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Title: Writing and rewriting
Author: George Carver
Thomas A. Knott
William S. Maulsby
Release date: January 15, 2025 [eBook #75117]
Language: English
Original publication: New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1923
Credits: Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRITING AND REWRITING ***
WRITING AND REWRITING
BY
GEORGE CARVER
WILLIAM S. MAULSBY
THOMAS A. KNOTT
THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY
HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY, INC.
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
TO
THE MEMORY OF
J. SCOTT CLARK
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INDEX TO ADMONITIONS ix
I. WHY LEARN TO WRITE 1
II. HOW TO WRITE 7
III. IDEAS FOR COMPOSITIONS 12
IV. THE WHOLE COMPOSITION 17
V. THE PARAGRAPH 31
VI. GRAMMAR 42
VII. SENTENCE CORRECTNESS 58
VIII. SENTENCE CLEARNESS 88
IX. SENTENCE VIGOR 100
X. WORDS 114
XI. SPELLING 132
XII. PUNCTUATION 139
XIII. MECHANICS 151
TO INSTRUCTORS
_Writing and Rewriting_ is based on the conviction that college freshmen
can be taught to see and to correct their own errors and faults.
Criticism by means of marginal numbers, referring to pieces of advice
in a rhetoric or a manual, has long been utilized to economize the
instructor’s time. It has not been generally realized, however, that
this method, which requires the student to inspect and rewrite a faulty
sentence in the light of an illustration in his book, is successful
also in teaching him to rewrite faulty sentences before he submits his
manuscript to his instructor.
The best device to encourage the student in self-correction is the
preliminary copy or rough draft. This may be written rapidly in pencil on
theme paper or on scratch paper, with lines far apart to leave room for
modifications. After this is written the student should read it with his
eyes open for the appearance of his pet blunders, and should do his own
rewriting. If the rough draft is submitted with the finished copy, the
instructor can discover whether the student is endeavoring to correct his
own faults.
The best way to use _Writing and Rewriting_ in class is to copy the
faulty passages or to clip and paste them on cards. In class the student,
using only the slip, may then be required to write the correct version on
the blackboard, later reciting and specifying the fault, or the principle
of style which is violated.
In colleges where the marginal numbering of errors and faults is
supplemented by personal conferences, the swiftest improvement will
be found to follow the practice of requiring the student, before the
conference, to copy his faulty passages on a new sheet of theme paper, to
copy also the admonition indicated by the marginal number, and to rewrite
each passage in accordance with the admonition. A file of these sheets
will reveal whether the student is improving or standing still.
_Writing and Rewriting_ has several relatively novel features. Chapters
IV and V make it possible to criticize by marginal numbers the most
common violations of the principles of the whole composition and of the
paragraph. Although the admonitions criticize faults, the book contains
few “don’ts.” Instead, the advice given is positive, constructive, and
concrete. Each number refers to only a single fault. Few admonitions
fill more than two lines of type. It has thus been possible to insert a
criticism of every fundamental fault found in freshman themes. Probably
every number ought to be used at least once in every hundred themes. The
division of sentence criticisms into chapters on Correctness, Clearness,
and Vigor is logical and obvious. The numbering of admonitions is not
consecutive, but a new hundred begins with each chapter as a help in
more quickly locating the number desired. Additional copies of the index
to the admonitions will be furnished free on request to instructors who
wish to paste it on a sheet of cardboard to facilitate their work in
criticizing themes. The list of suggestions for subjects is a compilation
of the practices of many successful teachers.
INDEX TO ADMONITIONS
The Whole Composition
100. Opening devices
101. Point of view
102. What to include
103. Distraction
104. Serious tone
105. Light tone
106. Sequence
107. Chronological order
108. Position
109. Abstract to concrete
110. Summary to detail
111. Important to less so
112. Familiar to unfamiliar
113. Climax
114. Welding
115. Connectives
116. Repetition
117. Recapitulation
118. Division
119. Space emphasis
120. Place emphasis
121. Conclusion
122. Title
123. Plan
124. Revision by plan
125. Practice
The Paragraph
200. Indention
201. Partly blank line
202. No indention
203. Conversation
204. Combination
205. Separation
206. Violent break
207. Irrelevant ideas
208. Topic sentence
209. Arrangement
210. Connectives
211. Linking
212. Shift in number
213. Shift in person
214. Shift in tense
215. Shift in voice
216. Shift in mood
217. Place emphasis
218. Space emphasis
219. Practice
Sentence Correctness Case
300. Subject in nominative
301. _Who_ as subject
302. _Who_ as subject after verb
303. Predicate nominative
304. Pronoun in apposition
305. Pronoun after _as_, _than_
306. Possessive with gerund
307. “Neuter” nouns not in possessive
308. Objective case
309. Objective with infinitive
310. Objective after infinitive
Agreement
311. _This kind_
312. Pronoun with antecedent
313. Verb with subject
314. Verb with _each_, _none_
315. Compound subject
316. Nouns with _or_
317. Collective nouns
318. Incorrect attraction
319. _There is_, _there are_
320. _Besides_, _with_
321. Nearer of two nouns
322. _Who_, _which_
323. Not with predicated noun
324. _Don’t_
325. Past and past participle
326. Correct principal parts
327. _Lie-lay_, _sit-set_, _rise-raise_
Shall and Will
328. _Shall_ and _will_
329. _Should_ and _would_
330. Questions
331. Determination
332. Parallel tenses
333. Universal present
334. Subordinate clause
335. Infinitive
336. Adverb of time
337. Contrary to fact subjunctive
338. _Have_, not _of_
339. _Had ought_
Fragments
340. Fragments
341. Phrases
342. Participial phrases
343. Clauses
344. Part of compound subject
345. Part of compound predicate
Incomplete Constructions
346. Unfinished construction
347. Give verb subject
348. Insert word
349. Insert material
350. Elements without construction
351. Insert _that_ after _say_, _feel_
352. Insert _that of_
353. Insert _as_ after positive adjective
354. Insert _much_ after _very_
355. Repeat verb
356. Repeat auxiliary
357. Repeat _is_, _was_
358. Repeat verb after auxiliaries
Inaccurate Constructions
359. Correct conjunction
360. Insert transitional element
361. Shifted construction
362. _One of the most_
363. Exact predication
364. Idiomatic verb
365. Idiomatic preposition
366. Different preposition
367. Idiom
368. Awkwardness
369. _Is where_, _is when_
370. _Is because_
371. _The fact that_
372. _Due to_, _owing to_
373. _Because of_, _on account of_
374. Omit _and_
375. Omit irrelevancy
376. Redundant _that_
377. Change participial phrase
378. _Of_-phrase with verbal noun
379. _Of_-phrase with abstract verbal noun
380. Separate main clauses
381. Join elements with _and_
382. Join clauses with _and_
383. Modifiers together
384. Double negative
385. _Or_, not _nor_
386. _Not hardly_
387. Adverb, not adjective
388. Predicated adjectives
389. _Who_, _which_, _that_
Sentence Clearness
400. Obvious antecedent
401. Position of pronoun
402. Ambiguous antecedent in indirect discourse
403. Antecedent in parentheses
404. Repeat distant noun
405. Unemphatic antecedent
406. Place of _only_, etc.
407. Place of negative
408. Use of correlatives
409. Place of correlatives
410. Place of subordinate clause
411. Place of relative clause
412. Confused verbs
413. Place of modifiers
414. Co-ordinate modifiers
415. Participial phrases
416. Participle with _thus_
417. Participle with conjunction
418. Adjective _due_
419. Gerund prepositional phrase
420. Repeat subordinating conjunction
421. Repeat auxiliary verbs
422. Repeat _to_ with the infinitive
423. Repeat preposition with object
424. Repeat article with noun
425. Repeat possessive with noun
426. Parallel structure
427. Summarizing word
428. Use of _and_
429. Use of _but_
430. Comparative degree
431. Superlative degree
432. Shift in person
433. Shift in number
434. Shift in tense
435. Shift in mood
436. Shift in voice
Sentence Vigor
500. Isolate
501. Separate
502. Condense
503. Combine
504. Vary structure
505. Vary beginning
506. Vary length
507. Loose to periodic
508. Striking ending
509. Climax
510. Emphatic position
511. Group related elements
512. Main ideas
513. Subordinate ideas
514. Simplicity
515. Far-fetched synonyms
516. Concreteness
517. Parallel structure
518. Repeat for emphasis
519. Monotonous repetition
520. Tautology
521. Pleonasm
522. Word in double sense
523. Consistent metaphors
524. Incongruous metaphors
525. Rhythm
526. Balanced sentence
527. Vivid predicate
528. Unemphatic passive voice
529. Awkward absolute phrase
530. Successive subordinations
531. Successive _but_ and _for_ clauses
Words
600. See dictionary
601. Words almost alike
602. Exactness
603. New words
604. Verbs as nouns
605. Slang
606. Harmony
607. Poetical words
608. Hackneyed expressions
609. Pretentious expressions
610. Contractions
611. Editorial _we_
612. Simple pronouns
613. Speaking of husband or wife
614. Illiterate usage
615. Reputable words
616. Present words
617. National words
618. Plural abstract nouns
Spelling
700. Doubling consonants
701. Single consonants
702. Final silent _-e_
703. _-ce_ and _-ge_
704. Single consonant after double vowel
705. CEI
706. EI as _ī_ and as _ā_
707. IE
708. Plurals in vowel and _-y_
709. Verbs in vowel and _-y_
710. Plurals in consonants and _-y_
711. Plurals in _-ves_
712. Foreign plurals
713. _Don’t_, _won’t_, _can’t_
714. _It’s_
715. _Its_, _yours_, _hers_
716. Spelling list
Punctuation
Use period after:
800. Declarative and imperative sentences
801. Abbreviations
No period after:
802. Incomplete sentence elements
Use question mark after:
803. Direct questions
804. Doubtful expressions
No question mark after:
805. Indirect questions
Use exclamation point after:
806. Exclamatory expressions
Use commas with:
807. Co-ordinate clauses with _and_ or _but_
808. Conjunction _for_
809. Parallel clauses
810. Dependent clause preceding
811. Descriptive clauses
812. Interchangeable adjectives
813. Words, phrases, clauses in series
814. _And_ in a series
815. Confused elements
816. Names in direct address
817. Appositives
818. Geographical names
819. Dates
820. Absolute phrases
821. Interjections and parenthetical expressions
822. Direct quotations
Never use a comma:
823. Between noun and its adjective
824. Around limiting clauses or phrases
825. With series of non-interchangeable adjectives
826. To indicate a pause
827. Before _that_ in indirect discourse
828. Between unjoined main clauses
Use a semicolon between:
829. Unjoined main clauses
830. Clauses joined by _however_, etc.
831. Long or complicated clauses
Never use a semicolon:
832. Between clauses not co-ordinate
833. After salutation in a letter
Use a colon to introduce:
834. Formal list of words, etc.
Use a hyphen with:
835. Fractions or numbers less than 100
836. Titles of two or more words
837. Divided words
838. Compound adjectives
839. Prefixes like _co-_ etc.
Use a dash with:
840. Broken thought
841. Informal parenthetical material
842. Summarizing expressions
Never use a dash:
843. Instead of a period
844. Instead of a comma
Use quotation marks with:
845. Direct discourse
846. Borrowed material
847. Quotation of more than one paragraph
848. Quotation within quotation
849. Quotation within second quotation
850. Quotation ending with comma or period
Never use quotation marks with:
851. Names of books, etc.
Use an apostrophe:
852. In contractions
853. With singular possessives
854. With plural possessives
Never use an apostrophe:
855. With possessive pronouns
Use parentheses to inclose:
856. Material foreign to unit of composition
857. Confirmatory figures
Never use parentheses to inclose:
858. Cancelled words
Use brackets to inclose:
859. Explanatory material in quotation
860. Practice
Mechanics
900. One side of paper
901. Place of title
902. Blank second line
903. Write legibly
904. Number pages
905. Spacing
906. Divided words
907. Place of hyphen
908. Margins
909. Indention
910. Below last line
911. Underscoring
912. Underscoring for emphasis
913. To indicate footnote
914. Place of footnote
915. No abbreviation
Capitalization
916. Proper nouns and pronouns
917. First word in sentence
918. First word in line of verse
919. Direct quotation
920. Names of social bodies, etc.
921. Reference to Deity
922. _I_ and _O_
923. Titles of books, etc.
924. Titles with names
925. Names of months, etc.
Figures
926. Word double numbers
927. Word sums in double numbers
928. Number sums in dollars and cents
929. Word sums less than one dollar
930. Word numbers as names
931. Beginning with figures
932. Sums as adjectives
Letters
933. Letter heading
934. Business letter salutation
935. Personal letter salutation
936. Close of business letter
937. Close of personal letter
938. Envelope address
939. Punctuation of address
940. Formal note
941. Signature
WRITING AND REWRITING
CHAPTER I
WHY LEARN TO WRITE
The four main reasons for learning to write are:
1. Writing is one of the best ways to make other persons think or feel as
you do.
2. Every educated person is judged frequently and severely by the
correctness and skill displayed in his writing.
3. The more you learn about writing the more you will enjoy reading.
4. Good writing gives pleasure, not only to the reader but also to the
writer.
* * * * *
1. The ability to write clearly and convincingly will be of great help
to you after you leave college. Whatever your field of activity, your
ultimate success will depend in some degree on your ability to make other
persons think or feel as you do. Writing is one of the best ways to
attain this end.
Many professional men and women find that success depends not only on
their knowledge, but even more on the skill and clearness with which
they can present their knowledge. Lawyers write briefs and arguments.
Judges write opinions. Clergymen write sermons. Teachers, doctors, and
engineers get their new ideas before members of their professions by
writing papers for publications of various kinds. The results of their
experiments and researches are almost invariably presented to their
colleagues in writing.
To attain eminence in one of the learned professions it is necessary for
a man’s colleagues to think highly of his professional knowledge and
attainments. It is not always possible for the leaders in your profession
to know you personally, but if you can write they soon know what manner
of man you are. The scholarly articles that a young professional man gets
printed correspond to the home runs that are knocked by a bush league
baseball player, but there is this difference. The sand lot baseball
player may have made his impressive looking records against sand lot
pitching and may fail dismally when he faces better opposition, but if a
young professional man has the mental ability and the skill to produce
contributions to knowledge in his field it makes no difference where
he lives or under what conditions he has done his work. As he moves up
to his big league he finds conditions more and more favorable for his
continued growth and development.
College graduates everywhere are being expected more and more to assume
positions of leadership in all matters that pertain to community
betterment. Sometimes they are candidates for office; more often they
are directors of the chamber of commerce of their city, or of some
similar civic enterprise. Written statements, annual reports, appeals
for public support for a worthy cause, letters to newspapers, circulars,
and bulletins are almost the only way a public spirited citizen can get
his ideas before the other members of the community. If he can write
clearly and convincingly he gets things done that would not be done if
he expressed himself haltingly and incoherently when he took pen in hand.
Up-to-date farmers and business men use printed and typewritten matter
to get new business, to hold and increase old business, to adjust
complaints, and to collect money. Every salesman has to write reports to
his firm. Formal bids for all kinds of business are submitted in writing.
Most busy executives prefer to receive the ideas of their subordinates
in writing, and the subordinate who submits the largest number of good
ideas in this way is the one who is likely to be promoted most rapidly.
Many executives have to depend on letters and bulletins in directing
large numbers of subordinates or in directing subordinates who cannot
frequently be brought together. If you want to be paid for what you know
rather than for what you do, learn to write.
Other things being anywhere nearly equal the man who can write gets ahead
fastest in the business, political, or professional world. The man with
a new idea—whether it is a new type of automobile engine or a plan for
insuring hogs—can make a success of it far more quickly if he can write
clearly and convincingly. The next time you see a copy of _Who’s Who
in America_ note the list of publications that follows the name of the
successful man. The ability to write has dollar and cents value whether
or not you ever wish to sell any of your manuscripts. You must be able to
write to get to the top.
* * * * *
2. Why do you suppose that almost every help wanted advertisement that
offers a salary of more than $1200 or $1500 a year contains the phrase,
“Apply by letter only”? The answer is that from one hundred letters it is
easy to select the half dozen or so that come from persons qualified for
a position rather than for a job. Applicants who write poor letters are
never considered for good positions.
The activities of the social world continually call for letters—letters
of invitation, of acceptance or declination, letters to a hostess
thanking her for her hospitality, letters of congratulation and of
condolence. Any new person to whom you write will judge what sort of man
or woman you are from your first letter. Uneducated persons may have well
furnished houses in the exclusive residential districts of the city,
and they may wear thousand-dollar fur coats, but their written words
betray the fact that they are not accustomed to associating with educated
persons.
Students who can write get better grades in college courses than do
students who cannot express themselves with pen, pencil, or typewriter.
Written reports, term papers, and examinations all call for ability to
write. It is essential not only to have the information that should
be included in such compositions but also to be able to express your
knowledge so that the instructor involved will know that you know.
* * * * *
3. The better you write the more you will enjoy reading. You can actually
know personally only a few persons, and they will for the most part be
your neighbors and business associates. A love for good reading is the
best friend you can have. Reading will make you intimate with all the
great men and women who are now alive or who have ever lived. These great
ones of earth—the clever, the entertaining, the thoughtful, the lovable,
the brilliant, the courageous—have set down in books a permanent record
of what they observed, thought, and dreamed. To get the fullest flavor
and greatest benefit from the words they have put on paper you need to
be something of a writer yourself. The writer best appreciates the good
writing of others, just as the amateur musician gets more pleasure from
a symphony concert than does the average person in the audience. The
football player sees fine points in a football game that are lost on
the spectator who never tried to box a tackle or elude an end. The girl
who makes her own clothes can see distinctions in gowns that all look
alike to her brother. It takes the craftsman in any field of endeavor to
appreciate the work of a master.
* * * * *
4. Your mother has, at the bottom of a trunk or bureau drawer, a bundle
of letters that your father wrote to her when they were young. Every
little while she reads them all again. She also keeps the letters he
writes her now when he is away from home. Your letters to your mother
will not be destroyed either. The better you write, the more pleasure
you will give to the persons you love. Letters of commendation,
congratulation, or condolence when done well are treasured for years, and
are a never failing source of pleasure to those who receive them. It is
worth something to give pleasure of this sort.
* * * * *
But the greatest pleasure of all in writing is the pleasure that comes
to you yourself. To get real enjoyment from writing you should write on
a subject you know thoroughly or on one that interests you—preferably
both. Write without reserve; call things by their right names. Use care
in selecting the exact word to express your meaning. Write clearly,
concisely, and vividly. Be definite and particular rather than indefinite
and general. Use incidents freely to illustrate your points. Be forceful
and picturesque. Write so that anyone who knows you could pick your
written creation out of a thousand written by others on the same subject.
Write something you are proud of and you will get more pleasure from it
than from almost anything else you ever did. Even though you may not
yet have realized it, writing is a great deal more fun than going to
the theater, dancing, or watching a football game. The greatest thrill
in life comes from seeing one whom you love create something. The next
greatest comes from creating something yourself. Create something in
writing that truly represents you and you too will experience this joy.
CHAPTER II
HOW TO WRITE
The successive steps in writing are:
1. Have a subject that appeals to you, and write for an actual reader.
2. Gather all the material your subject demands.
3. Arrange your material in the most effective order.
4. Write as fast as you can.
5. Revise, recast, rewrite what you have written.
* * * * *
1. Write on a subject which interests you and one that you know something
about. Good writing will not result merely from trying to satisfy an
instructor. You can write well only if you have a compelling reason for
writing; if you desire to convince, inform, or entertain a definite
reader.
Know the state of mind you want your reader to be in when he finishes
reading your composition. Write for a definite reader such as a college
freshman, a high school student, an automobile owner, a ten-year-old
boy, a proprietor of a retail store in a town of from 15,000 to 20,000
inhabitants. It will often be helpful if, after you choose the general
class to whom your writing is addressed, you select one individual you
know and keep him constantly in mind while you write. Thus instead of
writing for a ten-year-old boy write for your brother Robert.
Choose a subject that can be covered in the number of words at your
disposal. If you are writing a four-hundred-word theme, “The American
High School” is a poor subject. It would take a series of volumes to
exhaust the possibilities in that title. Even eliminating a large
portion of it by taking the topic “High School Newspapers,” “High School
Debating,” “High School Dramatics,” or “High School Athletics,” helps but
little. Narrowing any one of these subjects so that it applies only to
your own high school still leaves you with more material than can well be
put into a short theme. Good subjects for such themes are “The First Time
I Faced an Audience,” “The Best Play I Ever Made,” “How I Felt When My
Story Appeared in the School Paper,” and “The Most Exciting Play I Ever
Saw in a Baseball Game.”
To take another example, “Cooking” is a subject broad enough for a Mrs.
Ralston, a Mrs. Lincoln, or a Miss Farmer. “Making Desserts” is too
comprehensive for any but an exhaustive treatise. “Making Ice Cream”
requires at least a booklet. Good short theme subjects would be “How
I Make My Favorite Sherbet,” “How to Make Chocolate Ice Cream without
Cream,” or “How to Make Ice Cream Roll with a Frozen Whipped Cream
Center.”
* * * * *
2. Reflect, read, ask questions, observe in order to gather material
which will enable you to carry out your design. Gather, as applied
to material for writing, implies a go-and-get-it attitude. Gathering
material requires a physical as well as a mental search. Do not expect
material to come to you; go after it. Talk with persons who know. Read
what they have written. Good writing is most likely to result when the
writer fuses his own experience and observation with the experience and
observation of others. Gather all the material possible without trying to
decide, while you are getting it, what is important and what is not. Keep
your mind, your eyes, and your ears wide open. Get details and get plenty
of them. Steep, saturate yourself in your subject.
* * * * *
3. After you have gathered the material, discard everything that will
not help you to produce the effect you are trying for. Then if there are
any gaps in your composition, gather more material to fill them up. Some
writers get the best results by putting a plan on paper before starting
to write; others let a plan take more or less definite shape in their
minds, but do not try to set down any hard and fast outline. The reason
for not making a hard and fast outline is that a curious thing often
happens to any writer who has written much. He finds—on occasion—that
his composition seems to write itself. The characters he thought he had
created have minds of their own and refuse to let him treat them like
puppets. His thoughts seem to be alive and to exist apart from him. They
insist on expressing themselves in their own way. An experienced writer
does some of his best work when he seems to be merely the medium through
which ideas are seeking to translate themselves from whatever world it is
they inhabit to this one. If, on the other hand, a writer is continually
consulting a plan, his ideas and characters never take things into their
own hands.
Write for someone to read. Put yourself in that reader’s place and see if
your writing is producing the desired effect. Begin your composition with
the details that will most effectively attract his attention and arouse
his interest. Continue writing so that you will retain his attention and
interest. Stop when you have said all you have to say.
* * * * *
4. Write rapidly and at white heat. If pertinent ideas keep coming to you
forget about your plan. Get your inspiration on paper before it cools. If
you finally find a system—or even a lack of one—that enables you to write
fast and at the same time to feel that you are creating something, do not
let anyone talk you into trying some other plan. Stick to your own.
* * * * *
5. Revise at leisure, but ruthlessly, in cold blood, and continue to
revise, rearrange, and rewrite indefinitely until the finished product
satisfies you.
Make the final draft absolutely correct. Avoid especially the common
faults that denote the semi-illiterate man or woman. If you make errors
that would not be made by a twelve-year-old child, your composition will
get scant consideration from an intelligent reader. While revising,
question everything, spelling, grammar, choice of words, punctuation;
question the usefulness of each idea, and the arrangement of the parts of
the completed composition.
Start writing soon enough to give yourself ample time for revision. Let
the first draft get cold before you look at it again. If you wait several
days after the first draft is finished you can approach your own writing
as objectively as if it had been done by someone else. It will then be
much easier to question every letter, every word, every phrase, every
sentence, every paragraph, every idea, besides the whole composition and
each of its parts.
Make everything in your composition justify itself. Whenever you are
satisfied to do mediocre work the rest of the world is satisfied with
the valuation you have set on yourself. Be your own severest critic. Show
your own writing no mercy. Some of the world’s most successful writers of
advertisements as well as of novels have rewritten their best work time
and again before giving it to the public. What reads smoothly takes hours
of toil to produce.
Many good instructors insist on receiving two copies of every composition
from each student; one a rough, lead pencil draft, and the other the
finished manuscript.
CHAPTER III
IDEAS FOR COMPOSITIONS
My first play, circus, funeral, visit to a dentist’s, dance, county fair,
Fourth of July, airplane ride, sleigh ride, or meal in a sorority house.
Extracts from the real diary of a real freshman.
My favorite newspaper artist, cartoon, or comic strip.
Earning money while going to college or during the summer.
Write the chapter of your autobiography that will be headed “Early Years.”
My hobbies or aversions.
How I won a prize or competed at a county or state fair.
What is the well-dressed young man or woman wearing this season?
My favorite magazine.
My favorite recipe.
Write an account of a student mass meeting.
How does any organization to which you belong compare with rival
organizations?
How does it feel to belong to a fraternity or how does it feel not to
belong?
Write an article for your high school paper telling why your college is
the best.
Write a letter home asking for money.
Write a history of your reading.
Describe some locality you know intimately such as your neighborhood or
your home town.
Where I eat.
When I made my big mistake.
Taking a psychological intelligence test.
The secret of making good fudge.
How I spend my spare time.
Give directions for making something such as a radio receiving set,
an apron out of an old shirt, or anything that you can make that most
persons can not.
The joys of hunting, camping out, canoeing, going to the theater,
dancing, sitting around and talking, or anything else that you enjoy
doing.
How I learned to swim or how I taught someone to swim.
An embarrassing situation.
When the joke was on me.
My nicest compliment.
Freshman registration.
My favorite movie star.
What is the best outdoor sport?
My most hated instructor.
A railroad station at train time.
Men or women I have worked for.
Running a high school paper, athletic team, or annual.
What will you do when you leave college?
An exciting moment.
What is one important thing that ought to be changed in the way your
college is conducted?
If you were the principal of the high school from which you were
graduated, what changes would you make?
How does it feel to be red-headed, left-handed, bald, or fat?
Why I am or am not a church member?
Describe how to give a dinner party for eight persons.
Are prices here higher than they are at home?
The most interesting person I know.
The perfect roommate.
The happiest person I know.
My idea of a good time.
Go to church Sunday and write an account of the sermon.
Write an account of the next athletic contest, banquet, or public lecture
you attend.
Write an account of an interesting recitation.
One of your instructors this week will spend part of the class time
discussing a problem of college, city, state, nation, or world interest.
Write an account of what he says.
What do you think of dogs, cats, or rabbits for pets?
A day’s fishing.
Why should anyone study Latin, Greek, mathematics, or any subject you
like or dislike?
What is the matter with the college paper?
What do you think of the country, the city, or the small town as a place
in which to live?
How should a living room be furnished?
How could you decrease your expenses one-fourth?
Draw a rough floor plan of the sort of house in which you would like to
live and explain its advantages.
How to distinguish fifteen kinds of trees, birds, or automobiles.
What is your pet extravagance or economy?
Tell how to dress on $100, on $200, and on $500 a year.
An automobile camping trip.
A backyard garden.
A Sunday school picnic.
Who are the half dozen greatest men or women who have ever lived?
How should a kitchen be laid out?
What are the tests of a good national fraternity?
How could more students be interested in debating?
Write an account of an interesting college tradition for your high school
paper.
If you were Santa Claus, what would you give your home city for Christmas?
Pick a football team from the heroes of fiction or of history.
Write a good sized advertisement that could be sold to some merchant who
does not advertise in one of the college publications.
What are the ten leading colleges in the country?
What is an educated man?
My alarm clock.
Write a plea to induce young men and women to stay on the farm or in the
community where they were reared.
Should the higher grade go to the student who does well in his daily work
or to the student who does well in an examination?
A woman’s place is in the home.
How much money will it take to satisfy you five or ten years after
graduation?
Do college athletes get too much publicity?
If you could arrange it, would you have your brother or sister earn some,
all, or none of his or her expenses while going through college?
Every high school graduate should earn his own living for at least one
year before he is allowed to enter college.
Describe the conditions under which your father and mother started
housekeeping.
Recommend ten books for a classmate who has never been accustomed to read
for pleasure.
What do college students read in the newspapers?
Rules of etiquette undergraduates ought to follow.
If you were a vocational adviser, what vocations would you advise the ten
classmates you know best to follow?
If you could spend the summer in travel, where would you go?
What advice would you give to a boy or a girl who is going to enter your
college next fall?
Being afraid.
A gloomy holiday.
How to furnish and decorate a north room.
What are the advantages of a small or of a large college?
Buying a new car.
What should be considered in criticizing an amateur dramatic performance
or a speech?
What is the leading honor an undergraduate can win at your college?
How many things will you buy before you buy a car?
If you had an assured income for the rest of your life, how would you
spend your time?
Should a washing machine be in every home?
What is a gentleman?
What are the tests of a good town?
Describe some eccentric person you know.
Describe the appearance of a friend so well that a stranger could pick
him out of a crowd.
Write a short story based on a movie.
Write a movie based on a short story.
How do the fraternity chapters at your college compare with one another?
Write a letter to your mother to reach her on Mother’s Day.
Write a letter to your father inviting him to attend Homecoming.
My mother’s flower garden.
Our bird shelf.
How to keep cool in hot weather.
Pick an “all” team from the football players you have seen this fall.
Sounds that keep me awake at night.
Taking care of the baby.
The tribulations of a landlady.
Describe a scale by which students could rate their professors.
What are the advantages of making your own clothes?
Write in play form an account of a family quarrel or an account of what
happens between the halves of a close football or basketball game.
In praise of idleness.
Take three small boys to a soda fountain and have an ice cream eating
contest.
Children should be seen and not heard.
Tell why your father, mother, brother, or sister ought to be chosen
mayor, superintendent of schools, cashier of the bank, or anything else.
How would it be possible for you to be elected president of your class,
win a letter in athletics, make Phi Beta Kappa, run 100 miles in 48 hours
total time, earn $2,000 within the next year, or something else that now
looks improbable?
What would happen if you could see a copy of a newspaper that would not
be printed for another month?
What would you say if called on to speak at a college mass meeting?
Tipping ought to be abolished.
What will ten of your most intimate friends be doing ten years from now?
CHAPTER IV
THE WHOLE COMPOSITION
“Whole composition” is the name given to a completed piece of writing.
PRELIMINARIES
Go out and gather the material.
Write the first draft as fast as you can.
Revise everything you have written until the following requirements have
been met.
=100. Indicate within the first few sentences what the composition is
about.=
Some of the more common devices used by experienced writers in beginning
a composition are listed below. You can begin almost anything you will be
called upon to write in one of these ways or in a combination of two or
more of them. Use a different beginning for each composition you write
until you have tried a considerable number of them. After some practice
you can quickly select the one beginning that is most appropriate both to
your material and to your reader.
1. Make one or more startling assertions.
2. Ask one or more questions.
3. Say something clever.
4. Make one or more suppositions.
5. Contrast one thing with another.
6. Use direct discourse.
7. Use an incident.
8. Sketch in the background.
9. Introduce one of the characters.
10. Employ a preliminary summary.
11. Plunge your reader into suspense.
12. State the conclusion the reader is to reach.
13. Give personal details about yourself.
14. Talk about your reader.
15. State your reflections on the subject.
16. Explain why you are writing.
17. Invoke aid in accomplishing your purpose.
18. Quote a familiar saying.
19. Parody a familiar saying.
20. Quote what someone has said or written.
21. Quote what purports to be what someone has said or written.
=101. Keep the same point of view throughout.=
_Wrong._ If one wishes to enter a canoe safely, he should grasp
both gunwales and lower himself to the seat. You should then
push off from the shore.
_Better._ To enter a canoe safely, grasp both gunwales and
lower yourself to the seat before pushing off from the shore.
_Wrong._ As he stood looking down the river he saw a house-boat
plowing along; while behind him a fleet of coal barges sent
ripples toward the shore.
_Better._ As he stood looking down the river he saw a
house-boat plowing along. Turning around he noticed a fleet of
coal barges sending ripples toward the shore.
_Wrong._ The taxi driver has an excellent opportunity to
observe the life about him. All kinds and conditions of men and
women make use of him at all hours of the day and night. Some
think him merely a part of the machine he drives, some consider
him no better than the dirt under their feet, and some—to
be sure they are not many—treat him as if he were a living,
breathing human being like themselves.
_Better._ The taxi driver has an excellent opportunity to
observe the life about him. All kinds and conditions of men and
women make use of him at all hours during the day and night. He
finds that some treat him as if he were no better than the dirt
under their feet, and some—to be sure they are not many—as if
he were a living, breathing human being like themselves.
=102. Include everything that the reader will need for a thorough
understanding of your subject.=
_Wrong._
THE THEATER IN AMERICA
Between the years 1750 and 1814 many events took place which
either helped or hindered the establishment of a permanent
theater in America.
One of the big events that helped establish the theater in
America was the coming of the Hallam company of actors. This
company was made up of English actors who came from the West
Indies. The company consisted of twelve adult members and three
children. Every member of the group had ability as an actor,
and, consequently, the company was successful. They first
played at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1752. Then, after a season in
Philadelphia, they went to New York. After a three months’ stay
in New York, they returned to the West Indies, where Mr. Hallam
died. Here a Mr. Douglas reorganized the company and with them
returned to this country.
Douglas, often called the “theater builder,” did much for the
future theater. He was a man of great strength and courage.
Besides being a capable manager, he was also a good actor.
Douglas built the first theater in America at Williamsburg,
Virginia, and the first permanent theater at Philadelphia. He
also built theaters at Annapolis and at Newport.
The greatest difficulty which the play companies had to
overcome was the increasing opposition of some of the people
toward the theater. Throughout the country people were
fighting against the theater. Especially was this true of
the people of the North. The Southerners were fun-loving and
pleasure-seeking, and the theater offered them a place of
amusement. In many towns, however, laws were passed against
acting. The opposition of the people was not directed so
much toward the theater itself as toward the gambling and
immorality which accompanied the theater of that day. Folders
were distributed among the people explaining why the theater
was not approved of and gradually the gambling and immorality
disappeared. After this the theater improved and theater-going
became better thought of throughout the country.
_Better._
AN EARLY INFLUENCE IN THE AMERICAN THEATER
In the year 1752 the theater in America received a great aid
through the coming of the Hallam company of actors....
The condition of the theater prior to this time left much to be
desired....
The nature of the company was such that its influence was
decidedly good....
Naturally the effect of this kind of player was toward the
betterment of the theater....
=103. Omit anything that will distract the reader’s attention.=
_Wrong._
SCORING IN BASKETBALL
A score in basketball is made every time a player throws
the ball into one of the baskets placed at each end of the
court. In the West Branch High School the gymnasium is well
equipped with everything the students need for their athletic
contests....
_Better._ A score is made in basketball every time a player
succeeds in throwing the ball into the basket guarded by his
opponents. If this goal, as it is called, is made from the
field, it counts two points. Sometimes, however, one team is
given a free throw at the basket as the result of a foul’s
being made. If the ball is caged under this circumstance, the
foul goal, as it is called, counts one point.
=104. Writing that is serious in tone or purpose should include nothing
that will destroy its seriousness.=
_Wrong._ Gypsies are a peculiar, wandering race of people
that appeared in eastern Europe in the fourteenth century
and that has now spread out into Asia, America, and parts of
Africa. These people are easily distinguished from those among
whom they rove by appearance, by language, and by behavior.
In appearance they are slight, though very strong; in color,
somewhat tawny. In language they are thought to resemble some
long-lost Hindu tribe. In behavior they are _sneaky_, and a
number of them are not above _chicken stealing_.
_Better._ Gypsies are a peculiar, wandering race of people....
In behavior they are _untrustworthy_, and a number of them are
not above _petty thievery_.
=105. Writing that is light in tone or purpose should include nothing
that will destroy its lightness.=
_Wrong._ Many different types are in evidence around
Fitzgerald’s boathouse in the spring. The type most frequently
discovered, perhaps, is the lover. He comes, accompanied by
his inamorata, in quest of a canoe, in which presently the two
are drifting idly upon the ample bosom of Turtle creek. It is
strange that lovers should sojourn here, for Turtle creek is
anything rather than a background for romance.
_Better._ Many different types are in evidence around
Fitzgerald’s boathouse in spring.... Muddy water, sand dredges,
a railway construction gang at work near at hand, the whole
background is unheeded by the lovers—romance needs no setting.
=106. Arrange your ideas in some orderly sequence.=
Following are various kinds of sequence.
=107. Arrange ideas in chronological order.=
All day long we were happy as a wedding party.... Early in the
morning.... When noon came.... At night....
=108. Arrange the divisions of the composition according to the relative
position of the objects treated.=
As we entered the garden.... On the right.... On the left....
Directly before us.... Upon going into the house....
=109. Work from the abstract to the concrete.=
Freedom may be defined as the state of being free, but to how
many of us is this actually illuminating? Let us take, for
example, a man who has just been released from prison, where he
has been closely guarded for more than ten years. What would be
his idea of freedom?
=110. Work from summary to detail.=
When once the mania for news gathering claims its victim,
everything he sees becomes potential news.
He looks for it on his way down town in the morning....
The restaurant at which he lunches is combed unconsciously for
items....
In the lobby of hotels and theaters....
Even his relatives and close friends become his prey....
=111. Work from what is of most importance to what is less so.=
Mohammed VI, the Turkish sultan, fled from Constantinople on a
British warship, bound for Malta, today. The sultan declared
he was not abdicating, but was merely removing himself from
immediate danger. He was accompanied by....
=112. Work from the familiar to the unfamiliar.=
Everybody has noticed the way a cat’s claws are incased in
tiny sheaths, but how many of us know why they should be?
In the first place, the cat is descended from a wild animal
whose way of obtaining food was to kill its prey and then
tear it to pieces. Naturally when this animal struck into the
dead body with its claws, the claws, being hook-like, would
tend to remain fast. But nature found a way of overcoming the
difficulty by incasing the claws in sheaths so that while
the paw of the animal is still inside the carcass, the claw
can be withdrawn into the sheath and the paw removed without
hindrance. Perfection in nature extends even to such trifles as
this.
=113. Work up to a climax.=
Now, as always before, it is the custom to give way to great
manifestations of joy when the football team wins over a
university that is much older and much better established. Just
as soon as the report comes in that Drake is gaining, feeling
begins to run high; when it is said that Drake is ahead, we
begin to hold our breath; but when the report spreads that
Drake has won, excitement breaks out like a vast tidal wave and
sweeps everything before it.
=114. Weld paragraph to paragraph so that they will obviously be parts of
the whole instead of separate units.=
Following are various methods of accomplishing this welding:
=115. Weld paragraph to paragraph by word connectives.=
On a summer evening the shores of Lake Tiberias are thronged
with strange and interesting people.
Here are caravans from across the Arabian desert....
Above them a Bedouin drives his flocks....
Not far away a rich Arabian farmer....
Around him, around everyone, in fact, little Arabian boys....
Then, as the last rays of the sun disappear behind the Mountain
of Beatitudes, ...
=116. Weld paragraph to paragraph by repetition.=
... Thus it is that I came to believe in ghosts.
But ghosts are not all that I came to believe in that summer....
=117. Weld paragraph to paragraph by recapitulation.=
... Guns, horses, motors, men, all thundered along the road,
then, like dogs of war let loose at Armageddon.
The hunt was up; the scent was on the air—Germany was
unchained....
=118. Weld paragraph to paragraph by announcing the divisions.=
The most attractive flower to me among all those that grow in
my garden is the sweet pea, chiefly, I think, because of the
delicacy of its color, form, and fragrance.
=119. Give each idea the space it deserves.=
_Wrong._ As the sun climbed higher, the spell of the dawn was
broken, and the camp came to life. Soon the surface of the lake
was dotted with bobbing heads. Upon the crests of the low hills
farmers were seen beginning to plow. Milk carts rattled along
the roads toward the creamery. All was in harmony to foretell a
perfect day.
_Better._ As the sun climbed higher, the spell of the dawn was
broken, and the camp began to come to life. Soon the surface
of the lake was dotted with bobbing heads as the campers
splashed about taking their dip before breakfast. There was
much laughter and merry shouting; everybody was ready to have
as much fun as he could. Across the lake the farmers were
commencing to plow. And from the road behind came the rattle of
milk carts on their way to the creamery. It was morning; the
world was awake.
=120. Give each idea the position it deserves.=
_Wrong._ Here and there the long, shiny body of a fish shot
out of the water and fell back with a faint splash. The lake
changed from the deep blue reflected from the clear sky to all
the brilliant colors of the sunset. The sun began to set long
before it should have, according to the campers’ ideas. Canoes
crept out without a sound from the shore, and the campers
enjoyed to the fullest their favorite time of the day. Gulls
called back and forth and settled for the night on jutting sand
bars.
_Better._ The sun began to set long before it should have,
according to the campers’ ideas. The lake changed in color
from the deep blue that had been reflected from the clear sky
to all the brilliance of the sunset. Here and there the long,
shiny body of a fish shot out of the water and fell back with a
gentle splash. Gulls called back and forth to one another and
began to settle for the night on jutting sand bars. Now canoes
crept from the shore without a sound, and the campers enjoyed
to the full this their favorite hour of the day.
=121. End with whatever will give an impression of a well-rounded whole.=
... With all these hints of prospective fun, how easy it is to
bang the books back upon the table and let the world go hang—on
Friday night.
=122. Choose a title that will indicate in a word or a phrase what the
composition is about. Be sure not to refer to the title in the body of
the composition as if it were an integral part of the composition.=
_Wrong._
FRIDAY NIGHT
This is the night of all the week to which I looked forward
with the most pleasure.
_Better._
THE BEST NIGHT IN THE WEEK
There is one night in the week that is, to me, more pleasant
than any other. You know which one it is as well as I do, for
it is your best friend, too.
=123. Plan long compositions as you gather the material.=
Use cards or slips of paper of uniform size for making notes while
reading. During the early stages of your reading, the various topics
which you will discuss will begin to make their appearance. Make only one
note on each card. After writing the note, write one or two words in the
upper left-hand corner to indicate the topic treated in that note. As you
accumulate notes, keep them sorted according to the topics.
When all the available sources of material have been utilized and all
the notes taken, arrange the various stacks—one stack for each topic—by
first spreading them out upon a table so that you can see readily all
the topics at once. Then move the stacks about, thus trying out various
arrangements until you have made one which seems logical and complete.
You will then have a plan for your composition.
=124. Revise for arrangement and development by making a plan of the
composition after it is finished.=
By outlining the composition you have written, you will be able to see
just how certain ideas bear upon the subject and are related to one
another. Again, the outline will show you whether or not the ideas
follow any orderly sequence. But best of all, perhaps, it will enable
you to judge whether the composition omits anything that is vital for
complete understanding, or contains something that distracts the reader’s
attention.
Following is a method for making a plan of the composition:
STROKES MOST COMMONLY USED IN TENNIS
Idea to be developed: In order to be a good tennis player one
must master certain strokes.
I. The service stroke
A. Position of body
1. Poised so that weight be added to stroke
a. Leans away from toss
b. Follows racket in striking
B. Tossing ball
1. Ball at arm’s length from shoulder
2. Held somewhat before body
3. Thrown lightly three or four feet in air
C. Striking ball
1. Racket raised to strike as ball descends
2. Force necessary
3. Accuracy necessary
a. Ball must strike court within bounds
I´. Dimensions of receiver’s court.
Etc.
=125. Exercise.=
Following is a composition that is very poorly put together.
1. Make an outline of the whole, using only the topic sentence in each
paragraph.
2. Strike out any topic which does not help to express the central idea.
Reword any topic which can be made to serve its purpose better. Add any
other topics which will aid in developing more fully the central idea.
Combine topics that explain almost the same thing.
3. Make changes in the arrangement of topics so that each topic will
stand in its proper relationship to every other.
4. Make an outline of every paragraph, using every sentence.
5. Shift sentences into positions where they will serve better to develop
the topic. Strike out any that do not directly apply. Reword any that
can be improved by rewording. Insert additional sentences where they are
needed.
6. Shift sentences from one paragraph to another if they can thus be made
to serve their purpose better.
7. Copy the material in the regulation form for a composition, taking
care that there is proper transition from sentence to sentence, and from
paragraph to paragraph.
8. Apply these admonitions to one of your own compositions and rewrite
accordingly.
WHY TAKE BOXING?
Boxing is a very interesting sport. When the child of
kindergarten age first attends school he has his first
experience with fighting. This happens at every meeting of boys
and continues into the teens. Nearly every real American boy
wants to learn how to protect himself, and a course in boxing
is the best way to learn defense. In boxing, the individual
learns where the best blows are planted and also how to ward
off these blows. If a boy knows these punches he will not be
imposed upon by his companions. Even in later life men often
become quarrelsome and come to blows, but the man who has
learned the fundamentals of boxing always comes out in the
lead. If every man knew how to box, robberies would be less
frequent because the victims would be less timid and would give
battle to the bandits instead of allowing themselves to be held
up by highwaymen. Thus, defense is an important element in
boxing.
Moreover, boxing, besides aiding in defense, is a healthful
sport. The body is developed greatly after one goes out for
boxing as is shown by the increase or decrease in weight,
as the case may be. The weight decreases if one has been
in the habit of taking no exercise as he begins training,
but the weight soon increases again as the body makes the
proper readjustments. Persons who are fleshy soon lose their
superfluous fat. With the adjustment of weight the muscles
are developed. The arms and shoulders with their continuous
exercise in delivering punches and warding off blows are highly
developed. The muscles of the body are developed to a great
extent by the continuous twisting and bending of the body. The
legs become firmer and carry the body with ease after practice
in boxing because of the rapid forward, backward, and side
movements necessary.
Again, the body is developed in quickness by the practice of
boxing. The boxer’s mind is made more alert by the habitual
practice. The muscles of the body also increase in quickness.
They respond instantly to the will of the mind and thereby
increase the ability to advance and retreat rapidly, to
deliver and ward off punches. When the boxer has developed
this quickness of sensory and muscular organs, he can grasp
the intent of his opponent’s actions more quickly and govern
himself accordingly.
Boxing is a very well-known sport. It is widely popular both
in Europe and in America. It originated several centuries ago.
The main reason for the popularity of boxing is that it is a
very interesting sport. The spectator is held by the rapid
action of the boxers. In the early days of boxing the men were
slow and relied chiefly upon strength, but the modern boxer
has developed speed and uses short, quick blows. If the boxer
of the past should fight the boxer of the present, the affair
would be very one-sided, because the latter would soon tire out
his opponent by his quickness.
Besides being interesting because of the violent action that
is a natural part of the sport, it is also interesting from
the point of view of the money-maker. Thousands of dollars
are spent every year in developing winners. This was shown in
our latest match, the Dempsey-Carpentier fight, in which many
thousands of dollars were involved. An international spirit
also prevails when boxers from two countries meet. This was
indicated in the same match when all the Americans yelled for
Jack and all the foreigners for Georges.
Boxing has grown in popularity through the ages because of its
aid to health and because of its interesting features.
CHAPTER V
THE PARAGRAPH
A paragraph is an indented division of the whole composition. Beginning
with an indention, and usually ending with a partly blank last line,
it constitutes a visible block of material on the page. The successive
blocks relieve the strain on the reader and enable him to mark each step
in the advance from division to division of the thought. In length the
paragraph ordinarily ranges from 150 to 300 words.
=200. Indent the first word of each paragraph at least half an inch. In
typing, indent five spaces. Every paragraph begins on a new line.=
=201. The last sentence in the paragraph sometimes ends before the
right-hand margin of the page is reached. In this case the last line of
the paragraph may be left partly blank. All other lines must be filled
clear to the margin.=
=202. Do not indent every sentence as if it were a new paragraph.=
_Wrong._ At that time they reorganized a girls’ basketball
team which had been dropped two years before, and they made me
jumping center.
Although our high school was not a large one, we played some
very good games, and managed to make a good record for the four
years.
In my last year we had a new superintendent who was interested
in athletics, and we then had teams in basketball, football,
baseball, and track.
_Right._ At that time they reorganized a girls’ basketball
team which had been dropped two years before, and they made
me jumping center. Although our high school was not a large
one, we played some very good games, and managed to make a
good record for the four years. In my last year we had a new
superintendent who was interested in athletics, and we then had
teams in basketball, football, baseball, and track.
=203. In representing conversation, begin a new paragraph with every
change of speaker.=
_Wrong._ “Shall we go swimming after school tonight?” I asked.
“No, I have to work,” John replied. “When can we go, then?”
“Tomorrow night after school, or any time Saturday. I don’t
have to work next Saturday at all.” “All right; let’s go
tomorrow.”
_Right._ “Shall we go swimming after school tonight?” I asked.
“No, I have to work,” John replied.
“When can we go, then?”
“Tomorrow night after school, or any time Saturday. I don’t
have to work next Saturday at all.”
“All right; let’s go tomorrow.”
=204. Form one paragraph out of two short paragraphs which actually
constitute one division of the whole composition.=
_Wrong._ He always has a smile and a kind word for everyone.
He tries to lift everyone with whom he comes in contact to a
higher plane of living.
Much sorrow has come into his life, but it seems to have made
him only kinder and more gentle.
_Better._ He always has a smile and a kind word for everyone.
He tries to lift everyone with whom he comes in contact to a
higher plane of living. Much sorrow has come into his life,
but it seems to have made him only kinder and more gentle.
=205. Break up a paragraph that is too long into two or more paragraphs.
The subject matter of each of the new paragraphs thus formed should
constitute a natural subdivision of what was originally one paragraph.=
_Tedious._ Just like all children, Charlotte was not perfect,
either in school or out. While she was in the second grade,
she was sent home for making paper boats during study time,
a fascinating pastime which the teacher did not approve of;
and while she was in the fourth grade, she and a friend were
sent to the superintendent for a lecture because out of
curiosity they looked through the window of the school room
one evening after closing time to watch a naughty schoolmate
get his paddling. The grammar school days arrived at last,
and with them came the habit of giggling and playing, at the
expense of lessons and the trying of the teacher’s patience
and temper. During the first year in high school she calmed
down and worked hard to establish a reputation. She was always
very enthusiastic over athletics and yelled herself hoarse at
basketball or football games. A great deal of her time was
spent in reading books of various types and in out-of-doors
sports. While she was a junior and also during the last year
of her high school career, she helped her father with the book
work in his office, thus getting a little experience along
that line and also earning for herself some expense money.
Commencement finally came, and she was graduated in a class of
thirty-three with all the thrills and excitement which usually
accompany that occasion.
_Better._ Just like all children, Charlotte was not perfect,
either in school or out. While she was in the second grade,
for instance, she was once sent home for making paper boats, a
fascinating pastime for her, but one, however, of which the
teacher did not approve, especially during study hours. Again,
when she was in the fourth grade, one evening after school had
closed for the day she and a friend peeped through the school
room window out of curiosity to see a naughty schoolmate get
his paddling. The result was a lecture from the superintendent
the next day.
Grammar school days arrived at last, and with them came the
habit of giggling and playing, at the expense of lessons and
of trying the teacher’s patience and temper. During her first
year in high school, however, she calmed down and worked hard
to establish a reputation. She was very enthusiastic over
athletics and frequently yelled herself hoarse at basketball
or football games. Much of her time at this period of her life
was spent in reading books of various types and in out-of-door
sports.
Nevertheless, while she was a junior and also during her senior
year, she found time to help her father with the book work in
his office, and so acquired a little business experience and
also earned some expense money. And finally, when commencement
came, she was graduated along with thirty-three others amid
all the thrills and excitement that usually accompany this
memorable occasion.
=206. Avoid a violent break in thought within the paragraph.=
_Wrong._ At the age of five I entered the public school. The
second day in school began the happiest days of my life with
a good whipping. This whipping brought into my life the best
friend I ever had. After eight years of the closest friendship
he passed out of my life. It was then that the realization of
what a mother could be swept over me. Until this time my mother
had been a person to go to when in trouble. She now appeared to
me in the new light of a pal.
_Better._ At the age of five I entered the public school. A
good whipping, which I received my second day in school,
not only ushered in the happiest days of my life, but also
brought me one of the best friends I have ever had, Mr. Clark,
the superintendent. During my eight years in that school he
remained my closest friend, and it was not until I had finished
there and Mr. Clark had passed out of my life that I began to
realize what a real friend my mother could be.
Until this time my mother had been only a person to whom I
could go when I was in trouble; now she appeared more like a
pal.
=207. Discard any material that does not belong in the paragraph.=
_Wrong._ When evening comes and his day’s work is completed, he
hurries home to his family. He is not extravagant in his home,
but has it neatly furnished. If the weather is favorable, he
takes them all for a drive in the country, or they go visiting,
or do something else which he arranges for the pleasure of
those he loves.
_Better._ When evening comes and his day’s work is completed,
he hurries home to his family. If the weather is favorable, he
takes them all for a drive in the country, or they go visiting,
or do something else which he arranges for the pleasure of
those he loves.
=208. The substance of a good paragraph can usually be summed up in a
single sentence. It is often advantageous to put such a sentence, called
a topic sentence, at or near the beginning of the paragraph.=
_Example._ _Of all the places for summer dreams the best is a
California beach._ There the blended sights and sounds form a
quiet setting for fanciful thoughts. The old Pacific rolls in
its oily swells with only a rippling murmur; the droning roar
of the surf a half mile down the shoreline rises from the tug
of waves on tons of pebbles; the white hull of a launch is
dipping, dipping far out upon the water, its regular exhausts
sounding faint and thin. These sights and sounds are dreamy and
far off; under the mood of them the quiet mind builds sweet,
lazy air castles, to be forgotten and renewed.
=209. Arrange ideas in some definite order within the paragraph. (See
106-113.)=
_Example._ A fence has been the evil genius of my life. It
was not a remarkable fence, either; just a neat picket fence
painted white. It surrounded a beautiful, well-kept lawn and
guarded an old, pretty house which overflowed with books and
toys. But the toys would sometimes become tiresome, and I
would look wistfully through the fence at the children playing
across the street. I would have liked to join them or to have
them come over—but there stood the fence. I learned to read
and gradually built up a play world of my own until one day I
realized that I liked the fence. I no longer cared to play with
the other children, and when I went to school I found that I
could not play with them. The fence had followed me. The years
outside the fence have changed me somewhat, but still whenever
I am in a group of young people I have a feeling that I am not
one of them. I want to stand back and watch them play. Some
people call my backwardness shyness or timidity, others call it
pouting and attribute it to a disagreeable disposition, but I
know what it is: it is a neat picket fence painted white.
=210. Link sentence to sentence within the paragraph by using words
and phrases of reference, such as _he_, _this_, _then_, _however_, _of
course_.=
_Example._ There is a delicacy about sweet peas that makes
them more attractive to me than any other flower in my garden.
Notice the way the blossom is joined to the stem. _It_ is
poised there with such nice balance that at the least puff of
air the flower sways on its long green stalk with the rhythm
of the wind. _And_, _too_, their delicacy of color is beyond
that of most flowers. Really, the only thing I can think of
to compare with them is the clouds at sunrise. If you have
noticed, the colors _then_ are fresh and vivid from the light
behind the clouds, though a faint mist makes them more elusive
than the colors of broad day. In the sweet peas the _same_
airy, translucent color is repeated—the wan white, the sober
purple blending into lavender, the rose in infinite variety.
And there are other things, _besides_—the dewy freshness
that clings to them all day, the coolness of them, the faint
perfume—which make me think them different from the rest of
the flowers in my garden and which set them apart from all the
others in delicacy.
=211. Link sentence to sentence within the paragraph by causing each to
grow out of the one preceding.=
_Example._ A university is an institution of higher learning.
For purposes of ministering the better to the various demands
made upon it, it is made up of a number of colleges, as the
college of medicine, the college of law, that of engineering,
of liberal arts, of commerce, for instance, each college being
in charge of an officer called the dean. The colleges, in turn,
are composed of various departments, such as the department
of Romance languages, of art, and of home economics; these
are under the charge of officers called department heads or
professors. And finally, each department presents many courses
of instruction, like French, rhetoric, European history, and
architectural drawing, each course being taught directly by
an officer called an instructor or professor. Hence, although
from the variety of its interests and the complexity of its
activities it would seem that a university is an awkward,
ungainly organism, nevertheless, if one examines it closely,
one finds that it is a highly organized and smoothly running
machine.
=212. Avoid an inconsistent change in number within the paragraph.=
_Wrong._ Here we find what amusements occupy his or her time.
This is where their chief characteristics can be pointed out.
Then a word here, an oddly written phrase there, or a lack of
words gives us a clue to the nature of the student.
_Better._ Here we find what amusements occupy his time. This is
where his chief characteristics can be pointed out. Then a word
here, an oddly written phrase there, or a lack of words gives
us a clue to the nature of the student.
=213. Avoid an inconsistent change in person within the paragraph.=
_Wrong._ One learns to like some students, of whom there are
too few upon the campus. Others I dislike, and of these there
are too many.
_Better._ One learns to like some students, of whom there are
too few upon the campus. Others one dislikes, and of these
there are too many.
=214. Avoid an inconsistent change in tense within the paragraph.=
_Wrong._ My flower garden in June is a most interesting and
beautiful sight. On a bright sunny morning one would stop in
amazement; the flowers were so happy when the sun reached their
faces, still wet with dew, that they fairly sparkled.
_Better._ My flower garden in June is a most interesting
and beautiful sight. On a bright sunny morning one stops in
amazement; the flowers are so happy when the sun reaches their
faces, still wet with dew, that they fairly sparkle.
=215. Avoid an inconsistent change in voice within the paragraph.=
_Wrong._ His directions were brief and to the point. Every
question I asked was answered by just the information I
desired—no more, no less. When dictating he used only the
simplest words. All inquiries in letters were answered plainly.
_Better._ His directions were brief and to the point. He
answered my questions with just the information I desired—no
more, no less. When dictating he used only the simplest words
and always answered plainly all inquiries in letters.
=216. Avoid an inconsistent change in mood within the paragraph.=
_Wrong._ If you were to visit the library on Saturday
afternoon, you would find it nearly deserted. The tables would
be empty and the reading room very quiet. The students are upon
the river or are enjoying themselves upon the campus. Someone,
however, who has a paper to get in may be busy at the reference
shelves.
_Better._ If you were to visit the library on Saturday
afternoon, you would find it nearly deserted. The tables would
be empty and the reading room very quiet. The students would
be upon the river or enjoying themselves about the campus.
Someone, however, who had a paper to get in might be busy at
the reference shelves.
=217. Put the most significant idea near the beginning or the end of the
paragraph.=
_Example._ Far as he could see through the gathering dark
there was quiet, the reaction after tremendous exertion.
Shapes of men surrounded him. Here lay one flat upon his back,
his features sketched in sharp focus by the fading light.
Three yards to one side sat two bodies leaning back to back,
heads upon breasts, helmets over eyes. Beyond them huddled an
indistinguishable mass. On the other side, so close he could
have touched them, an arm and a leg strung along in a line—no
torso within a rod of them. The world lay desolate and silent
except for the yellowing moon and the far off, intermittent
firing.
_Example._ My one worry and regret, however, was the fact
that my father was the president of the school board. Part
of my teachers gave me good grades because they were afraid
they would lose their positions if they did otherwise, and
the rest of them tried to flunk me because they thought they
were not being paid highly enough. Among them all I managed to
make about a B average, and the problem which now remains for
the university to solve is, did I receive more or less than I
deserved while in high school.
=218. Give most space to the most significant idea.=
_Example._ Since man’s progress through the ages is a passage
from the undeveloped to the highly developed, one wonders what
the buildings of a thousand years from now will be like. From
that day in the remote past, when the first cliff dweller
conceived the idea of enlarging his home by carving out another
terrace in the rock above it, to this day when we have a
skyscraper 750 feet high, man’s building has approached nearer
and nearer to the clouds. As the little two-story terrace
grew, the cliff dwellers wondered and doubted. Likewise,
when a four-story building was a fact accomplished by our
great-grandfathers, to live in a ten-story building would have
been considered extremely hazardous. And now since we have the
forty-story Singer building, will man continue to aspire to the
clouds or will he remain satisfied with his achievement?
=219. Practice.=
Here is a paragraph that is very poorly put together. On the basis of
what you have just studied, answer the following questions and rewrite
the paragraph accordingly.
1. What about the indention?
2. What about the right-hand margin?
3. Should the speech of the mother be given a whole paragraph?
4. Is it possible to form more than one good paragraph of this thought?
Why, or why not?
5. Does a break occur in the thought? Where?
6. Should anything be discarded? What?
7. Can you find a topic sentence, or must you compose one?
8. What about the arrangement of ideas?
9. Can you improve the links between sentences? How?
10. Can you give more prominence to significant ideas? How?
Perhaps it was from her father that she got her restlessness.
Accidentally she put her finger on the label of what looked
to be the top of an ordinary hat, and the flat shape she held
immediately took the form of a hat. Her only ideas regarding
him came through an incident that happened when she was about
fourteen.
She had never seen him, and her mother never mentioned his
name. Her father lived in her mind as an ideal. She rushed,
filled with questions, to her mother, for as long as she could
remember there had never been a man in the house, and she
had never seen such a hat except in pictures. Her mother was
anything but romantic. She and her mother had been giving their
house its fall cleaning, and she had found, wrapped up in an
old silk comforter, what she took to be a hat—it was shaped
like one except that it had no crown. “Your father’s,” had been
the mother’s laconic answer, her lips drawing into a hard,
straight line that forbade further questioning.
CHAPTER VI
GRAMMAR
In this short discussion of grammar the attempt is not made to discuss
exhaustively all the features of English grammar. The purpose is only
to survey and to identify all the elements of an ordinary sentence. The
definitions are few, and are descriptions rather than formal definitions.
The parts of speech are treated as they become important in the structure
of the sentence. Such a treatment of essentials as this is necessary
partly as a review, but especially because a teacher and a student
cannot discuss many of the commonest sentence faults unless they have a
mutually intelligible terminology. A student must be able to recognize
such grammatical elements as a subject or an object, a participle or
an infinitive, a phrase or a clause, in order to produce correct and
effective sentences. There is a minimum amount of grammatical knowledge
without which a writer cannot rewrite his compositions so as to avoid the
commonest errors and imperfections.
What Grammar Is
Grammar is the study of the structure of sentences, and of the forms and
functions of words and word-groups within sentences. In simple terms,
grammar is the examination of the machinery of language.
Sentences
Sentences make assertions (declarative sentences), or ask questions
(interrogative sentences), or give commands (imperative sentences), or
express emotion (exclamatory sentences). Written sentences begin with a
capital letter and end with a period, a question mark, or an exclamation
point.
The most common kind of written sentence is that which makes an
assertion. This kind, called declarative, may well be taken, therefore,
as the most available basis for the discussion of the machinery of the
sentence. The word sentence in this chapter will accordingly mean a
declarative sentence.
The Parts of a Sentence—Subject and Predicate
A sentence has at least two parts—a subject and a predicate.
The _subject_ is that part which designates what the assertion is about.
The _predicate_ is that part which makes the assertion.
Many students earn their way through college.
It is obvious that _Many students_ designates what the assertion is
about, and is therefore the subject. _Earn their way through college_
makes the assertion about _Many students_, and is, therefore, the
predicate.
Although the sentence may contain other elements, although the subject
or the predicate or both may be long and complicated, and although
the elements making up the subject and the predicate may be variously
arranged, nevertheless every normal declarative sentence contains these
two parts, and can be divided into these two parts.
Subjects
The fundamental word or element in the subject is a noun, a pronoun, a
gerund, an infinitive, or a clause.
A _noun_ is simply a name word. It may signify a person or an animate
being (Frank, boy, dog), an object (tree, box), a color (red), an action
(walking, step, discussion), a quality (goodness), an abstract idea
(truth, space), a general idea (speed, thing), to name only a few kinds
of nouns. But it is always the name of an individual or of a class of
persons or things.
A _pronoun_ is a substitute or symbol word which signifies a noun which
is either expressed near the pronoun or implied by the circumstances (he,
it, who, anyone, I, you).
A _gerund_ is a noun made by adding the suffix -ing to a verb (walking,
hoping, sitting, being).
An _infinitive_ is a form of a verb, usually preceded by the word _to_,
often used to name the action signified by the verb (to think, to have
gone).
A _clause_ is a sentence element consisting of a subject (in the
nominative case) and a predicate (with the verb in a finite form—that is,
not an infinitive or a participle).
1. _Noun_: Time flies.
2. _Pronoun_: He arrived late. Everybody was late. I can do it.
3. _Gerund_: Standing on the corner made him cold.
4. _Infinitive_: To tell the truth was easy.
5. _Clause_: That he hath wronged me doth appear in this. Where
he stood makes no difference.
Predicates
The fundamental word in the predicate is the verb.
A _verb_ is a word—or a word-group—the function of which is to assert
something about the subject.
The tide rises.
The sun shone.
I bought a book.
The box is small.
The verb may consist of one word—as in the examples given—or it may
consist of a group of words, called a verb-group, containing sometimes as
many as five words. This verb group consists of one, two, three, or four
auxiliary verbs, followed by a form of the verb expressing the meaning or
sense. The form of the sense-verb is an infinitive, a present participle,
or a past participle.
The moon will rise.
The moon is rising.
The moon has risen.
He may light the lamp.
He is going to light the lamp.
The lamp at last was lighted.
The lamp has been lighted.
The lamp may have been lighted.
He may have been going to light the lamp.
Structural Parts of the Predicate—Objects
_Intransitive verbs_ are those which, like _rise_, make assertions the
action of which does not involve any person or thing other than the
subject.
_Transitive verbs_ are those which, like _light_, make assertions which
involve some person or thing other than the subject in the action of the
verb. In the sentence _He lighted the lamp_, _lamp_ is such an _object_.
The same verb may sometimes assert one, and sometimes the other kind of
action.
The door opened.
He opened the door.
Some transitive verbs make an assertion which involves two nouns, both
signifying the same thing or person.
The club elected Frank president.
Some transitive verbs make an assertion which involves two different
objects or persons.
I gave Frank an apple.
She bought Frank an apple.
I told him a story.
Here _apple_ or _story_ is the object directly affected by the action of
the verb, and is, therefore, called the _direct object_. _Frank_ or _him_
designates the person for whose benefit the action of the verb affects
the direct object, and is called the _indirect object_.
Copulas and Complements
Still another kind of verb, called a _copula_, though it does not take
a direct object, makes only part of the assertion. The rest is made by
means of another word (or element) which characterizes the subject but
which is an essential part of the assertion. In fact, the _complement_,
as the element completing the verb is called, is the most significant
part of the predicate; the verb is merely a bit of machinery by means of
which the complement is turned into an assertion.
The sky is red.
The dark shape was a house.
The car looks cheap.
He is in the house.
Home is where the heart is.
In these sentences, _red_, _a house_, _cheap_, _in the house_, and _where
the heart is_, are parts of the predicate, though they characterize the
subject. Such elements are called _complements_ because they complete
the assertion of the verb; if adjectives, they are called _adjective
complements_, or better, _predicated adjectives_; if nouns, they are
called _noun complements_, or _predicated nouns_; if clauses or phrases,
they are called _complements_, or _predicated phrases_ or _clauses_.
The verbs by means of which these complements are predicated are called
_copulas_.
Modifiers
Almost every word in the sentence is capable of having its meaning
described, restricted, emphasized, or toned down in some way—that is, any
meaning in the sentence may be characterized or modified.
Heavy automobiles run smoothly.
_Heavy_ both describes and restricts _automobiles_.
Words which characterize nouns in this way are called _adjectives_.
_Smoothly_ describes and restricts run.
Words which characterize verbs are called _adverbs_.
Very heavy automobiles run much more smoothly.
_Very_ emphasizes _heavy_. A word which thus characterizes an adjective
is called an _adverb_.
_More_ characterizes _smoothly_. _Much_ characterizes _more_. A word
which characterizes an adverb is called an _adverb_.
Prepositional Phrases
Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are also frequently
described or limited in the same way by an element or group of words
called a _prepositional phrase_. This usually consists of a noun,
pronoun, or gerund whose exact relationship to the modified word is
shown by means of a _preposition_. The preposition is placed before the
modifying noun or pronoun and its adjective modifiers.
At home
In the house
With large tires
Over rough roads
Heavy automobiles with large tires run smoothly over rough
roads.
_With large tires_ is a prepositional phrase, consisting of the
preposition _with_ and its object _tires_; the phrase modifies or
characterizes _automobiles_.
_Over rough roads_ is a prepositional phrase which characterizes _run_.
A prepositional phrase characterizing a noun is called an _adjective
prepositional phrase_. One characterizing a verb is called an _adverbial
prepositional phrase_.
Subordinate Clauses
A _clause_ is any part of a sentence consisting of a subject in the
nominative case and a predicate containing a verb in a finite form (not
a participle or an infinitive). Some clauses are used as nouns; others
are used to characterize or modify nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, or
adverbs. Clauses used as nouns are called _noun clauses_. Those used as
adjectives are called _adjective_ or _relative clauses_. Those used to
modify verbs, adjectives, or adverbs are called _adverb clauses_.
Noun Clauses
_Noun clauses_ may be used in practically any construction in which a
noun is used.
_Subject_: That he is a good workman is clear enough.
_Appositive_: The fact that the paper is new disproves
his claim.
_Predicated noun_: The weather will be what fate determines.
_Object of verb_: I saw that he had finished.
_Object of preposition_: The book is satisfactory except that it
omits one essential feature.
Adjective Clauses
_Adjective clauses_ are those which modify a noun or a pronoun.
Heavy automobiles which carry large loads run smoothly.
Adverb Clauses
_Adverb clauses_ usually modify a verb. They characterize the verb in
several different ways.
_Time_: He hurt his wrist when he fell.
_Place_: I put the glass where I could reach it.
_Cause_: We stopped the car because it was raining.
_Concession_: Although it was still dark I awoke.
_Condition_: If you read widely you will not be ignorant.
_Purpose_: He broke the stone that he might find a fossil.
_Result_: He struck the vase so that it fell over.
_Manner_: They work as they please.
Adverb clauses of degree, and sometimes those of manner and of result
modify an adverb or an adjective.
The cherries tasted sweeter than they looked.
He sawed the plank as carefully as he could.
We traveled so slowly that I despaired of reaching our
destination.
Participles
The _participle_ is any form of the verb used as an adjective. There are
several forms: _rising_, _risen_, _having risen; raising, raised, having
raised, being raised, having been raised._
The rising sun awakened me.
The fallen tree lay across the ravine.
The wind, howling a gale, swept the sea.
Twisting out of my hands, he escaped in the darkness.
The tree, twisted and broken, rotted away.
Infinitives
The _infinitive_ is usually preceded by its sign, _to_, but after some
verbs (_do_, _shall_, _will_, _may_, _can_, _dare_, _help_, _need_,
_see_, _hear_, _feel_, _let_, _make_, _bid_) and after the expressions
_had better_, _had rather_, it is usually the pure or root infinitive
without _to_.
There are six forms of the infinitive:
_Simple_ _Progressive_ _Passive_
_Pres._ to take to be taking to be taken
_Perf._ to have taken to have been taking to have been taken
The infinitive has various uses:
_Subject_: To command is his ambition.
_Predicated noun_: To know is to act.
_Object of verb_: I prefer to travel slowly.
_After nouns_: We have work to do.
_After verbs_: He failed to pass his examinations.
He seemed to be in trouble.
Children had better be silent.
_After verbs_ (with noun
or pronoun subject):
Our neighbors helped us move.
_After adjectives_: They are glad to hear the news.
He is so foolish as to believe the tale.
Conjunctions
It is often necessary or desirable to join together two or more similar
words, elements, or clauses in a sentence. Two nouns constituting the
subject, for example, may have the same assertion made about them.
Time and tide wait for no man.
_And_, which joins _time_ and _tide_, is a _conjunction_.
Two adjectives, two verbs, two adverbs, two prepositional phrases, or two
clauses may be joined together with a conjunction.
The flag is colored red and blue.
Time came and went.
Men and women laughed and cried.
The rains descended, and the floods came.
The automobile is fast, but the airplane is faster.
Words like _and_ and _but_ are conjunctions.
Conjunctions which connect words, phrases, or clauses of equal
grammatical value are called _co-ordinating conjunctions_.
The most frequent are _and_, _but_, _or_, _nor_, _for_.
_Subordinating conjunctions_ are used to join a subordinate clause—noun,
adjective, or adverb—to another clause or to some word in another clause.
At the same time they show the exact significance and bearing of the
subordinate clause.
We heard that the train was wrecked.
He came because I called him.
He remained though he wanted to go.
If it rains I shall stay at home.
Subordinating conjunctions are also sometimes used to join participles or
adjectives to the rest of the sentence. In such cases, the participle or
the adjective modifies a noun.
Though moving slowly, the train was gaining.
Though faithful to his master, the dog was shot.
Structure of Sentences
According to certain features of their structure, sentences are
classified as _simple_, _compound_, or _complex_.
A _simple sentence_ is one consisting of a single clause or assertion.
Time flies.
Time came and went.
Time and tide wait for no man.
Men and women laughed and cried.
The subject of a simple sentence may consist of one noun or pronoun
with its modifiers, or of two or more nouns with their modifiers. In
the latter case, the subject is called a _compound subject_. Similarly,
the predicate may contain one verb or two or more verbs. Occasionally a
sentence will have a compound subject and a compound predicate, as in the
last example given.
Compound Sentences
A _compound sentence_ is one which consists of two or more assertions
of equal grammatical value—that is, neither assertion is grammatically
subordinate to the other or to any part of the other.
The rain descended, and the floods came.
The automobile is fast, but the airplane is faster.
Complex Sentences
A _complex sentence_ is one which contains not only a main assertion (or
more than one), but also one or more subordinate assertions—that is, it
contains one or more assertions which are grammatically incorporated as
a noun or an adjective or an adverb into the main clause or into another
subordinate clause.
I saw that he had finished.
Heavy automobiles which carry large loads run smoothly.
The weather will be what fate determines.
He broke the stone that he might find a fossil.
Absolute Elements
Most of the elements of a sentence have a clear grammatical relation to
one another. But there are pieces of structure which have no evident
relationship to anything else.
_Noun absolute_:
He lay down, his heart heavy with sorrow.
Hat in hand, he came down stairs.
The _participle absolute_ is more frequent.
_Participle absolute_:
This said, he sat down.
One of them having fallen, the rest ran away.
The teacher absenting himself, there was no school.
Parenthetical Elements
_Parenthetical elements_, like _so to speak_, _it is hoped_, _it is
reported_, _they remark_, which have no grammatical connection with the
rest of the assertion, occur frequently. Sometimes they are inclosed
within dashes, sometimes within parentheses, sometimes within commas.
This action, it is expected, will produce results.
Flexibility of the Sentence Elements
Although the sentence has a normal order—subject, verb, object; or
subject, verb, complement—it is rich and varied in the possibilities it
possesses of variety and rearrangement, especially in the position of
adjective, participial, and adverbial elements, and in the case of adverb
clauses.
_Adjective_:
The gloomy and portentous mountains towered above him.
Gloomy and portentous, the mountains towered above him.
The mountains, gloomy and portentous, towered above him.
_Adverb_:
The building may have been entered immediately.
The building may have been immediately entered.
The building may have immediately been entered.
Immediately the building was entered.
The building was immediately entered.
The building was entered immediately.
_Adverb Clauses_:
As soon as he had knocked, he opened the door.
He opened the door as soon as he had knocked.
Inflections
Nouns, pronouns, verbs, and two adjectives show changes in function and
meaning by means of changes in form, by endings, or, sometimes in the
case of verbs, by prefixing auxiliary verbs.
Noun Declension
Nouns are declined to show case and number.
_Singular_ _Plural_
_Common_ boy boys
_Possessive_ boy’s boys’
_Common_ man men
_Possessive_ man’s men’s
_Common_ child children
_Possessive_ child’s children’s
Pronoun Declension
Pronouns are declined to show case and number.
_Singular_ _Plural_
_Nominative_ I we
_Possessive_ my our
_Objective_ me us
thou you
thy your
thee you
he she it they
his her its their
him her it them
who
whose
whom
Adjective Declension
Two adjectives show differences in number.
_Singular_ _Plural_
this these
that those
Verb Conjugation
Verbs are conjugated to show person, number, tense, mood, and voice.
Most of these changes are shown by the use of auxiliary verbs, which are
placed before the infinitive or the past or present participle of the
sense-verb. The combinations are called verb-groups.
Indicative Mood
PRESENT (Simple or habitual)
_Active_ _Passive_
I take I am taken
You take You are taken
He takes He is taken
We take We are taken
PRESENT (Progressive or definite)
I am taking I am being taken
PAST (Simple)
I took I was taken
PAST (Progressive or definite)
I was taking I was being taken
FUTURE (Formal)
I shall take I shall be taken
You will take You will be taken
He will take He will be taken
We shall take We shall be taken
You will take You will be taken
They will take They will be taken
FUTURE (Colloquial)
I am going to take I am going to be taken
You are going to take You are going to be taken
He is going to take He is going to be taken
We are going to take We are going to be taken
PRESENT PERFECT (Simple)
I have taken I have been taken
He has taken He has been taken
We have taken We have been taken
PRESENT PERFECT (Progressive or definite)
I have been taking (Wanting)
PAST PERFECT (Simple)
I had taken I had been taken
PAST PERFECT (Progressive or definite)
I had been taking (Wanting)
FUTURE PERFECT
I shall have taken I shall have been taken
COLLOQUIAL PASSIVE WITH _GET_
PRESENT It is getting broken
PAST It got broken
FUTURE It will get broken
Subjunctive Mood
PRESENT
_Active_ _Passive_
I may take I may be taken
I can take I can be taken
I must take I must be taken
PAST
I might take I might be taken
I should take I should be taken
He would take He would be taken
I could take I could be taken
Conjugation of _Be_
_Be_ is an extremely irregular composite verb. It is made up of three
verbs, _is_ (_am_, _are_, _art_), _be_, and _was_ (_were_).
Indicative
_Present_ _Past_
I am I was
You are You were
He is He was
We are We were
You are You were
They are They were
Subjunctive
_Present_ _Past_
I be I were
You be You were
He be He were
We be We were
You be You were
They be They were
CHAPTER VII
SENTENCE CORRECTNESS
The language spoken and written by educated persons and by trained
writers in all parts of the English-speaking world has certain forms and
usages to which everyone must conform if he wishes to be recognized as
a well-educated man or woman. Conformity to the word-forms and to the
sentence structure of this widespread language is called correctness.
=300. Use the nominative case for the subject of every finite verb. _I_,
_thou_, _he_, _she_, _we_, _they_, _who_, are nominatives.=
_Wrong._ Him and I graduated last year.
_Right._ He and I graduated last year.
_Revise._ Us and her went by ourselves.
=301. Use the nominative form _who_ for the subject, even if a
parenthetical _he says_, _he thinks_, etc., intervenes between subject
and verb.=
_Wrong._ She was the teacher whom we thought had seen us.
_Right._ She was the teacher who we thought had seen us.
_Revise._ He whom everybody thought would win the prize came
out second.
=302. Use the nominative forms _who_, _whoever_ for the subject of a
subordinate clause, even if a verb or a preposition immediately precedes
_who_, _whoever_.=
_Wrong._ I shall believe whomever has the best argument.
_Right._ I shall believe whoever has the best argument.
_Wrong._ A reward was offered to whomever returned the lost
book.
_Right._ A reward was offered to whoever returned the lost book.
_Revise._ The decision as to whom should be punished no longer
rests with me.
=303. Use the nominative case for a predicated pronoun after _is_, _are_,
_was_, _were_, etc.=
_Wrong._ It was me.
_Right._ It was I.
_Wrong._ The best friends I have are her and him.
_Right._ The best friends I have are she and he.
_Revise._ It is not whom you think it is.
=304. Put a pronoun used as an appositive into the same case as the noun
with which it is in apposition.=
_Wrong._ Let’s you and I go.
_Right._ Let’s you and me go.
_Wrong._ The principal called in several pupils, Jack and Mary
and I.
_Right._ The principal called in several pupils, Jack and Mary
and me.
_Revise._ For whom did you ask—they and she?
=305. After the conjunctions _as_ and _than_, put the pronoun into the
same case as that of the noun or pronoun with which the comparison is
made. (Exception: The form _whom_ is usually used after _than_.)=
_Wrong._ He swims better than me.
_Right._ He swims better than I.
_Wrong._ She is as rich as him.
_Right._ She is as rich as he.
_Wrong._ It improved him more than I.
_Right._ It improved him more than me.
_Right._ He is a student than whom there is none better.
_Revise._ I like him better than she.
=306. Use the possessive case of a noun or pronoun with a gerund.=
_Wrong._ I am tired of you going away like this.
_Right._ I am tired of your going away like this.
_Wrong._ Had you not heard of him being ill?
_Right._ Had you not heard of his being ill?
_Revise._ I will not consider Henry leaving.
_Revise._ Too much attention was paid to Ethel being rewarded.
=307. Put only nouns indicating persons or animate beings into the
possessive case.=
_Wrong._ Biography is history’s most interesting part.
_Right._ Biography is the most interesting part of history.
_Revise._ His striking appearance held the class’s attention.
=308. Use the objective case of a pronoun which is the object of a verb
or of a preposition.=
_Wrong._ My father decided that the farm was the best place for
my brother and I.
_Right._ My father decided that the farm was the best place for
my brother and me.
_Revise._ Most of we girls are studying household art.
=309. Use the objective case of a pronoun which is the subject of an
infinitive after a verb of _saying_, _thinking_, _permitting_, etc.=
_Wrong._ Our parents let my sister and I drive the horse.
_Right._ Our parents let my sister and me drive the horse.
_Revise._ Who do you want to be captain?
=310. Use the objective case of a pronoun which is predicated after _to
be_, _to have been_, used with a verb of _saying_, _thinking_, etc.=
_Wrong._ He thought it to be we.
_Right._ He thought it to be us.
_Wrong._ They believed her to have been I.
_Right._ They believed her to have been me.
_Revise._ We wished it to be they.
=311. Use _this kind of_, _that kind of_, _this sort of_, even if
followed by a plural noun.=
_Wrong._ You cannot use those sort of films.
_Right._ You cannot use that sort of films.
_Revise._ Did you ever see these kind of instruments?
=312. Refer a singular pronoun to a singular antecedent.=
_Wrong._ He carefully crated and boxed the seed to stand
weathering, and shipped them to India.
_Right._ He carefully crated and boxed the seed to stand
weathering, and shipped it to India.
_Wrong._ Everyone did justice to their appetite.
_Right._ Everyone did justice to his appetite.
_Revise._ One can tell when they come to these villages because
of the smell of the cod.
=313. Make the verb agree with its subject.=
_Wrong._ The first five years of my life was spent here.
_Right._ The first five years of my life were spent here.
_Revise._ Magazines, especially the _American_, is what I enjoy
reading.
=314. Make the verb agree with its subject. _Each_, _each one_, _every_,
_everyone_, _everybody_, _anyone_, _anybody_, _either_, _neither_,
_none_, _no one_, _nobody_, are singular.=
_Wrong._ Neither of these treat the subject thoroughly.
_Right._ Neither of these treats the subject thoroughly.
_Wrong._ Oh, how I wanted a bicycle. Everyone either got one or
were going to get one.
_Right._ Oh, how I wanted a bicycle. Everyone either got one or
was going to get one.
_Revise._ For that reason almost everybody there get sleepy.
=315. Make the verb agree with its subject. Two or more singular nouns
joined by _and_ form a plural subject.=
_Wrong._ Across the street is the engineering building and the
university heating plant.
_Right._ Across the street are the engineering building and the
university heating plant.
_Revise._ Both the plot and the style was very good.
=316. Make the verb agree with its subject. Singular nouns or pronouns
joined by _or_ or _nor_ form a singular subject.=
_Wrong._ Clarabell or Sue are going.
_Right._ Clarabell or Sue is going.
_Wrong._ Neither Henry nor Herbert were well treated.
_Right._ Neither Henry nor Herbert was well treated.
_Revise._ Either the captain or the sergeant have made a
mistake.
=317. Make the verb agree with its subject. A collective noun requires a
singular verb if the group is regarded as a unit, a plural verb if it is
regarded as a collection of individuals.=
_Wrong._ She drills us on a lesson until she is sure the class
are familiar with everything in each assignment.
_Right._ She drills us on a lesson until she is sure the class
is familiar with everything in each assignment.
_Wrong._ Sometimes when some member of the class makes a
mistake in his speech, the rest of the class laugh and talk
about it.
_Right._ Sometimes when some member of the class makes a
mistake in his speech, the rest of the class laughs and talks
about it.
_Revise._ Another committee, known as the advisory committee,
is composed of one member from each district, and are chosen by
the board of the district bank represented.
=318. Make the verb agree with its subject. An intervening noun must not
attract the verb into a different form.=
_Wrong._ The number of bearings in a car vary.
_Right._ The number of bearings in a car varies.
_Wrong._ The grounds upon which the building stands consists of
half a city block.
_Right._ The grounds upon which the building stands consist of
half a city block.
_Revise._ A copy of the orders are also sent to the checker.
=319. Make the verb agree with its subject. _There is_ and _there are_
must agree with the subject which follows.=
_Wrong._ There is always a few minutes now and then for reading
newspapers.
_Right._ There are always a few minutes now and then for
reading newspapers.
_Revise._ As I think of my subject there seems to be many
phases open for investigation.
=320. Make the verb agree with its subject. Phrases introduced by
_besides_, _with_, _together with_, _accompanied by_, _including_, _as
well as_, do not affect the number of the verb.=
_Wrong._ The major, as well as all the lieutenants, were soon
out in the open.
_Right._ The major, as well as all the lieutenants, was soon
out in the open.
_Wrong._ Mary, together with Florence, Mabel, and Pearl, are
going to be there.
_Right._ Mary, together with Florence, Mabel, and Pearl, is
going to be there.
_Revise._ The whole army, including the Fifth and Seventh
corps, have received orders to entrain.
=321. Make the verb agree with its subject. If both singular and plural
substantives joined by _or_ or _nor_ make up the subject, the number of
the verb depends upon that of the nearest substantive.=
_Wrong._ Neither the directors nor the president are in
sympathy with the proposal.
_Right._ Neither the directors nor the president is in sympathy
with the proposal.
_Revise._ The rodmill or the furnaces goes on double turn today.
=322. Make the verb agree with its subject. Verbs used with _who_,
_which_, _that_, must agree in person and number with the antecedent of
the pronoun.=
_Wrong._ Each man and woman who were present came away
disgruntled.
_Right._ Each man and woman who was present came away
disgruntled.
_Revise._ These horses that stands here are not for sale.
=323. Make the verb agree with its subject—not with a predicated noun or
nouns.=
_Wrong._ The type of literature I enjoy are books of travel.
_Right._ The type of literature I enjoy is books of travel.
_Revise._ Another group of novels I have read are _Main
Street_, _The Bright Shawl_, and _If Winter Comes_.
=324. Make the verb agree with its subject. The form _don’t_ is correct
in the first and second persons singular and in all persons plural. The
form _doesn’t_ is the only correct form in the third person singular.=
_Wrong._ He don’t seem to know us.
_Right._ He doesn’t seem to know us.
_Revise._ The majority don’t think.
=325. Distinguish between the past tense and the past participle of
irregular verbs.=
_Present_ _Past_ _Past Participle_
He begins he began he has begun
He blows he blew he has blown
It breaks it broke it has broken
He comes he came he has come
He does he did he has done
He draws he drew he has drawn
He drinks he drank he has drunk
He drives he drove he has driven
He eats he ate he has eaten
He falls he fell he has fallen
He flies he flew he has flown
It freezes it froze it has frozen
It grows it grew it has grown
He goes he went he has gone
He knows he knew he has known
He rides he rode he has ridden
It rings it rang it has rung
It rises it rose it has risen
He runs he ran he has run
He sees he saw he has seen
It shakes it shook it has shaken
It shrinks it shrank it has shrunk
He sings he sang he has sung
He speaks he spoke he has spoken
He steals he stole he has stolen
He swims he swam he has swum
He takes he took he has taken
It tears it tore it has torn
He throws he threw he has thrown
_Revise._
I wonder what he has did?
Have you saw him?
He has ran the car into the ditch.
=326. Use the correct past tense or past participle of the following
verbs—not the illiterate form.=
_Present_ _Past_ _Past Participle_
It bursts it burst it has burst
He catches he caught he has caught
He dives he dived he has dived
He drags he dragged he has dragged
He draws he drew he has drawn
He drowns he drowned he has drowned
He eats he ate he has eaten
He grows he grew he has grown
He holds he held he has held
He knows he knew he has known
He leads he led he has led
He proves he proved he has proved
He shows he showed he has shown
He swears he swore he has sworn
He throws he threw he has thrown
He ought he ought (_Had ought_ is not
in good usage)
_Revise._
What has she ate.
I drug it three yards.
I drawed him out.
He drownded last week.
=327. Distinguish between _lie_ and _lay_, _sit_ and _set_, _rise_ and
_raise_.=
_Wrong._ He laid in the hammock all morning.
_Right._ He lay in the hammock all morning.
_Wrong._ All right, set there, then.
_Right._ All right, sit there, then.
_Wrong._ We all raised up and shouted.
_Right._ We all rose up and shouted.
_Revise._ I laid on the couch while the rest of them set around
waiting for me to raise up and tell them to go home.
=328. Use _shall_ in the first person, _will_ in the second and third, to
express simple futurity.=
_Wrong._ I feel that I have had more military training than I
will get here in the university.
_Right._ I feel that I have had more military training than I
shall get here in the university.
_Wrong._ You shall fail unless you get to work.
_Right._ You will fail unless you get to work.
_Revise._ He shall never be found if we do not hurry.
=329. Use _should_ in the first person, _would_ in the second and third,
to express relative futurity.=
_Wrong._ I would like to give it to you.
_Right._ I should like to give it to you.
_Wrong._ He should be glad to help you, I’m sure.
_Right._ He would be glad to help you, I’m sure.
_Revise._ You shouldn’t do that, should you?
=330. In questions, use _shall_ in the first person. In the second and
third persons, use that auxiliary which will be correctly used in the
answer.=
_Wrong._ Will I help you?
_Right._ Shall I help you?
_Wrong._ Will you be at home tonight?
_Right._ Shall you be at home tonight?
_Revise._ Shall she be asked?
=331. To express determination on the part of the speaker, use _will_ in
the first person, _shall_ in the second and third persons.=
_Wrong._ He will tell you; I am determined.
_Right._ He shall tell you; I am determined.
_Wrong._ You will go; I have decided.
_Right._ You shall go; I have decided.
_Revise._ I shall do it; nobody can prevent me.
=332. Make the tenses of parallel verbs conform to one another.=
_Wrong._ I would go down to the library every Saturday and
there I got a book about radio.
_Right._ I would go down to the library every Saturday and
there I would get a book about radio.
_Revise._ I traveled all over the state until I had seen
everything or until I became tired.
=333. Use the present tense for assertions that are universally true.=
_Wrong._ Mars was the most nearly red of all the planets.
_Right._ Mars is the most nearly red of all the planets.
_Revise._ The earth was eight thousand miles in diameter.
=334. Make the tense of a verb in a subordinate clause relative to that
of the verb in the main clause.=
_Wrong._ I also read new, popular novels that I would find in
the public library.
_Right._ I also read new, popular novels that I found in the
public library.
_Revise._ I probably would never have read such low, vulgar
stuff if it were not for the war.
=335. Use the present tense of the infinitive unless its action is
earlier than that of the main verb.=
_Wrong._ It was wrong for you to have gone.
_Right._ It was wrong for you to go.
_Wrong._ I ought to answer before that had happened.
_Right._ I ought to have answered before that had happened.
_Revise._ I intended to have told you.
=336. Use an adverb of time to show that the subordinate clause differs
in time from the main clause.=
_Wrong._ The reason for the fertility of Iowa farm land is that
an ice sheet spread over almost the entire area of the state.
_Right._ The reason for the fertility of Iowa farm land is that
an ice sheet once spread over almost the entire area of the
state.
_Revise._ One little corner of Iowa contains many steep hills
because the ice did not reach it.
=337. Use the subjunctive mood in contrary to fact conditions.=
_Wrong._ If I was you, I should not do that.
_Right._ If I were you, I should not do that.
_Revise._ If he was not ill, he might win today.
=338. Use _have_, the correct auxiliary, not _of_, carelessly written for
the unaccented _have_.=
_Wrong._ You should of seen him run.
_Right._ You should have seen him run.
_Revise._ If it had not rained today, we might of gone away.
=339. _Had ought_ and _hadn’t ought_ are not standard English; _ought_
has no past participle and no past perfect tense.=
_Wrong._ You hadn’t ought to have come so soon.
_Right._ You ought not to have come so soon.
_Revise._ I had ought to have told you but I didn’t have the
courage.
=340. Make a complete sentence out of a fragment carelessly punctuated as
if it were a sentence.=
_Wrong._ I took time to make friends and eventually enjoyed
myself in the same way as any other little girl. My favorite
sport being skating.
_Right._ I took time to make friends and eventually enjoyed
myself in the same way as any other little girl. My favorite
sport was skating.
_Revise._ At seven o’clock every morning I hear the faint
tinkling of a bell which soon becomes an insistent ring,
and another day has begun. Then a dash down the cold stairs
followed by a hurried wash, then down to breakfast.
=341. Attach a phrase, carelessly punctuated as if it were a sentence, to
the sentence to which it belongs.=
_Wrong._ This was placed in a chemical solution, called
developer, for fifteen or twenty minutes. Sometimes even longer.
_Right._ This was placed in a chemical solution, called
developer, for fifteen or twenty minutes, and sometimes even
longer.
_Revise._ My office hours were unlimited during the summer
months. Usually from seven in the morning until after six
o’clock at night on week days.
=342. Attach a participial phrase, carelessly punctuated as if it were a
sentence, to the sentence to which it belongs.=
_Wrong._ We arrived on the peak before sunrise. This being the
best time to arrive.
_Right._ We arrived on the peak before sunrise, this being the
best time.
_Revise._ Asher won the mile in 4:32. Thus breaking the record.
=343. Attach a subordinate clause, carelessly punctuated as if it were a
sentence, to the sentence to which it belongs.=
_Wrong._ Soon after it is plowed. It should be harrowed several
times in order to crush out all the lumps of dirt.
_Right._ Soon after it is plowed it should be harrowed several
times in order to crush out all the lumps of dirt.
_Revise._ When the grain is dry enough to be threshed. The
owner issues invitations for a threshing bee.
=344. Attach part of a compound subject, carelessly punctuated as if it
were a sentence, to the sentence to which it belongs.=
_Wrong._ John, wearing a straw hat. Then his brother, garbed in
a dress suit, entered the hall.
_Right._ John, wearing a straw hat, followed by his brother,
garbed in a dress suit, entered the hall.
_Revise._ The memorial stadium and the chemistry building. The
new administration building and the women’s gymnasium have all
been built since 1910.
=345. Attach part of a compound predicate, carelessly punctuated as if it
were a sentence, to the sentence to which it belongs.=
_Wrong._ The beacon flared. And lighted up the darkness for
miles.
_Right._ The beacon flared and lighted up the darkness for
miles.
_Revise._ Who has ever heard of Dolliver? Much less has ever
been there.
=346. Complete a construction begun but left unfinished.=
_Wrong._ They rediscount notes which arise out of and the
proceeds of which are employed for agricultural, industrial,
and commercial purposes.
_Right._ They rediscount notes which arise out of agricultural,
industrial, and commercial transactions and employ the proceeds
in similar transactions.
_Revise._ Anybody who could design an engine like that, the
largest automobile manufacturers in the country would compete
for his services.
=347. Give every finite verb a subject.=
_Wrong._ It has been about fifteen months since I left high
school, and have not done any studying since.
_Right._ It has been about fifteen months since I left high
school, and I have not done any studying since.
_Revise._ The town has not yet built a very large high school
building, because there are not enough citizens to defray the
expense and have not yet been able to obtain the co-operation
of the farmers.
=348. Insert a word or words which have been carelessly omitted.=
_Wrong._ Their complexion is a reddish color.
_Right._ Their complexion is of a reddish color.
_Wrong._ Hundreds of small creeks were constructed by the
association, for the benefit of an individual.
_Right._ Hundreds of small creeks were constructed by the
association, each for the benefit of an individual.
_Revise._ I consider him my favorite poet not because of his
style but of the feeling in his verse.
=349. Insert material necessary to make evident what is implied.=
_Wrong._ Mr. T.’s method of teaching is stimulating, but
his lack of the English language makes him an undesirable
instructor.
_Right._ Mr. T.’s method of teaching is stimulating, but
his lack of knowledge of the English language makes him an
undesirable instructor.
_Revise._ Douglas Fairbanks is truer to life than the book.
=350. Give every sentence element some grammatical construction.=
_Wrong._ In my American literature class the instructor thought
that it was essential for us to study, at least once a week,
that had to do with current happenings.
_Right._ In my American literature class the instructor thought
that it was essential for us to study, at least once a week,
something that had to do with current happenings.
_Revise._ You should select the ears that have medium-sized
kernels and filled out well at each end.
=351. Use _that_ to introduce noun clauses after verbs of _saying_,
_thinking_, or _feeling_, unless the construction is obvious.=
_Wrong._ I have decided the topic for my long theme will be
_Prehistoric Man_.
_Right._ I have decided that the topic for my long theme will
be _Prehistoric Man_.
_Revise._ Father felt a secondhand car was beneath our dignity.
=352. Make the comparison accurate by inserting a demonstrative pronoun:
_that of_, _those of_, _these which_, etc.=
_Wrong._ Our condition is far better than the students of the
East.
_Right._ Our condition is far better than that of the students
of the East.
_Revise._ The history of the Book of Mormon is very much like
the Bible.
=353. Insert _as_ after the positive of an adjective or an adverb when it
is followed by a conjunction and the comparative with _than_.=
_Wrong._ I am at least as tall or a little taller than anyone
in the first squad.
_Right._ I am at least as tall as, or a little taller than,
anyone in the first squad.
_Revise._ I enjoy biography as well if not better than fiction.
=354. Insert _much_ or _greatly_ between _very_ and a past participle.=
_Wrong._ I was very disappointed.
_Right._ I was very much disappointed.
_Revise._ His table manners showed that they had been very
neglected up to the time we took him in hand.
=355. Repeat the verb in a different person or number if necessary to
make it agree with the second of two alternative subjects.=
_Wrong._ Either he or I goes.
_Right._ Either he goes or I go.
_Revise._ If he or I win the pole vault, Petersham will finish
among the first three in the meet.
=356. Repeat the auxiliary verb if necessary to make it agree with a
second subject in a different person or number.=
_Wrong._ Whether you or Jim is elected makes no difference to
me.
_Right._ Whether you are elected or Jim is, makes no difference
to me.
_Revise._ If you or any other student is caught cheating it
means just one thing—expulsion of the guilty person.
=357. Repeat _is_, _are_, _was_, _were_, etc., if the verb is used both
as a copula and as an auxiliary.=
_Wrong._ Their government was rude and founded solely upon
custom.
_Right._ Their government was rude and was founded solely upon
custom.
_Revise._ Our house is small and built to live in.
=358. Use the correct form of the verb after each of two auxiliaries
which require two different forms.=
_Wrong._ I have always and always shall like cowboy stories.
_Right._ I have always liked and always shall like cowboy
stories.
_Revise._ I hope I may in the future, as I have always in
the past, play fair, whatever may be the provocation to do
otherwise.
=359. Use the correct conjunction, _though_ or _but_ rather than _while_;
_as soon as_ rather than _immediately_; _if_ rather than _so_.=
_Wrong._ Immediately I received the telegram I went home.
_Right._ As soon as I received the telegram I went home.
_Wrong._ It was in the latter part of my high school days when
I did most of my reading.
_Right._ It was in the latter part of my high school days that
I did most of my reading.
_Revise._ I had not gone to school long until it burned down.
=360. Use a transitional word, phrase, or clause to carry the reader from
one unrelated idea to another.=
_Wrong._ I wanted to be popular; how could I start?
_Right._ I wanted to be popular, but the question was, how
could I start.
_Revise._ Officers will be elected, and a good attendance is
desired.
=361. Avoid shifting from one construction to another.=
_Wrong._ Consider the football season just ended, Merrill did
more for the success of the team than any other captain Ohio
ever had.
_Right._ In the football season just ended Merrill did more for
the success of the team than any other captain Ohio ever had.
_Revise._ I enjoyed the freshman year with its essays and
themes, since it proved to be a subject which I did not find
difficult.
=362. In the formula _one of the most ... if not the most ..._ put the
noun in the first element of the formula.=
_Wrong._ It was one of the slowest if not the slowest game ever
played on the Oval.
_Right._ It was one of the slowest games, if not the slowest,
ever played on the Oval.
_Revise._ As a statesman he deserves to rank as one of the
most, if not the most, contemptible figures in our history.
=363. Phrase the subject so that it exactly fits the predication required
by the verb.=
_Wrong._ Mr. Swinnerton’s novel, _Nocturne_, takes place in one
night.
_Right._ The action in Mr. Swinnerton’s novel, _Nocturne_,
takes place in one night.
_Revise._ The character of Mr. Pickwick is a funny creature.
=364. Use the precise verb which is idiomatically required to predicate
the subject.=
_Wrong._ Only one hour of relaxation existed for the noon meal.
_Right._ Only one hour of relaxation was allowed for the noon
meal.
_Revise._ The freshman lecture last week consisted of four
speakers.
=365. Use the idiomatic preposition required after the noun.=
_Wrong._ I went to the library in search for material.
_Right._ I went to the library in search of material.
_Revise._ His personality is one of the greatest factors for
his success.
=366. Use different prepositions after nouns, adjectives, or verbs which
idiomatically require different prepositions.=
_Wrong._ Am I included or excluded from this list?
_Right._ Am I included in or excluded from this list?
_Revise._ American literature is dependent or at least derived
from English literature.
=367. Use a more idiomatic construction.=
_Wrong._ I have often had the desire of some day taking a
vacation into the Rocky Mountains of the West.
_Right._ I have often wanted some time to spend a vacation
among the Rocky Mountains in the West.
_Revise._ Carrie Stevens from Wilton passed three days visiting
the parental home last week.
_Revise._ I spoke with him for something more than ten minutes.
=368. Use a less awkward construction.=
_Wrong._ Dr. Otto’s automobile was badly damaged in the
collision, but Mrs. Otto, driving, was unhurt, fortunately.
_Right._ Dr. Otto’s automobile was badly damaged in the
collision, but Mrs. Otto, who was driving, was fortunately
unhurt.
_Revise._ During my senior year I had some experience in
dramatics by taking part in the class play.
=369. Use a predicated noun rather than a predicated clause beginning
with _when_ or _where_.=
_Wrong._ A B.A. is where you are graduated in a liberal arts
course.
_Right._ A B.A. is a degree given to graduates of a liberal
arts course.
_Revise._ Golf is where you try to get the ball into the hole
in the fewest possible number of strokes.
=370. Use _that_ to introduce a predicated clause of reason.=
_Wrong._ The reason I have not read more is due to the fact
that I have had no time.
_Right._ The reason I have not read more is that I have had no
time.
_Revise._ My reason for reading this book was because I had
previously seen the same story in the movies.
=371. Use the formula _the fact that ..._ to introduce a clause of reason
used as the subject.=
_Wrong._ Since you insist forces me to yield.
_Right._ The fact that you insist forces me to yield.
_Revise._ Because he looked so weak made me offer him a ride.
=372. Use _due to_, _owing to_, and _caused by_ only as adjectives,
obviously modifying a noun. (See 418.)=
_Wrong._ This question is very difficult to answer due to the
small amount of information available.
_Right._ The difficulty about answering this question is caused
by the scarcity of information available.
_Right._ This question is very difficult to answer because
little information is available.
_Revise._ Owing to the high wind Porter’s punts in the second
half averaged only twenty-eight yards.
=373. Use _because of_ and _on account of_ only as prepositions to
introduce adverbial phrases attached to verbs.=
_Wrong._ Purdue’s victory was because of the wet field.
_Right._ Purdue won because of the wet field.
_Right._ Purdue’s victory was due to the wet field.
_Revise._ His kindness to me was on account of his friendship
for my father.
=374. Attach a modifying word, phrase, or clause directly to the modified
element without an intervening _and_ or _but_. _And_ or _but_ should be
used to join only co-ordinate elements.=
_Wrong._ The village priests were of a lower class and lived
like peasants, and preaching only to the peasants.
_Right._ The village priests were of a lower class and lived
like peasants, preaching only to the peasants.
_Revise._ The study of musical appreciation is very
interesting, and especially when one begins to find out how
little he knows about it.
=375. Discard completely any part of a sentence which has nothing to do
with your thought.=
_Wrong._ We arrived in Boston before noon, and the corn was
fully six inches high.
_Right._ We arrived in Boston before noon.
_Revise._ Hugh Walpole is an Englishman, but Poe wrote The
Raven.
=376. Discard a redundant _that_.=
_Wrong._ I really think that upon investigation that we are
shown the shallowness of the objections.
_Right._ I really think that upon investigation we are shown
the shallowness of the objections.
_Revise._ I knew that if I did not read some of my outside
readings before Christmas that I probably should not be up with
my work in time to pass the course.
=377. Change the present participial phrase into a parallel verb or into
a parallel clause if the time of action of the participle differs from
that of the main verb.=
_Wrong._ Leaving home before breakfast, we arrived at our
destination in time for dinner.
_Right._ We left home before breakfast and arrived at our
destination in time for dinner.
_Revise._ He is thirty-six, being born in 1887.
=378. Put the noun into an _of_ phrase, not into the possessive case,
when the noun is the object of the verbal idea in a verbal noun in
_-ing_.=
_Wrong._ Lincoln’s shooting is one of the most tragic events in
American history.
_Right._ The shooting of Lincoln is one of the most tragic
events in American history.
_Revise._ One-eyed Pete’s converting firmly established the new
minister in the eyes of the whole community.
=379. Use an _of_ phrase after the abstract verbal noun in _-ing_.=
_Wrong._ The legislators viewed protection only as a policy for
the fostering industry.
_Right._ The legislators viewed protection only as a policy for
the fostering of industry.
_Revise._ The giving examinations is overdone here.
=380. Two unconnected main clauses must be punctuated as two sentences,
or must be joined with a conjunction, or one clause must be made
subordinate.=
_Wrong._ The fireless cooker that I made consisted of an outer
wooden box which contained a fairly good-sized metal pail,
the box was large enough to allow for at least five inches of
packing.
_Right._ The fireless cooker that I made consisted of an outer
wooden box which contained a fairly good-sized metal pail.
The box was large enough to allow for at least five inches of
packing.
_Wrong._ Nine months of the year I went to school the other
three I worked at home on the farm.
_Right._ Nine months of the year I went to school and the other
three I worked at home on the farm.
_Wrong._ Next, you apply one coat of paint it can be put on
rather thick as you have to rub most of it off later.
_Right._ Next, you apply one coat of paint, which can be put on
rather thick, as you have to rub most of it off later.
_Revise._ The senior English class is required to do some work
in dramatics, this is done by giving the annual class play.
=381. Join co-ordinate elements with _and_; the word _also_ is an adverb,
not a conjunction.=
_Wrong._ The Navajoes have large herds of cattle, also many
fine horses.
_Right._ The Navajoes have large herds of cattle and many fine
horses.
_Revise._ The pitcher made a home run, also two singles.
=382. Join co-ordinate main clauses with a conjunction, _and_, _but_,
_for_, _or_ or _nor_; or make one clause subordinate. Such words as _so_,
_then_, _therefore_, and _also_ are not conjunctions.=
_Wrong._ I have no favorite kinds of books, however, I do read
a great deal.
_Right._ I have no favorite kinds of books, but I do read a
great deal.
_Wrong._ I had to run to supper both nights so I decided I
would quit.
_Right._ After I had had to run to supper both nights I decided
I would quit.
_Revise._ Before school and on Saturdays I worked either in
a restaurant or in a clothing store, so my reading has been
limited for the last two years.
=383. Place similar modifiers of the same word together.=
_Wrong._ We saw an old house painted white.
_Right._ We saw an old white house.
_Revise._ He had a stern face, forbidding and ugly.
=384. Use only one negative in a clause.=
_Wrong._ You haven’t seen nothing yet.
_Right._ You have seen nothing yet.
_Right._ You haven’t seen anything yet.
_Revise._ She had not gone no farther than the post office when
she heard a shot.
=385. Use _or_ as a conjunction—not _nor_—when the first of the connected
elements carries a negative.=
_Wrong._ Some seeds do not need to be very deep in the ground
nor very far apart.
_Right._ Some seeds do not need to be very deep in the ground
or very far apart.
_Revise._ A favorite son is not necessarily known throughout
the whole country, nor even in the neighboring states.
=386. Omit the negative as a supposed reinforcer of _hardly_, _scarcely_,
_only_, and _but_.=
_Wrong._ I can’t scarcely realize it yet.
_Right._ I can scarcely realize it yet.
_Revise._ I do not like but two kinds of reading matter: novels
and short stories.
=387. Use an adverb—not an adjective—to modify a verb, an adjective, or
another adverb. Adverbs formed from adjectives end in _-ly_.=
_Wrong._ I worked steady all vacation.
_Right._ I worked steadily all vacation.
_Revise._ I never expect to become a real proficient student in
this subject.
=388. Predicated adjectives are used correctly after the verbs _is_,
_are_, _was_, _were_, _become_, _seem_, _feel_, _appear_, _look_,
_sound_, _taste_, _smell_, _stand_, and _ring_ when the adjective
characterizes the subject and not the action.=
_Wrong._ This orange tastes sweetly.
_Right._ This orange tastes sweet.
_Revise._ His speech rings falsely.
=389. Relative pronouns _who_, _which_, _that_, are correctly used as
follows: _who_ if the antecedent is a person; _which_ if the antecedent
is an animal or a thing; _that_ if the antecedent is a person, an animal,
or a thing.=
_Wrong._ I once worked for a farmer which worked from sunrise
to sunset.
_Right._ I once worked for a farmer who worked from sunrise to
sunset.
_Revise._ I have a dog who is almost as intelligent as a man.
PRACTICE
1. Them and us were not invited. (300)
2. Whom do you think ought to go? (301)
3. As to whom is best qualified, consult the dean. (302)
4. It was never them. (303)
5. Who is going, him and her? (304)
6. He made me as strong as they. (305)
7. How could you consider Mary going? (306)
8. He is one of art’s greatest contributors. (307)
9. The greatest duty lies toward the parents of the boy or girl who they
send to college. (308)
10. Who did you think her to be? (309)
11. I thought the person to have been he. (310)
12. What about these sort of seeds? (311)
13. When one goes back to work they feel like accomplishing something.
(312)
14. His explanations are very much in detail but does not hit the mark.
(313)
15. If either are late to class, both receive a setback. (314)
16. Scraping and varnishing is necessary in this case. (315)
17. He thinks neither Byron nor Shelley are great poets. (316)
18. A number has already gathered about the jail. (317)
19. The lining of blankets keep the cold air out. (318)
20. There is too many open windows in the house. (319)
21. The football team, in addition to as many graduate players as can be
reached, are invited. (320)
22. Neither Frank nor the Holliwells knows her. (321)
23. Everybody who were there was pleased. (322)
24. The fruit I like best are strawberries. (323)
25. Robert don’t read anything. (324)
26. I wonder what he has drank. (325)
27. He had ought to go. (326)
28. I raised up and shouted at them either to set down or lay down; it
didn’t matter which they did. (327)
29. I will never forget the pleasant time we had at graduation. (328)
30. They should have gone, but it rained. (329)
31. Shall he be able to come? (330)
32. I shall speak to him about it; I insist upon it. (331)
33. He told me time after time and would insist that Percival had told
the whole truth. (332)
34. He said the sun was 93,000,000 miles from the earth. (333)
35. I seldom remember the name of the book or of the author until I would
see the book again. (334)
36. She wanted me to have gone before you came. (335)
37. Vanadium steel is used to make many parts of the Ford car which were
made of various other kinds. (336)
38. If she was able to go, we should have a good time. (337)
39. It would of been better if the paint had dried slowly. (338)
40. They hadn’t ought to have tried that. (339)
41. The varsity basketball outlook is much brighter than was the case
for football. Six letter men on the squad, four other candidates of
outstanding ability, and a coach who says that he will stop at nothing
short of a championship. (340)
42. They were a wonderful six weeks. Just full of happenings of all
kinds. (341)
43. In the first year ancient history is taken up once or twice a
week. The rest of the time being devoted to the study of rhetoric and
composition. (342)
44. I arrived home late in the afternoon. After I had been riding an hour
and a half. (343)
45. In the East, Boston, New York, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia. In the
West, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh make up the league.
(344)
46. Frightened nearly to death, my friend ran into the house. And hid
there for a long time before she was willing even to look out the window.
(345)
47. The condition that arose, I was unable to meet my obligation. (346)
48. Up in the mountains there would be very few people to bother you, and
would thus enable you to spend many hours alone. (347)
49. Dancing was the next on the program. (348)
50. This historical event has had a great deal to do with the books I
have read and also many other students and persons of my age. (349)
51. It was dark and no other possible way to get there. (350)
52. We heard something exciting was sure to happen before the night was
over. (351)
53. The next time over, the corn is plowed in the opposite direction from
which it was planted. (352)
54. Barnes is as good a hitter and a much more consistent one than anyone
else on the team. (353)
55. He was very surprised to see us. (354)
56. What you or he thinks makes no difference here. (355)
57. If you or he is going, it is time to start now. (356)
58. The science building is three stories high and constructed of brick.
(357)
59. Drinking I have always avoided and always will. (358)
60. I went, while my father objected. (359)
61. More votes were cast than there were voters, and a new election was
ordered. (360)
62. For instance, one theater we were in, everything inside of it was
white. (361)
63. One of the saddest if not the saddest sight I ever saw met my eyes
when I opened the door. (362)
64. Shiloh was a crucial moment in the Civil War. (363)
65. The story was made up of the hills of Hingham. (364)
66. Fraternities were not included with my thoughts of college. (365)
67. The demand and popularity of the gladiatorial games resulted in a
number of uprisings against the government. (366)
68. I like reading books, but I enjoy even more to see a good play. (367)
69. The honors for high scoring for the afternoon spent in playing bridge
were awarded to Mary Devoe. (368)
70. Justice is where each man gets his deserts. (369)
71. The reason I have for liking it was because of the way the part of
Portia was played. (370)
72. Because you are ignorant is no excuse in the eyes of the law. (371)
73. Due to these facts, my reading was neglected. (372)
74. The size of my feet is because of what happened one summer when I was
a bell hop. (373)
75. The observer turns to the east, and looking down a short residential
street which leads to a well-kept cemetery. (374)
76. They say that fools’ names as well as faces are often seen in public
places, but I prefer prose to poetry. (375)
77. I felt that of all the courses I ever took that the one in civics did
the most for me. (376)
78. Parading up Jefferson street in the morning, we had a record-breaking
crowd for the evening performance. (377)
79. Chicago’s burning proved to be the making of the middle western
metropolis. (378)
80. The constant offering excuses enraged me. (379)
81. Every morning except one I have either military drill or physical
training, these serve to break the monotony of being cooped up in a class
room the rest of the time. (380)
82. I also like scout books and detective stories, also a good love story
once in a while. (381)
83. We stayed a few days in Boston and a day in Chicago, then we arrived
at our destination on a rainy Monday morning two hours before breakfast
time. (382)
84. Strong is he and brave. (383)
85. I wouldn’t take no insolence from him. (384)
86. The vassal had to swear that he would not injure his lord nor betray
his secrets. (385)
87. I don’t hardly see what else I could have done. (386)
88. He does not go so deep into details as to bore his students. (387)
89. The new bell sounds harshly. (388)
90. Among the eight instructors which I have are two which I abhor. (389)
CHAPTER VIII
SENTENCE CLEARNESS
Sentences exist for the purpose of conveying thought from one mind
to another. The manner of their expression must, therefore, be such
that the thought expressed is obvious and unmistakable. Otherwise,
sentences not only fail of their purpose but often lead to confusion, to
misunderstanding, and even to disaster. The quality which renders their
meaning obvious and unmistakable is called clearness.
=400. Definite pronouns (_he_, _she_, _it_, _this_, _that_, _who_,
_which_) must have obvious antecedents.=
_Insufficient._ They say that the timber supply in the United
States will soon be exhausted.
_Better._ Forest experts say that the timber supply in the
United States will soon be exhausted.
_Revise._ Yesterday I saw Mr. Jonathan Oldcastle. She has just
returned from Europe, you know.
=401. Make an ambiguous pronoun clear by placing it nearer its
antecedent.=
_Confusing._ Father told us of a meadow near his old home,
which was now under water.
_Unmistakable._ Father told us that near his old home there
used to be a meadow which is now under water.
_Revise._ In order to succeed at football one must be willing
to live up to all the rules of training, to refrain from
smoking, to shun society, and to put one’s whole soul into it.
=402. Change indirect discourse to direct discourse to make an antecedent
obvious.=
_Equivocal._ Clark told Andrews he had made an error.
_Clear._ Clark said, “Andrews, you made an error.”
_Revise._ George, talking with Bill, said that he ought to be
ashamed of himself.
=403. Never designate the antecedent of a pronoun by repeating it within
parentheses.=
_Wrong._ John told Tom that he (John) had not made the team.
_Right._ John said to Tom, “I have not made the team.”
_Revise._ John told Tom that he (Tom) had not made the team.
=404. Repeat a distant noun or supply a new one rather than use an
obscure pronoun.=
_Not good._ I felt sure that the parade would not be ready to
start for an hour yet, as there were no soldiers about, and it
was only one o’clock; so I decided to walk out toward the edge
of town, taking care, however, to remain upon the street along
which I knew it would pass.
_Better._ I felt sure that the parade would not be ready to
start for an hour yet, as there were no soldiers about, and it
was only one o’clock; so I decided to walk out toward the edge
of town, taking care, however, to remain upon the street along
which I knew the parade would pass.
_Revise._ The men in my company who had dissipated before
entering the army found, during the long marches necessary in
the Argonne Forest, that it was hard to keep up with it.
=405. Repeat the noun rather than use a pronoun that refers to an
unemphatic antecedent.=
_Unimpressive._ Yesterday I saw Mrs. Hamlin in a new car
designed by the Fisher company. Almost all cars designed by
them are distinctive.
_Better._ Yesterday I saw Mrs. Hamlin in a new car designed by
the Fisher company. Almost all cars designed by that company
are distinctive.
_Revise._ Silos made of concrete are of greater value than any
other kind because they last longer. This is easy to use and is
cheaper in the end than any other material.
=406. Place adverbs like _only_, _almost_, _ever_, _nearly_, _just_,
_hardly_, _scarcely_, _merely_, _quite_ next to and usually before the
words they modify.=
_Misleading._ He would only lend me five dollars.
_Accurate._ He would lend me only five dollars.
_Revise._ I don’t ever want to see him again.
=407. Place negatives before the words they modify.=
_Untaught._ Everybody has not read the Bible.
_Better._ Not everybody has read the Bible.
_Revise._ All men were not born to be hanged.
=408. Use correlative conjunctions to connect only co-ordinate
expressions.=
_Wrong._ I knew I would be compelled either to salute him or he
would have me put in the guard house.
_Right._ I knew I would be compelled either to salute him or to
spend a week in the guard house.
_Revise._ It was not only necessary for me to save all the
money I could, but I knew I should have to earn more than I had
ever earned before.
=409. Place correlative conjunctions as close as possible to the
expressions they connect.=
_Faulty._ He was not only an expert marksman but he also was a
skilled horseman.
_Improved._ He was not only an expert marksman but also a
skilled horseman.
_Revise._ Military training both teaches a man to think quickly
and to command others.
=410. Place every subordinate clause so that its relation to the main
clause is immediately evident.=
_Uncertain._ He knew when the time came what he would do.
_Certain._ When the time came he knew what he would do.
_Revise._ Someone I knew would come in.
=411. Place relative clauses immediately after their antecedents.=
_Doubtful._ A man came up and spoke to my brother whom I had
never seen before.
_Plain._ A man whom I had never seen before came up and spoke
to my brother.
_Revise._ The ship flew a strange flag that came in yesterday.
=412. Place subordinate clauses so that their verbs cannot be confused
with the verbs of main clauses.=
_Absurd._ The horse snorted as Jackson spoke and kicked up his
heels.
_Correct._ As Jackson spoke, the horse snorted and kicked up
his heels.
_Revise._ The wind stormed across the desert where the corpse
lay and whistled.
=413. Place every modifying phrase so that the expression it modifies is
unmistakable.=
_Misleading._ The captain says that if your rifles are not
clean day after tomorrow he will put every one of you in the
guard house.
_Clear._ The captain says that if day after tomorrow your
rifles are not clean he will put every one of you in the guard
house.
_Revise._ When he took his seat much to his chagrin the lights
went out.
=414. Place co-ordinate modifiers one after another.=
_Halting._ Even though he had never seen you before, he would
let you know who he was if he liked your appearance.
_Secure._ Even though he had never seen you before, if he liked
your appearance he would let you know who he was.
_Revise._ If Friday is a holiday, I shall drive home if the
roads are good.
=415. Make a participial phrase modify the noun or pronoun which it ought
obviously to modify; or change the construction.=
_Ludicrous._ Standing upon the dome of Old Capitol, Iowa avenue
presents an unusual view.
_Better._ Standing upon the dome of Old Capitol, one gets an
unusual view of Iowa avenue.
_Better._ If one stands upon the dome of Old Capitol, one gets
an unusual view of Iowa avenue.
_Revise._ Coming out on the train Pike’s Peak is seen.
=416. Change a participle preceded by _thus_ into a clause if the
participle cannot logically modify the subject of the preceding verb.=
_Wrong._ She had to wait until everybody else in the room was
served, thus causing her to be late.
_Right._ She had to wait until everybody else in the room was
served, and the delay caused her to be late.
_Revise._ The bridges were all down between Storm Lake and
Altoona, thus making all the trains late.
=417. Make a participle preceded by a conjunction agree with the noun to
which it obviously belongs; or change the construction.=
_Ridiculous._ Tuesday, when wearing my new hat, a rainstorm
came up and ruined it.
_Correct._ Tuesday, when I was wearing my new hat, a rainstorm
came up and ruined it.
_Revise._ While eating my supper last night, one of the calves
got out and ran into the corn field.
=418. A phrase beginning with the adjective _due_ can refer only to a
noun. (See 372.)=
_Wrong._ He was ill, due to overeating.
_Right._ His illness was due to overeating.
_Revise._ The train stopped, due to boiler trouble.
=419. Make a gerund prepositional phrase modify the noun or pronoun which
it ought obviously to modify; or change the construction.=
_Ludicrous._ In speaking to Sparks yesterday, he told me that
the team was in excellent condition.
_Clear._ In speaking to Sparks yesterday, I learned that the
team was in excellent condition.
_Revise._ In trying to show Helen how to start her motor, she
almost ran over me.
=420. In parallel subordinate clauses repeat the subordinating
conjunction with each clause after the first.=
_Unequal._ She had heard that her mother had died suddenly
after a short but violent illness, and her father had struck
oil.
_Accurate._ She had heard that her mother had died suddenly
after a short but violent illness, and that her father had
struck oil.
_Revise._ Although the water rose steadily during the spring
thaw, and the dam was on the point of giving way under the
pressure, the engineer obstinately insisted that there was no
danger.
=421. Repeat auxiliary verb forms with their principals.=
_Improper co-ordination._ We shall have to leave town and need
an automobile.
_Improved._ We shall have to leave town and shall need an
automobile.
_Revise._ A quarterback must see where the hole in the line is
and take advantage of it.
=422. Repeat the _to_ before each infinitive in a series.=
_Not co-ordinate._ He came to see the house, bargain for it,
and buy it if terms could be agreed upon.
_Co-ordinate._ He came to see the house, to bargain for it, and
to buy it if terms could be agreed upon.
_Revise._ Not only was it necessary for us to read the book,
remember what was in it, and be able to recite upon it, but
also write a paper upon it, and read the paper before the class.
=423. Repeat the preposition with each object.=
_Obscure._ She went to Chicago and the capital of the state.
_Better._ She went to Chicago and to the capital of the state.
_Revise._ The positions were offered to soldiers, athletes, and
virile men generally.
=424. Repeat the article with each noun in a series.=
_Confusing._ They needed a minister, doctor, and lawyer at once.
_Clear._ They needed a minister, a doctor, and a lawyer at once.
_Revise._ I met the merchant and postmaster of the little town
as well as the sheriff and justice of the peace.
=425. Repeat the possessive with each noun in a series.=
_Bad._ I asked her the names of her sister and puppy.
_Better._ I asked her the names of her sister and of her puppy.
_Revise._ He watched his horse, cow, and pig break through into
the wheat.
=426. Give the same structure only to ideas similar in thought.=
_Misleading._ Golf is a game that requires skill, poise, good
temper, and clubs that exactly suit you.
_Better._ Golf is a game that requires skill, poise, and good
temper. These qualities, however, will avail little unless one
has clubs that exactly suit him.
_Revise._ The new hospital was erected to the memory of John
Shuler and for the benefit of crippled children.
=427. After a long or involved series, use a summarizing word before
continuing the sentence.=
_Inadequate._ To live uprightly, to be amiable always, and to
be considerate of others even to the point of inconvenience are
the essentials of gentleness.
_Better._ To live uprightly, to be amiable always, and to be
considerate of others even to the point of inconvenience—these
are the essentials of gentleness.
_Revise._ O wise and upright judge, O learned in the law, O
guide, philosopher, and friend, be my rock and refuge.
=428. Use _and_ to connect only those expressions which are in the same
construction. (See 374.)=
_Bad._ We then studied chemistry, a subject much more
interesting than history, and which I enjoyed thoroughly.
_Better._ We then studied chemistry, a subject much more
interesting than history, and one which I enjoyed thoroughly.
_Revise._ Jacob Sturm was a man of much wealth, and who came to
this country twenty years ago.
=429. Use _but_ to connect only those expressions which are in the same
construction.=
_Bad._ I started into high school resolved to make the most of
my opportunities, but in no long time deciding to have all the
fun I could.
_Better._ I started into high school resolved to make the most
of my opportunities, but in no long time I decided to have all
the fun I could.
_Revise._ The colonel issued an order about mounts, but which
nobody could understand.
=430. After a comparative degree, exclude the subject of comparison from
the class with which it is compared.=
_Wrong._ Platinum is more valuable than any metal.
_Right._ Platinum is more valuable than any other metal.
_Revise._ Morvich was swifter than any racehorse of his day.
=431. After a superlative degree, include the subject of comparison
within the class with which it is compared.=
_Wrong._ Shakespeare is the greatest of any other poet.
_Right._ Shakespeare is the greatest of all poets.
_Revise._ A slave is the most miserable of all other men.
=432. Avoid an inconsistent change of person within the sentence.=
_Wrong._ You can lead a horse to water, but nobody can make him
drink.
_Right._ You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him
drink.
_Revise._ I have done the best I could, and I do not think a
person should be required to do more.
=433. Avoid an inconsistent change of number within the sentence.=
_Wrong._ Tillie, Margaret, and Ann each took their seats.
_Right._ Tillie, Margaret, and Ann each took her seat.
_Revise._ Everybody should save their money while they are
young.
=434. Avoid an inconsistent change of tense within the sentence.=
_Wrong._ As soon as the train came in, he hurries home.
_Right._ As soon as the train came in, he hurried home.
_Revise._ No matter what he tries, things never came out as he
expected them to.
=435. Avoid an inconsistent change of mood within the sentence.=
_Wrong._ Unless it is too hard and take too much time I can
finish by noon.
_Right._ Unless it is too hard and takes too much time I can
finish by noon.
_Revise._ Sand is all right in the back yard, but keep it out
of the front yard.
=436. Avoid an inconsistent change of voice within the sentence.=
_Wrong._ The troops were taken up in trucks but came back on
the train.
_Right._ The troops went up in trucks but came back on the
train.
_Revise._ A month ago I was listened to with all courtesy, but
now not even a dog will listen.
PRACTICE
1. The poppy can be raised in American gardens without danger of its
becoming a menace as a weed, which makes its cultivation possible as a
reminder of the soldiers who lie in Flanders Field. (400)
2. We can use this truck to move freight from the warehouse to the store
whenever we need it. (401)
3. Mary told Leona her costume was perfectly becoming. (402)
4. Mrs. Fiske said to Miss Anglin that she (Miss Anglin) was the greatest
actress in the world. (403)
5. Students who come to college merely to have a good time or because
they have nothing else to do, and those who come without any deep seated
desire for knowledge for its own sake should be denied the right to enter
it. (404)
6. The University of Iowa is located part on one side of the Iowa River
and part on the other. Many students, when the weather is good, paddle
canoes upon it. (405)
7. I hardly knew anybody. (406)
8. Everyone is not more to be pitied than scorned. (407)
9. I felt that I must either make them a cake or that they would think me
stingy. (408)
10. Roque is a game that is neither too easy nor is it without
excitement. (409)
11. Nothing he said is worth while. (410)
12. We cleared away what the cyclone had left of the house, which had
stormed through the valley during the night. (411)
13. The fire spread when we entered the village and destroyed everything.
(412)
14. When she let him in much to his embarrassment she smiled broadly.
(413)
15. At night she liked to walk out in the rain. (414)
16. Swimming around a bend in the river, the hospital is seen. (415)
17. I mistook her for an acquaintance, thus causing embarrassment. (416)
18. When climbing a wire fence, his shotgun went off. (417)
19. He became rich, due to oil in Mexico. (418)
20. In talking to Henry this morning, he said that he had been ill. (419)
21. He told me that his brother was an engineer and he would look into
the matter. (420)
22. She would have had a great deal of trouble and, no doubt, failed in
the end if we had not happened to come along. (421)
23. They learned to read French, ride horseback, and fence before they
were graduated. (422)
24. There was no room for weaklings, invalids, or the disaffected. (423)
25. I was forced to refuse the invitation of the secretary and treasurer.
(424)
26. Johnson knew his half brother, nephew, and cousin would be there.
(425)
27. The regiment was raised for the honor of Johnson county and to drive
the Spaniard out of Cuba. (426)
28. To live, to learn, to die is the sum total of existence. (427)
29. His uncle had an old car and which he used to drive to Solon. (428)
30. The instructor made an assignment but which everybody thought was too
hard. (429)
31. Solomon was wiser than any man. (430)
32. Michael Angelo was the greatest of all other painters. (431)
33. Try as you may, one cannot do it. (432)
34. Everybody should save their money while they are young. (433)
35. He will have learned better by Sunday unless he never tried it again.
(434)
36. Military training is all right for a young man, but don’t ask me to
take any. (435)
37. Yesterday he was seen by at least ten people, and I myself saw him
today. (436)
CHAPTER IX
SENTENCE VIGOR
Good sentences are characterized by correctness and clearness, but
the best sentences possess a third quality. Effective sentences must
entertain, persuade, or convince. To do these things, they must be
graceful, vivid, forceful, and emphatic presentations of the writer’s
ideas. The quality which makes correct and clear sentences effective is
called vigor.
=500. To emphasize pointedly, place material in a sentence by itself.=
_Unemphatic._ The city council is determined to stop jaywalking
at the east entrance of the campus, and to attain this end
has adopted a plan that calls for restricting pedestrians to
clearly marked lanes that cross Clinton street at right angles.
_Emphatic._ The city council is determined to stop jaywalking
at the east entrance to the campus. To attain this end,
the council has adopted a plan that calls for restricting
pedestrians to clearly marked lanes that cross Clinton street
at right angles.
_Revise._ I used to think that sleeping accommodations at
fraternity houses were inadequate, but I don’t now.
=501. Divide a sentence that seems too long.=
_Repellant._ The collections at the museum, which is the most
important in the world, are in two divisions, one for the
public and the other for the use of specialists, some of whom
come from great distances to avail themselves of the unequalled
collections set apart for their use.
_Attractive._ The collections at the museum, which is the
most important in the world, are in two divisions, one for
the public and the other for the use of specialists. Some
specialists come from great distances to avail themselves of
the unequalled collections set apart for their use.
_Revise._ That there will be no tolerance of laxity on the
part of the freshmen concerning the observance of this decree
was assured by the strong language of the order, which first
pointed out that the wearing of the green cap by first year men
was a college tradition and must be upheld, then explained that
the wearing of the cap was left to the honor of every freshman,
who was expected to purchase one and use it according to the
rules of the past two years, which state that the cap must
be worn every day until six o’clock at night, when it may be
changed for the more common headgear.
=502. Condense wordy sentences.=
_Meandering._ At a recent meeting of the men’s glee club, it
was decided to increase the membership of the organization from
thirty-two men to forty men.
_Succinct._ The men’s glee club recently decided to increase
its membership from thirty-two to forty.
_Revise._ The names of the candidates for class offices were
announced Wednesday by the election committee. There are
thirty-six candidates for office.
=503. Consolidate two or more short, jerky sentences into one smooth
sentence.=
_Jerky._ The annual interfraternity pajama race was run on
Sheridan road Monday night. The event took place at eleven
o’clock. It was hotly contested by five fraternities. The Sig
Alphs won a shivering victory.
_Smooth._ The Sig Alphs won a shivering victory on Sheridan
road at eleven o’clock Monday night, when they defeated four
rival teams in the annual interfraternity pajama race.
_Revise._ The natives boil the chopped leaves to a syrup. This
is poured into a monkey skin. The liquid is then allowed to
cool and harden.
=504. Vary the structure of successive sentences.=
_Monotonous._ Around the sides of the armory on the floor were
booths separated by curtains. In each one of the booths was
suspended a small red incandescent light. Around the hall at
various places were jars containing burning incense.
_Pleasing._ Around the sides of the armory on the floor were
booths separated by curtains. A small red incandescent light
was suspended in each booth. Incense burned in jars at various
places around the hall.
_Revise._ The oldest book in the university library, to the
best knowledge of the librarians, was printed in 1511. The book
was written by Johannes von Kaiserberg Geiler, a preacher of
the reformation who was born about the middle of the fifteenth
century. This old work is entitled _Navicula Sive Speculum
Fatuorum_, which translated means, _The Ship or Mirror of
Fools_. It is written in Latin and contains many curious and
interesting wood cuts. The book is made up largely of sermons.
=505. Begin successive sentences with different words.=
_Dreary._ D is the minimum standard for a passing grade. D
students compose approximately the lowest twenty-five per cent
of every class. D work is that work which is not up to average,
and yet is clearly above failure.
_Pleasing._ D is the minimum standard for a passing grade.
Students who are marked D compose approximately the lowest
twenty-five per cent of every class. The grade D means that a
student’s work is not up to the average, and yet is clearly
above failure.
_Revise._ The military carnival was the largest exhibition of
its kind ever attempted at the college. The seats were all
filled, and the crowd was kept at a high point of interest
throughout the entire show. The whole program was arranged
in such a manner that at no time was there a lull in the
activities. The opening number was a concert by the military
band. The physical training exercises which followed were of
the type in which the regiment itself gives the commands and
then executes them. The most spectacular feature of the program
was the advance to attack.
=506. Vary the length of successive sentences.=
_Monotonous._ The new building being erected south of the
engineering building will be occupied Monday for the first
time. Partition siding has held up the work to some extent.
Fifteen hundred feet of partition material is still to be laid.
Painting is progressing steadily. The steam fitters’ work is
nearly completed. Work done after Monday will be carried on by
a night shift. Some work on the halls can be done during class
hours. Workmen say that the building was erected in record
breaking time. It has taken less than a month to complete the
job.
_Pleasing._ The new building being erected south of the
engineering building will be occupied Monday for the first
time. Partition siding has held up the work to some extent, and
fifteen hundred feet of partition material is still to be laid.
Painting is progressing steadily, and the steam fitters’ work
is nearly completed. Work done after Monday will be carried on
by a night shift, although some work on the halls can be done
during class hours. Workmen say that the building was erected
in record breaking time. It has taken less than a month to
complete the job.
_Revise._ The seven-hundred-word sentence used by the
legislature, however, is merely an example of the prevalent
tendency of people to disregard the elementary principles of
composition and grammar. Everyone may have a faint recollection
of having studied, at some remote period of his career, the
important rules of “unity, mass, and coherence.” But in actual
practice one too often falls into the habit of expressing
thoughts in a rambling and unconnected flow of words, with
the expressions embellished by slang and colloquial terms.
Individuals use many words, but they usually say little, and
the small germ of thought is often hard to find.
=507. Turn a loose sentence into a periodic sentence.=
_Feeble._ The new engine will replace the present engine in
case of necessity.
_Forceful._ In case of necessity, the new engine will replace
the present engine.
_Revise._ This is not a student organization although the
majority of its members are federal board students.
=508. End a sentence with a striking word.=
_Lifeless._ Bring along a team that will be able to force these
boys to their utmost as no team has yet been able to do.
_Striking._ Bring along a team that will do what no other team
has yet been able to do, force these boys to their utmost.
_Revise._ We should win Saturday’s game whether Minot can play
or not.
=509. Use climactic order in a series of words, phrases, clauses, or
sentences.=
_Bungling._ I have been so often reformed, regenerated, reborn,
amended, and corrected that only with difficulty can I look an
honest sinner in the face.
_Brilliant._ I have been so often amended, corrected, reformed,
regenerated, and reborn that only with difficulty can I look an
honest sinner in the face.
_Revise._ Their clothing is not sufficient for bodily comfort
and is also far from presentable.
=510. Put the most significant idea near the beginning or the end of a
sentence.=
_Weak._ The first speaker on the program was Dean Willard L.
Sperry, who gave a short talk.
_Strong._ Dean Willard L. Sperry opened the program with a
short talk.
_Revise._ There are more than six hundred courses offered to
students in the college of liberal arts.
=511. Keep closely related grammatical elements together.=
_Awkward._ Cards will be distributed from eight to eleven
this morning by members of the registrar’s staff at the east
entrance of the natural science building to the hundreds of
students who have returned during the past few days.
_Well-knit._ From eight to eleven this morning, members of
the registrar’s staff, stationed at the east entrance of the
natural science building, will distribute cards to the hundreds
of students who have returned during the past few days.
_Revise._ This will, it is hoped, help the voter to select the
men and women who are real leaders on the campus.
_Revise._ I want to most emphatically state that I do not
believe a Union of South America is possible.
_Revise._ Appointment of George Hanby and Walter G. Phillips
to confer with the president concerning the loan that is being
made by the trustees to aid worthy students in meeting their
necessary college expenses was made Wednesday.
=512. Put the main idea in the main clause.=
_Characterless._ The first talk of the series was given Tuesday
morning, in which he made the point that it is man’s nature to
pray.
_Animated._ Tuesday morning in the first talk of the series he
made the point that it is man’s nature to pray.
_Revise._ He had saved $1,500,000 when one day his office boy
ushered in a man who showed him a diamond of great value.
=513. Put a subordinate idea into a subordinate construction.=
_Ungainly._ Peet took Mead’s place at halfback last night and
scored two touchdowns.
_Graphic._ After taking Mead’s place at halfback last night
Peet scored two touchdowns.
_Revise._ Great stress will be laid upon the application of
these tests in the future; the people of this country spend
millions of dollars each year in giving musical training to
children who have no talent for music.
=514. Write simply.=
_Affected._ Suffice it, that I am saving the best for the last.
_Natural._ I am saving the best for the last.
_Revise._ The river is too cold for careless plunges, and
death-dealing cramps and chills may lead to drownings for those
who beware not the perils that lie in April waters.
=515. Avoid the use of far-fetched synonyms.=
_Silly._ Fraternities can be a great force for the good of the
college and for the good of the Greek letter man.
_Natural._ Fraternities can be a great force for the good of
the college and for the good of the fraternity man.
_Revise._ More interest is being shown in the manly art this
year than has been shown in any past season.
=516. Be definite and particular.=
_Colorless._ Many booklets were sent to freshmen before they
came to college.
_Vivid._ Fifteen hundred copies of the _Freshman Handbook_ were
sent during July to as many prospective freshmen.
_Revise._ Last year several fraternities were put on probation.
=517. Use parallel constructions for parallel ideas.=
_Jumbled._ The speaker compared college students in their
search for an education to the processes used by a tree to gain
its food.
_Clear-cut._ The speaker compared a college student in search
of an education to a tree in search of food.
_Revise._ To be narrow is to be a helpless journalist.
=518. Repeat a prominent word or phrase for greater emphasis.=
_Weak._ Farsighted citizens of the town are realizing more than
ever the possibility of the university’s becoming one of the
first universities in America, not only in enrollment but also
in scholastic standing.
_Strong._ Farsighted citizens of the town are realizing more
than ever the possibility of the university’s becoming one of
the first universities in America, first not only in enrollment
but first also in scholastic standing.
_Revise._ The progress in French affairs has always been
slow—sometimes too much so.
=519. Avoid the monotonous repetition of words, phrases, or even
syllables.=
_Flat._ The stiff collars that are being shown for formal
evening wear are the wing collars.
_Skilful._ Stiff wing collars are being shown for formal
evening wear.
_Revise._ In the senior class the race for president will be a
close one, as Burgess, Elwood, and Sampson are expected to run
a close race.
_Revise._ The county superintendents who will gather here for
the conference will in part comprise the group of participants
in the huge birthday party of the college of education.
=520. Avoid tautology.=
_Uncouth._ These concerts are open to the public, and everyone
is invited.
_Pithy._ These concerts are open to the public.
_Revise._ Dean Smith is a native of Ohio and was born in
Central City.
_Revise._ Classes in folk dancing will start Monday morning at
nine A.M.
_Revise._ The coeducation of both sexes is making remarkable
headway in this country.
_Revise._ She is the widow of the late Colonel Ralph H.
Robinson.
_Revise._ Let’s us go.
=521. Avoid pleonasm.=
_Stupid._ As I enter on this famed profession I see the
mistakes of others.
_Terse._ As I enter this famed profession I see the mistakes of
others.
_Revise._ There is an average of 55,000 kilowats used monthly.
=522. Avoid the use of the same word in two senses in the same sentence,
or in sentences near together.=
_Clumsy._ Because there is no school available, school will be
dismissed next week.
_Graceful._ Because no building is available, school will be
dismissed next week.
_Revise._ The girls may survive whacks with hockey clubs and
yet not be able to stand the severe test of initiation into M.
C. club.
=523. Keep the same metaphor throughout the sentence.=
_Lame._ Mrs. Mondell had the edge in the race until
circumstances forced her to show her hand.
_Sprightly._ Mrs. Mondell had the game won until circumstances
forced her to show her hand.
_Revise._ Pronouncements against the League of Nations suddenly
lose their cloak of virile Americanism and savor only of party
politics when the state department places the stamp of its
approval on the Chester oil concessions.
=524. Avoid incongruous metaphors.=
_Absurd._ The two hundred freshmen took their new places after
the first melee was staged.
_Picturesque._ The two hundred freshmen took their new places
after the resounding blows of the first melee ceased.
_Revise._ Walter Scannell, sporting editor of the _News_, will
act as referee.
=525. Sentences should sing.=
_Crude._ Such a critic fails to consider the fraternity spirit
of the group—the avowed aim of the group.
_Rhythmical._ Such a critic fails to consider the avowed aim of
the group, its fraternal spirit.
_Revise._ Neither is it always wrong, be it remembered.
=526. Put an epigrammatic idea into a balanced sentence.=
_Unskilful._ The essential things in life are the ones that
count, and the essential thing in education is to find that.
_Adroit._ The essential thing in education is to find the
essential things in life.
_Revise._ Tenure here depends not upon the quality of fur in
your coat but upon the quality of your thinking apparatus.
=527. Make the most vivid verb in a sentence the predicate.=
_Dull._ He was found circling a piece of furniture in the
center of the room.
_Lively._ When found he was circling a piece of furniture in
the center of the room.
_Revise._ They went home, stumbling from one side of the street
to the other.
=528. Use the active voice rather than the passive.=
_Spiritless._ The glucose was heated and then applied to the
blindfolded freshmen.
_Stirring._ The sophomores heated the glucose and applied it to
the blindfolded freshmen.
_Revise._ The article appearing in the Firing Line column last
Sunday above my name was not written by me.
=529. Substitute a clause or a dependent phrase for an awkward absolute
phrase.=
_Involved._ What he said about the work was favorable, he being
a man who leans to censure rather than to praise.
_Straightforward._ What he said about the work was favorable,
for he is a man who leans to censure rather than to praise.
_Revise._ His work having been done he stopped.
_Revise._ It being his first visit to the city, he was
interested in the many large houses.
=530. Avoid successive subordinations similar in form and dependent one
on another.=
_Awkward._ I have an economics instructor who is a middle-aged
man who has had ten years’ experience as vice-president of a
bank in New York City.
_Smooth._ I have an economics instructor who is a middle-aged
man with ten years’ experience as vice-president of a bank in
New York City.
_Revise._ He eventually tired of the life of a mere henchman of
the political boss of the Sixteenth ward.
=531. Avoid successive _but_ or _for_ clauses.=
_Jerky._ But when I had gone about a mile I thought I could go
no farther, but I kept on.
_Smooth._ When I had gone about a mile I thought I could go no
farther, but I kept on.
_Revise._ I wanted to leave town, for I was disgusted with the
place, for I had not made a single friend.
PRACTICE
1. Football is a game for the psychologist, and recognizing this coaches
in the past few years have paid an increasing amount of attention to the
mental attitude of their players. (500)
2. The freshmen gathered at Lake Austin in the afternoon to plan the
bombardment of B hall, and in spite of the fact that the excitement on
the campus during the early evening promised an interesting conclusion
to the day’s events, nothing unusual happened to break the monotony
until half past two in the morning, when word was brought to the waiting
sophomores that the freshmen had assembled on Brackenridge field and were
preparing for the attack. (501)
3. Francis Neilson will give a talk at eleven Wednesday morning in the
room of the historical society. He will talk on contemporary political
and economic problems. (502)
4. The Y.M.C.A. membership contest has been finished. It extended for
three weeks. Keen interest was shown by the rivals for first place.
Reuben Melin won, and Clarence Koski was second. (503)
5. The programs for the hop have attractive covers of gold felt with a
black “I” in the center. Ogle’s ten-piece orchestra will furnish music
for the dance, which will be in Varsity hall. Coach and Mrs. George D.
Hanshaw and Prof. and Mrs. Oscar J. Walters will chaperon. The money
cleared from the hop will buy blankets for the sixteen men who won
football letters. (504)
6. It will be some time before the new plans are ready. It is not known
just where the new biological building will be located. It was first
proposed to place the building at the northwest corner of the campus.
(505)
7. To advocate the use of good English both in speaking and in writing,
does not necessarily mean that one is a stickler for all the technical
rules and eccentricities of the grammarian. Although a semicolon once
figured as the essential question in a noted lawsuit in Texas, a person
may overlook many of the rules of punctuation and still not cause any
great harm to himself or to his associates. A split infinitive may be the
bane of an English instructor’s life, but that error does not damn an
individual to eternal perdition. The use, however, of accurate and clear
English, in the larger meaning of the term, should be encouraged as a
matter of efficiency as well as of refinement. (506)
8. Bauer is disgusted with the world, like many writers of his class.
(507)
9. Football is a great game, there is no denying that. (508)
10. Sometimes the girls become so interested in the work that they cast
aside their forceps and handle earthworms, sheep eyes, pig hearts, grubs,
frogs, and starfish with their fingers. (509)
11. He said that to be a successful engineer imagination and precision
are necessary. (510)
12. A number of paintings, both in oil and in water color, including
works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Turner, Guido Reni, and other old
masters as well as several canvases by more modern painters were the gift
of Mrs. Mark Swanson. (511)
13. The first issue of uniforms was made Wednesday, when 237 men were
equipped. (512)
14. Twenty-five candidates for membership in the University Players were
recommended by the judges at the tryouts and were later elected. (513)
15. It may be understood that the successful end of such a lengthy piece
of work, which involves factors that are undreamed of by those inexpert
in such matters, is hailed by an author with joy. (514)
16. It is safe to say that a better trained group of gridiron warriors
never donned the moleskins. (515)
17. Although the declamatory contest is only a few days off, very few
students have entered their names with Miss Hogan. (516)
18. He agrees to furnish each child with a complete outfit and a promise
to replace all lost balls. (517)
19. There is no underlying motive or problem to be solved, no lesson to
be taught, or moral to be drawn from the story. (518)
20. The game with Illinois is the Homecoming game and should be one of
the big games of the year. (519)
21. Dean Walter S. Anthony was present and spoke about the future of
engineering education. (520)
22. The party will be in the form of a costume affair. (521)
23. Any pledge leaving college before she is initiated shall be
considered released from her pledge at the end of one calendar year from
the date of pledging. (522)
24. With seemingly every other subject run into the ground, fairy tales
are now to receive a black eye. (523)
25. An audience of 30,000 saw the Thanksgiving Day game. (524)
26. From New Haven a menacing growl comes. (525)
27. Some institutions had a crop of traditions before this state had even
a corn crop. (526)
28. The person selling the largest number of subscriptions was Mary Rowe.
(527)
29. Music by Sousa’s band was supplied between the halves. (528)
30. Both rear tires having been punctured, my fingers were all thumbs, it
being my first race. (529)
31. He is the man that bought the house that stood on the lot that was
next to ours. (530)
32. This gave the man receiving the ball better protection, but left an
opening for passes, but Solon did not have a play to use. (531)
CHAPTER X
WORDS
New words and expressions, as well as new uses for old words, are being
added to the English language daily. Likewise words and expressions once
current are continually being discarded. The question that confronts any
writer is, what words and expressions are now accepted as standard. In
difficult cases only persistent consultation of the best dictionaries and
a careful study of the practice followed by the best writers now living
and by reputable publishing houses will furnish the correct answer. The
practice followed by the majority of the leading writers and publishers
of the present day determines good usage.
=600. Consult a dictionary to determine the meaning of a word.=
Be especially careful in using the following:
aggravate
alternative
amateur
among
asset
aught
awful
balance
between
borrow
can
claim
depot
expect
fine
learn
locate
mad
mean
nice
outside
over
party
propose
proposition
school
unique
=601. Distinguish accurately between words resembling each other in form,
but differing in meaning.=
affect, effect
all ready, already
all together, altogether
allude, elude
allusion, illusion
almost, most
beside, besides
continual, continuous
emigrate, immigrate
except, accept
healthful, healthy
lend, loan
loose, lose
luxuriant, luxurious
plentiful, plenty
practicable, practical
principal, principle
quiet, quite
way, ways, away
=602. Use words that exactly express your thought.=
Do not be content with the first word that occurs to you. Strive for
concrete and picturesque words—words that will convey an accurate and
vivid image to your reader. The search for exactly the right synonym
will be greatly facilitated if you will consult one of the standard
books which list synonyms. Some of the good books of this sort are those
compiled by Roget, Crabbe, Smith, Marsh, and Soule.
Instead of the word _say_, for instance, consider _talk_,
_utter_, _claim_, _affirm_, _shout_, _whisper_, _stammer_,
_speak_, _lisp_, _giggle_, _maintain_, _state_, _answer_,
_argue_, _laugh_, _preach_, _reply_, _respond_.
_Walk_ is not the only word to express locomotion under one’s
own power. Consider, for instance, _amble_, _fall_, _gambol_,
_glide_, _leap_, _pace_, _prance_, _promenade_, _ramble_,
_run_, _slink_, _slouch_, _steal_, _stagger_, _stride_,
_stroll_, _stumble._
=603. Avoid newly coined words.=
Particularly atrocious examples of newly coined words are _to burgle_,
_to burglarize_, and _to enthuse_.
=604. Avoid using verbs as nouns and nouns as verbs unless such usage has
been admitted into the standard language.=
Examples of verbs that have not yet been accepted as nouns are _combine_,
_invite_, _steal_, _try_, and _win_.
Examples of nouns that have not yet been accepted as verbs are _suicide_
and _suspicion_.
=605. Do not use slang in formal composition.=
_Bad._ “Thank you for the ride in your auto.” “You bet.”
_Better._ “Thank you for the ride in your automobile.” “Don’t
mention it.”
=606. Use words that harmonize with the tone of the whole composition.=
In ordinary writing avoid such words as _said_, _same_, _thereby_,
_therein_, and _hereinbefore_.
_Bad._ Said rule is often broken.
_Better._ The rule just mentioned is often broken.
_Bad._ I received the watch and thank you for same.
_Better._ Thank you for the watch which has just arrived.
=607. Avoid poetical words in prose.=
Examples are _amid_, _anew_, _dwelt_, _ere_, _eve_, _hence_,
_hither_, _morn_, _’neath_, _o’er_, _oft_, _’tis_, _thrice_,
_’twas_, _whither_.
=608. Use unaffected expressions rather than trite or hackneyed ones.=
_Avoid_: a good time was had by all; bolt from a clear sky;
beggars description; beyond description; indescribable; a royal
reception; checkered career; discourse sweet music; dull,
sickening thud; doomed to disappointment; exception proves the
rule; fair maidens; the grim reaper; hungry as bears; last but
not least; method in his madness; nipped in the bud; render
(a vocal solo); sought his downy couch; stood like sentinels;
stage (for anything except a theatrical performance); too full
for utterance; took to his heels; wended their way; where
ignorance is bliss.
=609. Use simple rather than pretentious expressions.=
_Prefer_ get up _to_ arise
wife or husband _to_ better half
eat _to_ partake of
dog _to_ canine
cat _to_ feline
horse _to_ equine
clergyman _to_ divine
give _to_ donate
flowers _to_ floral offering
man _to_ gentleman
woman _to_ lady
letter _to_ kind favor
arm or leg _to_ limb
funeral _to_ last sad rites or obsequies
often _to_ oftentimes
body _to_ remains
live _to_ reside
house or home _to_ residence
go to bed _to_ retire
friend _to_ boy friend, girl friend, gentleman
friend, or lady friend
=610. Use uncontracted forms in dignified writing.=
_Conversational._ I can’t and won’t go.
_Dignified._ I cannot and will not go.
=611. Use _I_, _me_, or _my_ rather than some form of _we_ or _the
writer_.=
_Insufferably modest._ In the opinion of the present writer
Locke should win.
_Direct._ Locke should win.
_Direct._ I think Locke should win.
=612. Use simple personal pronouns rather than intensive or reflexive
pronouns.=
_Affected._ You would confer a great favor on my wife and
myself if you would come.
_Natural._ You would confer a great favor on my wife and me if
you would come.
_Affected._ Myself and brother are both members of the Capen
debating society.
_Natural._ My brother and I both belong to the Capen debating
society.
_Affected._ These tickets will admit self and guests.
_Natural._ These tickets will admit you and your guests.
=613. Follow good usage in referring to a husband or a wife.=
_Vulgar._ You will have to see Mr. about renting the garage.
_Better._ You will have to see my husband about renting the
garage.
_Vulgar._ The dinner was in honor of J. A. Smith and wife.
_Better._ The dinner was in honor of Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Smith.
_Vulgar._ Among the guests were Mrs. Capt. Johnson, Mrs. Prof.
Healy, Mrs. Rev. Shaw, and Mrs. President Ford.
_Better._ Among the guests were Mrs. Ralph G. Johnson, Mrs.
Lionel F. Healy, Mrs. Harry L. Shaw, and Mrs. Ferdinand L. Ford.
_Vulgar._ After John had been married two years, she left him.
_Better._ After John had been married two years, his wife left
him.
=614. Avoid illiterate usage.=
=alright.= There is no such word. Use _all right_.
=and.= _And_ does not mean _or_.
_Wrong._ He asks four and five dollars for a straw hat.
_Right._ He asks four or five dollars for a straw hat.
=as.= Use _because_ as a causal conjunction rather than _as_.
_Bad._ I could not go to the game as I had to get the dinner.
_Better._ I could not go to the game because I had to get the
dinner.
Use _so_ after a negative rather than _as_.
_Bad._ He is not as bad as he is painted.
_Better._ He is not so bad as he is painted.
=as though.= _As if_ is preferable to _as though_.
_Bad._ He talked as though he had a potato in his mouth.
_Better._ He talked as if he had a potato in his mouth.
=at about.= _At about_ is a slovenly colloquialism. Omit _at_.
_Bad._ He left at about six o’clock.
_Better._ He left about six o’clock.
=call attention.= Attention is _directed_, not _called_.
=certainly.= Over use has made _certainly_ unemphatic.
_Bad._ I will certainly be there.
_Better._ I will be there.
=data.= Plural, not singular.
=did.= _Did_ is wrong if you mean _have_.
_Wrong._ I didn’t see him yet.
_Right._ I haven’t seen him yet.
=each other.= _Each other_ applies to two persons or things; _one
another_ to more than two.
=extra.= _Extra_ does not mean _unusually_.
=falls.= Plural, not singular.
=first-rate.= An adjective, not an adverb.
_Wrong._ You cook first-rate.
_Right._ You are a first-rate cook.
=freshmen.= The adjective is _freshman_.
=held.= _Held_ should not be applied to a lecture, a meeting, or an
initiation.
_Bad._ Our fraternity held initiation for eight men.
_Better._ Our fraternity initiated eight men.
_Bad._ The meeting was held in Robinson hall.
_Better._ The meeting was in Robinson hall.
=Honorable.= See _Reverend_.
=if.= Use _whether_ if that is what you mean.
_Wrong._ I don’t know if I can.
_Right._ I don’t know whether I can.
=in.= Use _into_ to express motion.
_Bad._ He went in the house.
_Better._ He went into the house.
=liable.= Use _likely_ or _probably_ unless referring to something
undesirable.
_Bad._ He is liable to pass the course.
_Better._ It is likely that he will pass the course.
_Better._ He will probably pass the course.
=like.= Use _as_ or _as if_ to introduce a clause.
_Wrong._ Do it like I do.
_Right._ Do it as I do.
_Wrong._ You look like you were cold.
_Right._ You look as if you were cold.
=lit.= Use _lighted_.
=line.=
_Loose._ What line are you in?
_Exact._ What business are you in?
_Bad._ He can do anything in the line of athletics.
_Better._ He can do anything in athletics.
_Atrocious._ Would you like something in the line of music?
_Better._ Would you like some music?
=one another.= _Each other_ applies to two persons or things; _one
another_ to more than two.
=per.= _Per_ should be followed by a Latin word.
_Wrong._ His salary is $5,000 per year.
_Right._ His salary is $5,000 a year.
_Right._ His salary is $5,000 _per annum_.
Use _according to_ or _in accordance with_ instead of _as per_.
_Wrong._ He paid me Monday as per our agreement.
_Right._ He paid me Monday in accordance with our agreement.
=per cent.=
_Wrong._ What per cent will go to college?
_Right._ What percentage will go to college?
=real.= _Real_ is not a synonym for _very_.
_Wrong._ I like him real well.
_Right._ I like him very well.
=Reverend.= _Reverend_ should be preceded by _the_ and should be followed
by _Father_, _Mr._, _Dr._, given name, or initials as well as by the
surname. A clergyman is entitled to be called _Dr._ only when he has a
degree of Doctor of Divinity.
_Wrong._ Reverend Folsom offered prayer.
_Right._ The Reverend Mr. Folsom offered prayer.
_Right._ The Reverend Haskell J. Folsom offered prayer.
_Wrong._ The Reverend Sanders presided.
_Right._ The Reverend R. E. Sanders presided.
_Wrong._ I met Reverend Barlow on the street.
_Right._ I met the Reverend Dr. Barlow on the street.
=phenomena.= Plural, not singular.
=Professor.= _Professor_ is used only for teachers of full professorial
rank in a recognized college or university.
_Wrong._ The new high school principal is Professor Jones.
_Right._ The new high school principal is Mr. Jones.
_Wrong._ Professor Smith’s orchestra played.
_Right._ Smith’s orchestra played.
=sideways.= _Sidewise_ is correct.
=so.= Incorrect for _so that_.
_Wrong._ I want the money so I can go home.
_Right._ I want the money so that I can go home.
_So_ should not be used alone to modify an adjective.
_Bad._ College life is so stimulating.
_Better._ College life is the most stimulating life of all.
=strata.= Plural, not singular.
=tend.= Use _attend_ or _take care of_ rather than _tend_.
_Bad._ I’ll tend to your case, young man, after school.
_Better._ I’ll attend to your case, young man, after school.
_Bad._ It is hard for me to write while tending the baby.
_Better._ It is hard for me to write while taking care of the
baby.
=than=, =till=, =until=. Not synonyms for _when_ after _hardly_ or
_scarcely_.
_Wrong._ Hardly had he fired than the burglar fell.
_Right._ Hardly had he fired when the burglar fell.
_Wrong._ She had scarcely spoken until we arrived.
_Right._ She had scarcely spoken when we arrived.
=United States.= Should be preceded by _the_ when used as a noun.
_Wrong._ France and United States have always been good friends.
_Right._ France and the United States have always been good
friends.
=ways.= Plural, not singular.
=while.= _While_ means _during the time in which_, or _though_. It does
not mean _but_.
_Good._ While I was gone the house burned.
_Good._ While what you say may be true, it will not affect my
action.
_Bad._ The men sit on one side while the women sit on the other.
_Better._ The men sit on one side; the women on the other.
=615. Use reputable words.=
=all the.=
_Wrong._ This is all the farther I will go.
_Right._ This is as far as I will go.
=A.M., P.M.= Use only after numbers, meaning the hour.
_Wrong._ We started early in the A.M.
_Right._ We started early in the morning.
=and etc.= _Etc._ is an abbreviation for _et cetera_, which means _and
other things_.
_Wrong._ We bought flags, handkerchiefs, and etc.
_Right._ We bought flags, handkerchiefs, etc.
=any place.= The correct expression is _anywhere_.
=anywheres.= The correct expression is _anywhere_.
=badly.= _Badly_ is not a synonym for _exceedingly_ or _very much_.
_Wrong._ I wanted it badly.
_Right._ I wanted it very much.
=company.= _Guest_ is a better word than _company_.
_Wrong._ We expect company for supper.
_Right._ We expect a guest for supper.
=complected.=
_Wrong._ He is light complected.
_Right._ He has a light complexion.
=considerable.= _Considerable_ is not a synonym for _much_ or _many_.
_Wrong._ We have had considerable trouble lately.
_Right._ We have had a great deal of trouble lately.
_Wrong._ There were considerable people there.
_Right._ There were many persons there.
=drunk.= _Drunk_ is not in good usage as a noun. Use _a drunken man_.
=every place.= The correct expression is _everywhere_.
=folks.=
_Wrong._ I am going to visit the folks this week.
_Right._ I am going to visit my family this week.
_Wrong._ More than one thousand folks saw the accident.
_Right._ More than one thousand persons saw the accident.
=gent.= Use _gentleman_, or preferably _man_.
=get-up.=
_Wrong._ Did you ever see such a get-up?
_Right._ Did you ever see such a costume?
=get up.=
_Wrong._ We are getting up a straw ride for Thursday evening.
_Right._ We are planning a straw ride for Thursday evening.
=got.= To indicate possession use _have_ rather than _have got_.
_Wrong._ Have you got a pencil?
_Right._ Have you a pencil?
=hear to it.=
_Wrong._ I absolutely refuse to hear to it.
_Right._ I absolutely refuse to consider it.
=human.= _Human_ is not a noun.
_Wrong._ Humans are in many ways like animals.
_Right._ Men and women are in many ways like animals.
_Right._ Human beings are in many ways like animals.
=in back of.= _Behind_ is better than _in back of_.
_Wrong._ We fought in back of the barn.
_Right._ We fought behind the barn.
=inside of.= Use _inside_ or _within_.
_Wrong._ He went inside of the house.
_Right._ He went inside the house.
_Wrong._ Inside of ten minutes not a trace remained.
_Right._ Within ten minutes not a trace remained.
=kind of.=
_Wrong._ It was kind of cold.
_Right._ It was fairly cold.
=leave.= Use _let_.
_Wrong._ Leave go of my hat.
_Right._ Let go my hat.
_Wrong._ Leave me have it.
_Right._ Let me have it.
=lot.= Not a synonym for _many_, _much_, or _ample_.
_Wrong._ We had lots of time.
_Right._ We had ample time.
=meet with.= _With_ is superfluous.
_Bad._ He met with the committee.
_Better._ He met the committee.
=military.= _Military_ is not a noun.
_Wrong._ The military confiscated all coal in the town.
_Right._ The military authorities confiscated all coal in the
town.
=no place.= The correct expression is _nowhere_.
=nowhere near.= The correct expression is _not nearly_.
=nowheres.= The correct expression is _nowhere_.
=of.= _Of_ should never be used for _have_. (See 338.)
_Wrong._ I could of won if I had of been willing to lie.
_Right._ I could have won if I had been willing to lie.
=off of.= _Off_ is enough.
_Wrong._ She stepped backwards off of the car.
_Right._ She stepped backwards off the car.
=only.= _Only_ is not a synonym for _but_ or _except_.
_Wrong._ I would not be where I am today only for my wife.
_Right._ I would not be where I am today except for my wife.
=out loud.= The correct expression is _aloud_.
=over with.= _Over_ is enough.
_Wrong._ The concert was over with at ten o’clock.
_Right._ The concert was over at ten o’clock.
=overly.= There is no such word.
_Wrong._ I think he is not overly particular.
_Right._ I think he is not very particular.
=people.= Use _persons_.
_Bad._ Thirty people applied for the position.
_Better._ Thirty persons applied for the position.
=P.M.= See _A.M._
=posted.= _Posted_ is not a synonym for _informed_.
_Wrong._ Keep me posted on what happens while I am gone.
_Right._ Keep me informed of what happens while I am gone.
=providing.= _Providing_ is not a synonym for _if_.
_Wrong._ I can go providing it does not rain.
_Right._ I can go if it does not rain.
=put in.=
_Wrong._ I put in two years at college.
_Right._ I spent two years at college.
=put up.=
_Wrong._ He put me up for the night.
_Right._ He lodged me for the night.
=remember of.= _Remember_ is enough.
_Wrong._ I do not remember of meeting him.
_Right._ I do not remember meeting him.
=shape.=
_Wrong._ He is in bad shape.
_Right._ He is ill. _Or_, He is in bad condition.
=show.= _Show_ is not a synonym for a _theatrical performance_.
_Wrong._ It was the best show of the year.
_Right._ It was the best musical comedy of the year.
=some place.= The correct expression is _somewhere_.
=sort of.=
_Wrong._ He is sort of short for a high jumper.
_Right._ He is hardly tall enough for a high jumper.
=stop.= _Stop_ is not a synonym for _stay_.
_Wrong._ We are stopping at the hotel.
_Right._ We are staying at the hotel.
=sure.=
_Wrong._ I should sure like to go.
_Right._ I should surely like to go.
_Wrong._ Sure I’ll come.
_Right._ Surely I’ll come. _Or_, I’ll be glad to come.
=tasty.= Use _delicious_ or some similar expression.
_Wrong._ That is a tasty pudding.
_Right._ That is a delicious pudding.
=through.= _Through_ is not a synonym for _finished_.
_Wrong._ I was through the examination at quarter of nine.
_Right._ I finished the examination at quarter of nine.
=try and.= _Try to_ is preferable to _try and_.
_Wrong._ Try and do better.
_Right._ Try to do better.
=up.= _Up_ adds nothing to such verbs as _end_, _meet_, _finish_, _eat_,
and _burn_.
_Wrong._ It took the firemen an hour after the house burned up
to finish up their work.
_Right._ It took the firemen an hour after the house burned to
finish their work.
=visit with.= _With_ is superfluous.
_Wrong._ My mother is visiting with relatives.
_Right._ My mother is visiting relatives.
=where.=
_Wrong._ Did you see in the paper where the minister has
resigned?
_Right._ Did you see in the paper that the minister had
resigned?
=without.= _Without_ is not a synonym for _unless_.
_Wrong._ Without I say so, you will not be elected.
_Right._ Unless I say so, you will not be elected.
=616. Use words current in present standard English.=
Avoid such antiquated words as _firstly_, _gotten_, and _proven_.
=but what.= _But that_ is preferable to _but what_.
_Wrong._ I cannot see but what you are right.
_Right._ I cannot see but that you are right.
=cannot help but.=
_Wrong._ I cannot help but think he is innocent.
_Right._ I cannot help thinking he is innocent.
=different than.= Use _different from_.
_Wrong._ Mabel looks different than Alice.
_Right._ Mabel looks different from Alice.
=617. Use words and expressions nationally current.=
=forenoon.=
_Bad._ The forenoon session began at eight.
_Better._ The morning session began at eight.
=get.=
_Wrong._ I am sorry, but I did not get to go.
_Right._ I am sorry, but I was unable to go.
=going on.=
_Bad._ He is six years old, going on seven.
_Better._ He is nearly seven years old.
=gun.=
_Bad._ He carried a gun in his belt.
_Better._ He carried a revolver in his belt.
=like.=
_Wrong._ You say George is in Boston. How does he like?
_Right._ You say George is in Boston. How does he like it there?
=make of.=
_Bad._ When Oscar came to town all the girls made of him.
_Better._ When Oscar came to town all the girls paid him much
attention.
=raise.=
_Bad._ I was raised in the South.
_Better._ I was reared in the South.
=smart.=
_Bad._ He is a smart boy.
_Better._ He is a bright boy.
=some.=
_Bad._ Father feels some better.
_Better._ Father feels somewhat better.
=stair steps.=
_Bad._ I fell down the stair steps.
_Better._ I fell down the stairs.
=stoop.=
_Bad._ Every evening we sit on the stoop.
_Better._ Every evening we sit on the porch.
=tote.=
_Bad._ He was toting a barrel of flour on his shoulder.
_Better._ He was carrying a barrel of flour on his shoulder.
=wait on.=
_Bad._ If Mr. Brown will be back within an hour I shall wait on
him.
_Better._ If Mr. Brown will be back within an hour I shall wait
for him.
=want.=
_Bad._ Do you want in?
_Better._ Do you want to come in?
_Bad._ I want that you should go.
_Better._ I want you to go.
=618. Use the correct form of nouns which have an abstract meaning in the
singular and a concrete meaning in the plural.=
_Wrong._ His preparations for the examination were inadequate.
_Right._ His preparation for the examination was inadequate.
_Wrong._ Anyone suspected of cowardice was killed by tortures.
_Right._ Anyone suspected of cowardice was killed by torture.
CHAPTER XI
SPELLING
Correct spelling marks the well-educated man or woman. This simple fact
constitutes the reason why one must learn to spell.
English spelling offers difficulty partly because it is somewhat
archaic—that is, because pronunciation has changed since spelling became
fixed by printers about three hundred years ago; partly because the
English alphabet is inadequate—it has only twenty-six characters, and
there are forty-two sounds in spoken English.
But however irrational may be the spelling of many English words, every
student must master spelling. Nor is this a difficult task if attacked
with persistence and determination. The chief obstacles are carelessness
and lack of courage. Of the 450,000 words in the largest dictionaries,
probably not more than one thousand are commonly misspelled by any one
person—even the worst speller alive. Completely mastering a few words
each day for one year, therefore, will enable any one to become a good
speller.
But no short cut method has ever been discovered which will give skill
to the writer who finds spelling difficult. Every separate word which
he habitually misspells must be thoroughly and permanently learned by a
distinct effort of the memory, aided by regular practice. Practice, in
fact, is the only means of acquiring fluent and permanent control over
one’s pet failings. But the memorizing and the practice may well be
facilitated by an intelligent attack on the problem.
Human beings remember things in different ways, or in a combination of
different ways. Some remember most easily and clearly what they have
carefully looked at; these are of the visualizing type. Some remember
what they have heard spoken aloud; these are of the auditory type. And
others remember best certain motions which their muscles have performed;
these are of the motor type. It follows that some persons learn to spell
most easily by looking carefully at a difficult word letter by letter or
syllable by syllable; others by hearing it spelled aloud or by spelling
it aloud; and still others by writing it over and over. But of whatever
type a person may be, he learns best by combining all three methods, and
by assiduously practicing the last, for the only time he needs to spell
is when he is writing.
The problem of spelling can be mastered by writing every word five or ten
times while the writer has his eyes fixed upon the correct form and is
spelling the word aloud. Practice on the same word for three successive
days is almost certain to fix it for all time in the memory.
The weak speller cannot dispense with a dictionary. Asking a fellow
student how to spell a word marked incorrect by an instructor is fatal,
for the fellow student is often as ignorant as the questioner. Look up
the misspelled word in _Webster’s_, the _Standard_, or the _Century
Dictionary_.
RULES
Many misspellings fall into classes which can be covered by simple rules.
Following are the most helpful of these rules.
=700. Words with a last syllable consisting of a single short accented
vowel followed by a single consonant, double the consonant when adding a
suffix beginning with a vowel.=
dip-p-ed
occur-r-ed
occur-r-ence
stop-p-ing
forget-t-ing
unforget-t-able
sad-d-en
forbid-d-en
tranquil-l-ity
Observe that the conditions are three:
1. Accent on the last syllable
2. Single short vowel
3. Single final consonant
=701. Words with a last syllable ending in a short vowel and a single
consonant, but _not_ accented on the last syllable, do _not_ double the
final consonant.=
worship-ed
level-ing
travel-er
=702. Words ending in final silent _-e_ drop the _-e_ before a suffix
beginning with a vowel. They do NOT double the consonant.=
hope, hop-ed
fine, fin-er
dine, din-ing
crude, crud-ity
wide, wid-en
subside, subsid-ence
=703. Words ending in _-ce_ or _-ge_ keep the _-e_ before a suffix
beginning with _-a_ or _-o_, to show that _-c-_ or _-g-_ is soft.=
change-able
peace-able
courage-ous
notice-able
advantage-ous
service-able
=704. Words with an accented double vowel, or with an accented diphthong,
do NOT double a final single consonant.=
stoop-ed
loud-er
meet-ing
roar-ing
sweet-en
join-ing
=705. CEI. _EI_ regularly follows _c-_.=
conceive
ceiling
deceive
conceit
receive
deceit
perceive
receipt
Observe also: _either_, _neither_, _leisure_, _seize_, _weird_, _their_,
_counterfeit_, _foreign_.
=706. EI occasionally spells the sound of long _i_ and of long _a_.=
height
sleight
weigh
freight
neighbor
=707. IE regularly follows all consonants except _c-_.=
believe
pier
field
niece
piece
relieve
belief
wield
achieve
pierce
retrieve
relief
yield
brief
bier
siege
fiend
grief
Observe also: _financier_, _friend_, _sieve_.
=708. Nouns ending in a vowel and _-y_ form the plural by adding _-s_.=
days
boys
chimneys
valleys
=709. Verbs ending in a vowel and _-y_ form the third person singular,
present indicative, by adding _-s_.=
lays
enjoys
employs
=710. Nouns ending in a consonant and _-y_ form the plural by changing
the _-y_ to _-i_ and adding _-es_.=
fly, fli-es
sky, ski-es
lady, ladi-es
=711. Many nouns ending in _-f_ or _-fe_ form the plural in _-ves_.=
wolf, wolves
self, selves
life, lives
half, halves
leaf, leaves
wife, wives
calf, calves
loaf, loaves
knife, knives
=712. Some foreign nouns form the plural according to the inflectional
laws of their own language.=
alumna, alumnae
axis, axes
datum, data
stratum, strata
alumnus, alumni
parenthesis, parentheses
formula, formulae
phenomenon, phenomena
analysis, analyses
crisis, crises
basis, bases
=713. _Don’t_, _won’t_, _can’t_, _aren’t_, _hasn’t_, _haven’t_, have the
apostrophe between _n_ and _t_, where a vowel has been omitted.=
=714. _It’s_ is the colloquial form of _it is_. The apostrophe marks the
omission of _i_.=
=715. _Its_, _yours_, _hers_, _ours_, _theirs_, _his_, _whose_
(possessive pronouns), do NOT have an apostrophe.=
=716.= Following is a list of words most frequently misspelled by college
freshmen.
accept
accidentally
accommodate
acknowledgment
across
affects
aggravate
airplane
all right
already
altogether
amateur
analyze
apparatus
appearance
arctic
argument
athlete
athletic
balance
beginning
believing
benefited
biscuit
Britain
business
busy
calendar
can’t
center
certain
changeable
chauffeur
choose
clothes
coarse
column
committee
compel
concede
conceivable
Connecticut
conscience
conscientious
controlled
course
deceitful
deferred
definite
descend
describe
desperate
development
dining room
disappear
disappoint
discipline
dissatisfied
dissipate
divide
don’t
dying
ecstasy
embarrass
enemy
envelop
equipped
especially
exaggerate
exceed
excellent
except
exhaust
existence
familiar
fascinate
February
fifth
finally
financier
forfeit
formerly
forty
fourth
friend
fulfil
generally
good-by
government
governor
grammar
grievous
harass
having
height
hoping
hurriedly
hygienic
imaginary
immediately
incidentally
inclose
independence
indispensable
infinite
inquire
instance
intercede
irresistible
its
it’s
itself
judgment
knowledge
laboratory
laid
led
library
lightning
lose
maintenance
Massachusetts
mathematics
medicine
mischievous
Mississippi
misspelled
muscle
mysterious
necessary
neither
noticeable
occasion
occurred
occurrence
o’clock
omission
opinion
opportunity
original
paid
parallel
parliament
particularly
partner
perceive
perform
perhaps
permissible
pervade
physical
possession
precede
preferred
preparation
principal
principle
privilege
proceed
professor
program
promissory
pronunciation
prove
quiet
quite
really
receive
recognize
recommend
reference
repetition
restaurant
ridiculous
seize
sentence
separate
shining
siege
similar
skilful
speech
stationary
stationery
stopped
stopping
strictly
superintendent
supersede
sure
surprise
syllable
theater
their
there
therefore
till
together
too
tract
tragedy
tranquillity
transferred
trouble
truly
Tuesday
until
using
usually
village
villain
weather
Wednesday
weird
welfare
whether
which
wholly
who’s
whose
women
you’re
CHAPTER XII
PUNCTUATION
Marks of punctuation are used for the purpose of making the meaning
of sentences unmistakable. It is not sufficient that sentences be
grammatically correct, clear, and vigorous; they must also be perfectly
punctuated if their meaning is to be unmistakable. A writer must,
therefore, observe the rules of punctuation if his writing is to be
intelligible.
=800. Use a period (.) at the end of declarative and of imperative
sentences.=
=801. Use a period after every abbreviation.=
_Right._ Mr. C. S. McIntyre of the C. R. I. and P. Ry. Co.
received a ten per cent increase.
_Right._ The editors, reporters, feature writers, etc., and the
printers, advertising solicitors, circulation men, etc., of the
Springfield (Mass.) Republican are all able men.
=802. Never use a period at the end of an incomplete sentence element.=
_Illiterate._ After the sun had set. We went home.
_Correct._ After the sun had set, we went home.
=803. Use a question mark (?) at the end of a direct question.=
=804. Use a question mark, sparingly, to indicate doubt. In this instance
the question mark should be enclosed within parentheses.=
_Right._ In the year 1596 (?) he was sent to Italy.
=805. Never use a question mark at the end of an indirect question.=
_Wrong._ I asked him what he intended to do?
_Right._ I asked him what he intended to do.
=806. Use an exclamation point (!) at the end of exclamatory expressions.=
_Right._ What a terrible experience!
=807. Use a comma (,) between co-ordinate clauses that are joined by
_and_ or _but_ only if the subjects of the clauses are different.=
_Wrong._ He began as office boy, but in no long time he became
timekeeper.
_Right._ He began as office boy but in no long time he became
timekeeper.
_Wrong._ He began as office boy but in no long time they made
him timekeeper.
_Right._ He began as office boy, but in no long time they made
him timekeeper.
=808. Use a comma between clauses joined by the conjunction _for_.=
_Wrong._ He went into the house for his automobile needed water.
_Right._ He went into the house, for his automobile needed
water.
=809. Use a comma between short co-ordinate clauses not joined by
conjunctions, if the clauses are parallel in structure.=
The horse neighed, the pig grunted, the dog barked.
=810. Use a comma after a dependent clause that precedes a main clause.=
When he speaks, we all listen.
=811. Use commas to set off clauses or phrases that add merely a
descriptive idea to the expression modified.=
Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin, became one of the
greatest presidents.
They, reading the newspaper, did not hear me come in.
=812. Use commas between adjectives in a series if the position of the
adjectives can be logically interchanged.=
Each one carried a red, white, and blue flag.
=813. Use commas between words, phrases, or clauses in a series.=
He sent me two books, a drum, and a small wagon.
Seeing the dark sky, feeling the sharp wind, and knowing that
my family would be worried, I hurried home.
If he had not been ill, if the bank had not failed, and if my
credit had not been exhausted, you would never have found me
here.
=814. Use a comma before the _and_ connecting the last two members of a
series.=
_Wrong._ He ordered bread and butter, ham and eggs, cucumbers
and milk.
_Right._ He ordered bread and butter, ham and eggs, cucumbers,
and milk.
=815. Use a comma to separate elements which might otherwise become
confused.=
_Wrong._ Not long before he had bought the horse.
_Right._ Not long before, he had bought the horse.
_Wrong._ We drove up to the house, and the motor stopped
allowing us to complete the trip without disaster along the
road.
_Right._ We drove up to the house, and the motor stopped,
allowing us to complete the trip without disaster along the
road.
_Confusing._ Which of the men to choose from among all those
who applied would be a difficult matter to decide.
_Better._ Which of the men to choose from among all those who
applied, would be a difficult matter to decide.
=816. Use commas to set off names in direct address.=
Here, Jim, let me do that.
=817. Use commas to set off appositives.=
Hilda Kasper, the cateress, served the luncheon.
=818. Use commas to set off geographical names which explain other
geographical names.=
He lived in Birmingham, Alabama, before he came here.
=819. Use commas to set off the year as a part of a date.=
In April, 1923, he went home.
The letter was dated February 2, 1910.
=820. Use commas to set off absolute phrases.=
The soldiers having rested, Hannibal ordered the army to start.
=821. Use commas to set off mild interjections or slightly parenthetical
expressions.=
It was, alas, too late.
Yes, I shall be glad to go.
No, I am sure that is not correct.
It was, therefore, his duty to accept.
I never met him, you know.
=822. Use a comma to set off an informal quotation in direct discourse
unless the quotation is short and is grammatically incorporated into the
sentence.=
He said, “I am going home.”
He answered “yes” to my question.
=823. Never use a comma between an adjective and the noun it modifies.=
_Wrong._ A blue, white, and red, flag hung from the window.
_Right._ A blue, white, and red flag hung from the window.
=824. Never use commas to set off clauses or phrases that limit the
meaning of the expressions they modify; no punctuation is necessary.=
_Wrong._ All men, who do this, should be hanged.
_Right._ All men who do this should be hanged.
_Wrong._ Any woman, desiring to try for the team, should report
immediately.
_Right._ Any woman desiring to try for the team should report
immediately.
=825. Never use commas between adjectives in a series if the position of
the adjectives cannot be logically interchanged.=
_Wrong._ He wore an old, black, felt hat.
_Right._ He wore an old black felt hat.
=826. Never use a comma to indicate a slight pause.=
_Wrong._ Through the window, jumped the cat.
_Right._ Through the window jumped the cat.
=827. Never use a comma before _that_, _what_, _how_, _why_, etc., in
indirect discourse.=
He said that he would go tomorrow.
He asked me what I was going to do.
She inquired how they were to go.
They asked why their salaries had been decreased.
=828. Never use a comma between main clauses not joined by a conjunction;
use a period. (See 380.)=
_Wrong._ Tomorrow is Tuesday, you must come then.
_Right._ Tomorrow is Tuesday. You must come then.
=829. Use a semicolon (;) between co-ordinate clauses that are not joined
by a co-ordinating conjunction.=
_Wrong._ He went to South America, I stayed at home.
_Right._ He went to South America; I stayed at home.
=830. Use a semicolon between clauses that are joined by conjunctive
adverbs.=
She could not come; so there was no meeting.
I did not see him; nevertheless I knew he was there.
The men were none too sure of their next move; their doubt,
however, only tended to heighten their excitement.
=831. Use a semicolon between co-ordinate clauses that are joined by
_and_ or _but_ only if the clauses have more than ten words each, or if
there are commas within the clauses.=
Slowly the huge grey transport that had been waiting at the
dock since midnight got under way; and slowly the throng that
had gathered for one last glimpse of relatives and friends made
its way up the long street.
If we can find no other way, you may be sure we shall follow
your advice; but you must not expect us to relinquish any more
of our profit than we can help, especially at this late date.
=832. Never use a semicolon between a subordinate clause and a main
clause.=
_Wrong._ Since they came; we have not had a moment’s peace.
_Right._ Since they came, we have not had a moment’s peace.
=833. Never use a semicolon after the salutation of a letter.=
_Wrong._ Dear Sir;
We are glad that you approve our action.
_Right._ Dear Sir:
We are glad that you approve our action.
=834. Use a colon (:) to introduce formally a word, a catalogue, a list,
questions, statements, or long quotations.=
There was but one thing to do: retreat.
I was advised to see these men: C. R. Wright, A. W. Henderson,
and B. L. Noojin.
The following will report in uniform tomorrow:
Butler
Doolittle
Thomas
Williams
The question then arose: What should we do with him?
What troubled us was this: The ammunition was running low.
This is the first sentence in Poe’s _Fall of the House of
Usher_: “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in
the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low
in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through
a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found
myself, as the shades of evening drew on, within view of the
melancholy House of Usher.”
=835. Use a hyphen (-) in writing fractions, or numbers less than one
hundred.=
Three-fifths, twenty-one, thirty-seconds.
Thirty-seven, ninety-nine.
=836. Use a hyphen in titles composed of two words or more.=
Lieutenant-colonel, alderman-at-large, editor-in-chief.
=837. Use a hyphen after the first part of a word divided at the end of a
line.=
=838. Use a hyphen in compound adjectives.=
Light-blue, 70-horsepower, six-cylinder, seven-passenger,
ill-advised.
=839. Use a hyphen after prefixes like _co-_, _re-_, _anti-_, _post-_,
etc., when prefixed to words beginning with the last letter of the
prefix; when prefixed to proper nouns or proper adjectives; when the
compound might become confused with a word of similar spelling.=
Co-operation, anti-Christian, re-creation.
=840. Use a dash (—) when the thought is abruptly broken off.=
Just then the telephone rang—I wish I could remember who was
calling.
=841. Use dashes rather than parentheses to inclose informal
parenthetical material.=
He offered me—imagine it—twenty dollars a week.
=842. Use a dash before a summarizing expression.=
After the wheat is all in, after the horses are put up, and
after the chores have been done—then you may use the car.
=843. Never use a dash where a period should be used.=
_Wrong._ Come tomorrow—everybody will be here then—
_Right._ Come tomorrow. Everybody will be here then.
=844. Never use a dash where a comma should be used.=
_Wrong._ Tom came in yesterday—and Jim was glad to see him.
_Right._ Tom came in yesterday, and Jim was glad to see him.
=845. Use quotation marks (“ ”) to inclose expressions in direct
discourse.=
He said, “Let me try.”
=846. Use quotation marks to inclose material borrowed from some other
writer.=
According to John Keats “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
=847. If the quoted passage contains more than one paragraph, the
quotation marks must be placed at the beginning of each paragraph, but
after only the last.=
=848. Use single quotation marks (‘ ’) to inclose a quotation within a
quotation.=
The man said, “John said to me, ‘You hold him; I’m busy.’”
=849. Use ordinary quotation marks to inclose material quoted within a
passage enclosed by single quotation marks.=
She said, “Jane replied, ‘Jim’s remark, “Iowa has a hard
schedule next year,” does not mean what you think it means.’”
=850. Include periods and commas at the end of quoted material within the
quotation marks, but treat other marks of punctuation according to the
context of the passage.=
=851. Underscore names of books, plays, musical compositions, paintings,
and pieces of sculpture. Do not use quotation marks.=
George Eliot’s _Silas Marner_ has been read by thousands.
=852. Use an apostrophe (’) to mark the omission of letters in contracted
words.=
_Wrong._ Dont, cant, its (for _it is_), Ive, doesnt.
_Right._ Don’t, can’t, it’s, I’ve, doesn’t.
=853. Use an apostrophe before the _s_ to form the possessive of singular
nouns.=
_Wrong._ Fathers house has just been painted.
_Right._ Father’s house has just been painted.
=854. Use an apostrophe after the _s_ to form the possessive of plural
nouns.=
_Wrong._ They sell boys clothing.
_Wrong._ They sell boy’s clothing.
_Right._ They sell boys’ clothing.
=855. Never use an apostrophe to form the possessive of personal
pronouns.=
_Wrong._ Their’s are black.
_Right._ Theirs are black.
=856. Use parentheses ( ) to inclose material that is foreign to the main
thought of a sentence, paragraph, or whole composition.=
_Right._ They will (I saw the order myself) withdraw the Second
battalion tomorrow.
=857. Use parentheses to inclose figures that confirm numerical
adjectives. Place the figures in parentheses after the numeral word.=
_Wrong._ He offered to sell me (5) five mules.
_Right._ He offered to sell me five (5) mules.
=858. Never use parentheses to cancel a word which you want to omit; draw
a line through it.=
_Wrong._ Next week the (whether) weather will be warm.
_Right._ Next week the ̶w̶h̶e̶t̶h̶e̶r weather will be warm.
=859. Use brackets [ ] to inclose explanatory material introduced into a
quotation.=
The speaker said, “He [Washington] was above everything else an
American gentleman.”
=860. Practice.=
Paragraph and punctuate the following passages.
I
I had been going to St Lukes Hospital in Charleston S C every day for two
weeks to visit my brother John who had to undergo a serious operation Dr
R L Spitzenberg one of the best surgeons in the city was in charge of
the case one day it was I think March 12 1919 I asked the doctor when
John might be taken home he exclaimed my dear sir how can you expect to
move a man who is as weak as your brother is naturally I was disappointed
but John was more then disappointed for he had become very tired of the
hospital routine he sighed deeply he turned his face to the wall and wept
sobbingly when he had become somewhat quieted a nurse came in with his
evening meal she was rather small not particularly pretty and unusually
brusque I thought in manner the meal consisted of a small well-cooked
steak hot baked potatoes and a combination salad I sat beside the bed as
he tried to eat and wondered why they gave him such heavy food if he were
so weak finally I said nurse are all patients given the same diet not two
minutes before she had been staring out the window in a vacuous sort of
way at my question however she turned and with no apparent change in her
manner remarked how should I know Ive just been taken on.
II
The lecturer said in part let me begin by quoting the hounds of spring
are on winters traces and the mother of months in meadow and plain
fills the shadows and windy places with lisp of leaves and ripple of
rain could anything more precisely convey the restless sensitive mood
of spring I can think of nothing he Swinburne the author seems to have
grasped the very essence of spring here and made it live forever in his
lines let me pause here a moment to suggest that if anyone of you is
looking for poetry that really sings try Swinburne he will always satisfy
the ear but poetry is not all sound however it must if it is to appeal
popularly have rhythm to be sure nevertheless this rhythm must never
be allowed to become monotonous try reading Popes Rape of the Lock for
instance aloud what was it Wordsworth said poetry was emotion recollected
in tranquillity or something like that wasn’t it indeed nothing could
be more easily demonstrable Bret Harte for example in Gabriel Conroy
describes a snow storm to perfection one finds himself floundering
through the drifts as truly as if he were actually in the midst of
the storm yet Harte wrote the passage long after he had undergone the
experience set forth and far from the scene itself in fact he wrote of a
storm in the West in midwinter while sitting calmly at his desk in New
York in midsummer.
CHAPTER XIII
MECHANICS
In putting your ideas upon paper you must follow certain customs which
good taste and convenience have established as correct at the present
time. Since manners change from generation to generation, however,
and since writing machines and printing methods are constantly being
improved, some of these customs necessarily vary. The ensuing rules,
therefore, have been composed in accordance with the best present usage
and are passed on to you as describing those customs which are least
subject to change.
Manuscript
=900. Write upon only one side of the paper.=
=901. Place the title upon the first line, or about two inches from the
top of the sheet.=
=902. Leave one line blank between the title and the body of the
composition.=
=903. Write legibly and without flourishes, using black ink.=
=904. Number the pages in the upper right-hand corner.=
=905. Leave the space of the letter _m_ after each mark of punctuation
within the sentence, and the space of three _m’s_ after marks of end
punctuation.=
=906. Never crowd a word in order to get it all upon one line. Divide the
word and mark the division with a hyphen.=
=907. Place the hyphen that marks the division of a word at the end of a
line after the first part of the word. Do NOT place a hyphen before the
second part of the word. Divide a word only at the end of a syllable.=
=908. Maintain a left-hand margin of at least an inch, and endeavor to
keep the right-hand margin even.=
=909. Indent each paragraph half an inch.=
=910. Never write below the last line upon a ruled sheet. In typewritten
manuscript leave at least half an inch at the bottom of the page.=
Underscoring
=911. Underscore a word once for italics, twice for small capital
letters, and three times for large capital letters.=
=912. Never underscore a word for emphasis.=
Footnotes
=913. Use superior figures for footnotes, placing the figure after the
expression referred to.=
=914. Place footnotes at the bottom of the page preceded by the superior
figure corresponding to that used in the text.=
Abbreviations
=915. Use no abbreviations in formal composition except _Mr._, _Mrs._, or
_Dr._=
Capitals
=916. Begin all proper nouns and proper adjectives with a capital letter.=
Russia, Bible, Pike’s Peak, English, Christian, Napoleonic.
=917. Begin the first word of every sentence with a capital letter.=
=918. Begin every line of verse with a capital letter.=
=919. Begin every direct quotation with a capital letter.=
=920. Begin each important word in the name of a social, a political, or
a religious organization with a capital letter.=
Sigma Delta Chi, Democratic party, Unitarian church.
=921. Begin every word that refers to the Deity with a capital letter.=
=922. Capitalize the pronoun _I_ and the interjection _O_.=
=923. Begin the important words in the names of books, of plays, of
musical compositions, of paintings and of pieces of sculpture with
capital letters.=
=924. Begin with capital letters personal titles when they are written
with personal names.=
Colonel Morrison, Professor Hunt, Secretary McAdoo.
=925. Begin the names of months, days of the week, and holidays with
capital letters.=
Figures
=926. Write out in full only those numbers that can be expressed in two
words.=
Ninety-nine, fifty thousand, one million.
=927. Write out in full sums of money in even dollars which can be
expressed in two words; otherwise use the dollar sign and figures.=
=928. Use the dollar sign and figures for sums of money in dollars and
cents.=
=929. Write out in full sums of money less than one dollar.=
=930. Write out in full numbers used as names of streets or districts.=
Fifty-fifth street.
=931. Never begin a sentence with a number expressed in figures.=
=932. Write out in full sums of money used as adjectives.=
She bought six-dollar gloves.
Letters
=933. Write the full address of the writer and the date of writing in
every letter, preferably at the head.=
=934. Use one of the following forms for the salutation of a business
letter:=
Dear Sir:
Gentlemen:
Ladies:
Sir:
Madam:
My dear Sir:
My dear Madam:
My dear Mr. Higginbottom:
My dear Mrs. Higginbottom:
=935. Use one of the following forms for the salutation of a personal
letter:=
My dear Mrs. Wilson,
Dear Dr. Albright,
Dear Brown,
Dear Miss Henry,
Dear Peter,
=936. Use one of the following forms for the closing phrase of a business
letter:=
Yours very truly,
Very truly yours,
Yours truly,
Yours respectfully,
Respectfully yours,
=937. Use one of the following forms for the closing phrase of a personal
letter:=
Yours truly,
Sincerely yours,
Yours sincerely,
=938. Write the envelope address in not more than four lines.=
=939. Omit punctuation after each line of the envelope address.=
=940. Be consistent in the use of the third person in formal notes.=
=941. Sign letters clearly so that the signature can be easily read.=
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