to the writing process. This section gives tips on brainstorming, freewriting, clustering,
and asking questions in order to help new students generate ideas. Along with writing the
section it also briefly covers editing and revision. What I like about the writing sections of this
text is that they are brief and concise. No topic is more than a page in length and the language
would not confuse a new or younger student.
This handbook also emphasizes paragraph development in great detail, touching on main
points, topic sentences, development of analysis, descriptive writing, and most importantly ways
to define terms. I particularly liked the focus on defining terms, because this a writing issue I

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commonly come across in SI. In fact, I have specifically referenced this section of the handbook
to students in order to help them revise their essays.
Another nice feature of the handbook is the section devoted to presentations. Often times
composition books leave little to no attention to presentation strategies. The Little Seagull
Handbook has great tips for creating simple but compelling visuals, ways to organize time, and
overall structuring. Again this section is brief but easily accessible, especially for students who
tend to spend the last moments of class-time preparing for their presentations.
As far as rhetorical reading strategies, the text has a nice little section devoted to
rhetorical analysis. This section addresses types of rhetoric and idea generating questions to help
students begin to think about the ways rhetoric can be approached. This section has
accompanying visuals to help students organize ideas as they analyze, which I thought was
useful and handy. The rhetoric section emphasizes context, argument, and thematic implication
as the keys to strong analysis. I think these three aspects of rhetoric are important for freshmen
students to learn in first year composition and the handbooks definition of these terms align with
what I have been taught in the past.
Another positive aspect of The Little Seagull Handbook is the section devoted to
grammar. From elements of a sentence to comma splices, this handbook has simple grammar
explanations for common errors that freshmen writers will encounter. What I like about the
layout is that if an error is made on an essay, the teacher can simply put the page number or say
reference grammar section of the handbook. This section can also be helpful for ESL students
who struggle with the rules of American English and do not get adequate explanations from their
instructors during class time. Again, the organization and design of this small handbook make it
an ideal reference tool for both at home and in the classroom.

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One thing about the little seagull handbook that may detract from its use in the classroom
is that it does not offer readings that generate class discussions. This book is more of a reference
source for when students are actually writing at home. The advice in this text is invaluable, but a
teacher couldnt exactly assign sections of this handbook to read for homework and expect the
students to come to class ready to have vigorous talks about the writing process. Although there
are exercises at the end of the text, they would make better handouts than instigators for
discussion. However, if you want students to have a book that they can come back in order to
answer and clarify basic writing misconceptions, then this Handbook may be ideal for you. The
exercises are helpful if you need a quick refresher on a topic you forgot, but they are not
something to base a curriculum on. The MLA guidelines and examples are also a nice for
students to have access to even after they have filled their composition requirement. I have used
this handbook in the past and sometimes come back to it myself when I have a writing issue that
I cannot immediately answer myself.
The price and simplicity of this handbook make it an ideal text for first year composition.
Although it is not an in depth investigation of grammar and composition, the handbook does
highlight the fundamentals of writing adequately. The small size of the text make it ideal for in
class use along with revisions and peer review assignments. The Little Seagull Handbook is an
affordable text that students will likely use again outside of a freshmen composition class.