Book excerpt: This ebook has been updated to provide you with the latest guidance on documenting sources in MLA style and follows the guidelines set forth in the MLA Handbook, 9th edition (April 2021). Combining a step-by-step rhetoric, a fresh thematic reader, a detailed research manual, and a helpful handbook for grammar and usage, The Bedford Guide for College Writers brings together everything students need for first-year writing. Based on feedback from our advisory board, this edition of the Guide has been streamlined to strengthen its focus on academic writing. Expanded support for planning a writing project and carefully evaluating online sources enables students to write and research confidently. Engaging new professional and student essays provide relevant models of writing from sources--the kinds of assignments students will face throughout their years in college. The book’s hallmark checklists help students move through every stage of the writing process, and Learning by Doing activities provide continuous opportunities for active learning.