Table of Contents
SENTENCE STRUCTURE COMPLETENESS OF THOUGHT 1. Fragments wrongly used as sentences 2. Incomplete constructions 3. Necessary words omitted 4. Comparisons not logically completed 5. Cause and reason 6. Is when and is where clauses 7. Undeveloped thought 8. Transitions 9. Exercise
A. Incomplete sentences
B. Incomplete constructions
C. Incomplete logic
D. Undeveloped thought and transitions UNITY OF THOUGHT 10. Unrelated ideas in one sentence 11. Excessive detail 12. Stringy sentences to be broken up 13. Choppy sentences to be combined 14. Excessive coördination 15. Faulty subordination of the main thought 16. Subordination thwarted by and 17. The and which construction 18. The comma splice 19. Exercise
A. The comma splice
B. One thought in a sentence
C. Excessive coördination
D. Upside-down subordination CLEARNESS OF THOUGHT Reference
20. Divided reference
21. Weak reference
22. Broad reference
23. Dangling participle or gerund Coherence 24. General incoherence 25. Logical sequence 26. Squinting modifier 27. Misplaced word 28. Split construction 29. Exercise
A. Reference of pronouns
B. Dangling modifiers
C. Coherence Parallel Structure
30. Parallel structure for parallel thoughts
31. Correlatives Consistency
32. Shift in subject or voice
33. Shift in number, person, or tense
34. Mixed constructions
35. Mixed imagery Use of Connectives 36. The exact connective 37. Repetition of connective with gain in clearness 38. Repetition of connective with loss in clearness 39. Exercise
A. Parallel structure
B. Shift in subject or voice
C. Shift in number, person, or tense
D. The exact connective
E. Repetition of connectives
EMPHASIS 40. Emphasis by position 41. Emphasis by separation 42. Emphasis by subordination 43. The periodic sentence 44. Order of climax 45. The balanced sentence 46. Weak effect of the passive voice 47. Repetition effective:
a Words;
b Structure 48. Repetition offensive:
a Words;
b Structure 49. Exercise
A. Lack of emphasis in general
B. Loose structure
C. Repetition
GRAMMAR 50. Case:
a Nominative, especially after than or as;
b Nominative who and whoever;
c Predicate nominative;
d Objective;
e Objective with infinitive;
f Possessive;
g Possessive with gerund;
h Possession by inanimate objects;
i Agreement of pronouns 51. Number:
a Each, every one, etc.;
b Those kind, etc.;
c Collective nouns;
d Don’t 52. Agreement—not to be thwarted by:
a Intervening nouns;
b Together with phrases;
c Or or nor after subject;
d And in the subject;
e A predicate noun;
f An introductory there 53. Shall and will 54. Principal parts. List 55. Tense, mode, auxiliaries:
a Tense in dependent clauses or infinitives;
b The past perfect;
c Present tense for a general statement;
d Mode;
e Auxiliaries 56. Adjective and adverb:
a Adjective misused for adverb;
b Ambiguous cases;
c After verbs pertaining to the senses 57. A word in a double capacity 58. List of the terms of grammar 59. Exercise
A. Case of pronouns
B. Agreement
C. Shall and will
D. Lie, lay; sit, set; rise, raise
E. Principal parts of verbs
F. General
DICTION 60. Wordiness 61. Triteness 62. The exact word 63. Concreteness 64. Sound 65. Subtle violations of good use:
a Faulty idiom;
b Colloquialism 66. Gross violations of good use:
a Barbarisms;
b Improprieties;
c Slang 67. Words often confused in meaning. List 68. Glossary of faulty diction 69. Exercise
A. Wordiness
B. The exact word
C. Words sometimes confused in meaning
D. Colloquialisms, slang, faulty idioms
SPELLING 70. Recording errors 71. Pronouncing accurately 72. Logical kinship in words 73. Superficial resemblances. List 74. Words in ei and ie 75. Doubling a final consonant 76. Dropping final e 77. Plurals:
a Plurals in s or es;
b Nouns ending in y;
c Compound nouns;
d Letters, figures, and signs;
e Old plurals;
f Foreign plurals 78. Compounds:
a Compound adjectives;
b Compound nouns;
c Numbers;
d Words written solid;
e General principle 79. Spelling List (500 words, 200 in bold-face type)
MISCELLANEOUS 80. Manuscript:
a Titles;
b Spacing;
c Handwriting 81. Capitals:
a To begin a sentence or a quotation;
b Proper names;
c Proper adjectives;
d In titles of books or themes;
e Miscellaneous uses 82. Italics:
a Titles of books;
b Foreign words;
c Names of ships;
d Words taken out of context;
e For emphasis 83. Abbreviations:
a In ordinary writing;
b In business writing 84. Numbers:
a Dates and street numbers;
b Long figures; Sums of money, etc. 85. Syllabication:
a Position of hyphen;
b Division between syllables;
c Monosyllabic words not divided;
d One consonant between syllables;
e Two consonants between syllables;
f Prefixes and suffixes;
g Short words;
h Misleading division 86. Outlines:
a Topic Outline;
b Sentence Outline;
c Paragraph Outline;
d Indention;
e Parallel form;
f Faulty coördination;
g Too detailed subordination 87. Letters:
a Heading;
b Inside address and greeting;
c Body, Language;
d Close;
e Outside address;
f Miscellaneous directions;
g Model business letter;
h Formal notes 88. Paragraphs:
a Indention;
b Length;
c Dialogue 89. Exercise
Capitals, numbers, abbreviations, etc.
PUNCTUATION 90. The Period:
a After sentences;
b But not after fragments of sentences;
c After abbreviations 91. The Comma:
a Between clauses joined by but, for, and;
b But not to splice clauses not joined by a conjunction;
c After a subordinate clause preceding a main clause;
d To set off non-restrictive clauses and phrases;
e To set off parenthetical elements;
f Between adjectives;
g Between words in a series;
h Before a quotation;
i To compel a pause for clearness;
j Superfluous uses 92. The Semicolon:
a Between coördinate clauses not joined by a conjunction;
b Between long coördinate clauses;
c Before a formal conjunctive adverb;
d But not before a quotation 93. The Colon:
a To introduce a formal series or quotation;
b Before concrete illustrations of a previous general statement 94. The Dash:
a To enclose a parenthetical statement;
b To mark a breaking-off in thought;
c Before a summarizing statement;
d But not to be used in place of a period;
e Not to be confused with the hyphen 95. Parenthesis Marks:
a Uses;
b With other marks;
c Confirmatory symbols;
d Not used to cancel words;
e Brackets 96. Quotation Marks:
a With quotations;
b With paragraphs;
c In dialogue;
d With slang, etc.;
e With words set apart;
f Quotation within a quotation;
g Together with other marks;
h Quotation interrupted by he said;
i Omission from a quotation;
j Unnecessary in the title of a theme, or as a label for humor or irony 97. The Apostrophe:
a In contractions;
b To form the possessive;
c To form the possessive of nouns ending in s;
d Not used with personal possessive pronouns;
e To form the plural of certain signs and letters 98. The Question Mark:
a After a direct question;
b Not followed by a comma within a sentence;
c In parentheses to express uncertainty;
d Not used to label irony;
e The Exclamation Point 99. Exercise 100. General Exercise