1 27 844
! ; FIRST AID FOR
PUNCTUATION
SENTENCES
21
End Punctuation
/ ?/
j Fragment ^^?*
22
Comma
,/
; Comma Splice xxu ' 23
Unnecessary Commas
/Wr ?
I Fused Sentence ^6-
24
Semicolon
;
Choppy Sentences /c/Msp-
25
Colon
;
Excessive Coordination ;c#r
26
Dash
Faulty Subordination Aidr
27
Parentheses
f )
FORMS OF WORDS
28
Brackets
n
Verb Forms Af(r
29
Quotation Marks
v/
Tense ft
MANUSCRIPT FORM
Voice /JET
AND
Mood #w
MECHANICS
Agreement; Subject-Verb &ffsr
30
Manuscript Form
AMA-
Agreement, Reference
31
Revision and Correction
/Mu~
of Pronouns ffff/fft
32
Italics
Mai
Case &&
33
Spelling
Af-
Adjectives and Adverbs ML/fiJtr
34
Hyphen
POSITION
35
Apostrophe
r
OF WORDS
36
Capitals
AOp-
Modifiers /AA&ti
37
Contractions
ffH/h
Unnecessary Separation /^a
38
Abbreviations
tfjr
Parallelism //
39
Numbers <
WMlW
COMPLETENESS,
40
THE DICTIONARY
d&t
CONSISTENCY
Completeness /Xtc
DICTION
Comparisons X^crmp
41
Formal and Informal
Jt /I
Consistency /wtidtt/l
i
Language
$&*&
^1 I ill BfTf'W ."-"--
42
Slang
At
43
Dialect
idU&i
44
Archaic and Obsolete
Words A
Wl/^foL
45
Improprieties
/wp-
46
Incorrect Idioms
lA
47
Technical English
1fak
48
Triteness
fatifa
49
Exactness
wr
STYLE
50
Wordiness
tx
51
Repetition
/Mf-
52
Specific and Concrete
Words
IW4-
53
Connotation
&n
54
Figurative Language
4t
55
Fine Writing
$**
56
Sentence Variety
/u&r
57
THE PARAGRAPH
i
58
THE THEME
lfa$M&*
59
THE RESEARCH
PAPER
/**-
60
CLEAR THINKING
^
61
GLOSSARY
OTHER CORRECTION
SYMBOLS
Floyd C. Watkins
Edwin T. Martin
William B. Dillingham
EMORY UNIVERSITY
English
Handbook:
SECOND EDITION
Houghton Mifflin Company Boston
NEW YORK * ATLANTA GENEVA, ILL. DALLAS PALO ALTO
The selection from Eaton G. Davis, pp. 112-
114, copyright 1954 by Harper and Brothers,
reprinted by permission of Virginia Rice. The
selection from Pearl S. Buck, p. 211, copyright
1938 by Pearl S. Buck, reprinted by permission of
Harold Ober Associates Incorporated.
Copyright 1965 by Floyd C. Watkins, Edwin T. Martin,
and William B. Dillingham. Copyright 1961 fey Floyd C.
Watkins and Edwin T. Martin. All rights reserved including
the right to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form.
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
Preface
This'second edition of the Practical English Handbook has the
same aim as the first: to present the elements of composition
concisely and clearly, without oversimplification and super-
ficiality and with emphasis on what to do and how to do it.
Designed as a text for classroom use, as a manual of theme
correction, and as a resource for independent study of particular
problems, it offers the student concrete help from the first
simple writing assignment through the increasingly complex de-
mands of the composition course.
Though the plan of the book remains substantially the same
as before, the revisions within that framework are extensive.
Suggestions by numerous instructors who taught from the first
edition have led to refinements of presentation and method in
the interest of greater practicality. Those who have used the
earlier edition may welcome the following brief summary of the
major changes.
The practice of stating principles and rules in heavy type has
been extended to every section and subsection of the book, and
these precepts are now phrased more directly as instructions to
the student rather than as statements of acceptable or unac-
ceptable usage.
Every effort has been made to improve communication be-
tween instructor and student through the correction of themes.
To this end, correction symbols or appropriate abbreviations
are provided for all of the main numbered sections. This sys-
tem, which offers greater flexibility and ease in the use of either
symbols or numbers, is graphically carried through the book;
and it is summarized on the new endpaper chart and in an index
of symbols following the general index. Through partial re-
organization, the number of sections has been reduced from 79
to 61 enough to make each number and symbol have specific
meaning, yet not too many for the intructor to manipulate.
A preliminary section addressed to the student (page xvi)
provides orientation to the composition course and to the first
assignment*
The introductory chapter of the first edition (on sentence
components) has been dropped, and the definitions of gram-
matical terms have been relegated to an expanded glossary.
The discussions of the theme, the research paper, and es-
pecially the paragraph have been developed, expanded, and
illustrated more fully. A new specimen research paper on a
topic closer to the techniques of library research has been
substituted for the previous one; as before, the paper is given in
its entirety, with commentary on facing pages.
Many of the exercises are new or extensively revised, and more
exercise material has been adapted from the work of profes-
sional writers.
Finally, the physical design of the second edition reinforces
the increased emphasis 011 utility through a greater use of
display types and graphic devices.
FLOYD C. WATKINS
EDWIN T. MARTIN
WILLIAM B. DILUNGHAM
vi Preface
Contents
To the Student xvi
First A id for Sentences 2
1 Sentence Fragment 3
2 Comma Splice 5
3 Fused Sentence 6
4 Choppy Sentences 9
5 Excessive Coordination 12
6 Faulty Subordination 14
a. Upside-down subordination 14
b. Overlapping subordination 14
The Forms of Words 19
7 Verb Forms 20
8 Tense and Sequence of Tenses 22
9 Voice 27
10 Mood 28
a. Subjunctive 28
b. Tense and mood following ^/-clause 30
1 1 Agreement Subject and Verb 31
a. Compound subject with and 32
b. Compound subject with or, nor, etc 33
c. Intervening phrases or clauses 33
d. Collective nouns 34
e. Nouns plural in form, singular in meaning 34
f . Indefinite pronouns 35
g. None, some, part, etc. 35
h. There, Here 36
i. Agreement with subject, not subjective complement 37
j. Relative pronouns 37
k. Titles 38
mi
1 2 Agreement and Reference of Pronouns 40
a. Compound antecedent with and 40
b. Compound antecedent with or, nor, etc. 41
c. Collective noun as antecedent 41
d. Each, either, etc. 42
e. Which, who, thai 42
f. Ambiguous antecedents this, that, which, it 43
g. Ambiguous antecedents personal pronouns 44
13 Case 47
a. Subjects and subjective complements 48
b. Object of preposition 48
c. Subject or complement of an infinitive 49
d. Appositive 49
e. Pronoun after than or as 50
f. Word before a gerund 50
g. 0/-phrase for possession 51
h. Possessive of personal and indefinite pronouns 51
i. Interrogative and relative pronouns 51
14 Adjectives and Adverbs 56
a. Form of comparative and superlative degrees 57
b. Comparative, two things; superlative, more than two 58
c. After is, seems, becomes, etc. 58
d. After keep, build, hold, etc. 58
The Position of Words 60
15 Modifiers 60
a. Dangling 61
b. Misplaced 63
c. Squinting 65
16 Unnecessary Separation 68
17 Parallelism 69
a. With coordinating conjunctions 70
b. With correlative conjunctions 72
c. Sign repeated for clarity 73
d. Misleading 73
mil Contents
Completeness and Consistency 77
1 8 Completeness 77
a. After so, such, too 78
b. "Understood" prepositions 78
c. "Understood" verb forms 79
d. Repeating article, auxiliary verb, etc. 79
e. Omission of that 80
19 Comparisons 80
20 Consistency 85
a. Shifts in tense 86
b Shifts in person 87
c. Shifts in mood 87
d. Shifts in voice 87
e. Shifts in relative pronoun 87
f Shifts in discourse 88
Punctuation 90
21 End Punctuation 91
a. Period at end of sentence 91
b. Period after abbreviations 91
c. Punctuation after a title 92
d. Question mark at end of sentence 92
e. Question mark within sentence 92
f. Exclamation point 93
g. Two end marks not used together 93
22 The Comma 95
a. Between independent clauses 95
b. Between members of a series 96
c. Between coordinate adjectives 98
d. After introductory phrases and clauses 100
e. With nonrestrictive appositives, phrases, clauses 101
f. With sentence modifiers 106
g. With degrees, titles, dates, places, addresses 107
h For contrast or emphasis 108
Contents ix
i. With mild interjections 109
j. With direct address 109
k. With expressions like he said 109
1 With absolute phrase 109
m. To prevent misreading or mark an omission 110
23 Unnecessary Commas 115
a. Between subject and verb, etc. 115
b. In compound constructions of two parts 115
c. Between dependent clauses 116
d. Before than, between as . . . as, etc. 116
e. After like, such as 116
f. With other punctuation 116
g. Before parenthesis 117
h. After short introductory clauses or phrases 117
i. With restrictive clauses, phrases, appositives 117
j. Between noncoordinate adjectives 117
24 The Semicolon 119
a. Between independent clauses with no coordinating
conjunction 119
b. Between independent clauses for emphasis 120
c. Between independent clauses with internal punctuation 120
d. Between items in a series 121
e. Not between noncoordinate elements 121
25 The Colon 122
a Before elements introduced formally 122
b. Between independent clauses 123
c. Before formal appositives 123
d. Miscellaneous formal uses 124
e. Not after linking verb or preposition 124
26 The Dash 124
a. For sudden interruptions, etc. 124
b. For emphasis 125
c. Before a summary 125
d. To be used sparingly 125
27 Parentheses 126
28 Brackets 126
x Contents
29 Quotation Marks 128
a. For direct quotations and dialogue 129
b. Quotations within quotations 129
c. For titles 130
d. For words used as words or in special sense 130
e. When not to use 130
f. With other punctuation 131
Manuscript Form and Mechanics 138
30 Manuscript Form 138
a. Paper and ink 138
b. Placement, margins, etc. 139
c. Only one side of sheet to be used 139
d. Neatness and legibility 139
e. Prescribed form 140
f. Proofreading 140
31 Revision and Correction 140
32 Italic Type and Underlining 142
a. For titles 142
b. For names of ships and trains 143
c. For foreign words 143
d. For words used as words 143
e. For emphasis 143
33 Spelling 144
a. i-e or e-i? 145
b. Dropping final e 146
c. Changing y to i 147
d. Doubling final consonant 147
e. Adding $ or es 148
34 The Hyphen and Syllabication 153
a. Breaking a word at end of a line 153
b. Compound words 153
c. Compound adjectives 154
d. Compound numbers 154
Contents xi
35 The Apostrophe 155
a. Possessive of nouns not ending in s 155
b. Possessive of singular nouns ending m s 155
c. Possessive of plural nouns ending in s 156
d. Possessive of indefinite pronouns 156
e. Joint possession 156
f. Omissions or contractions 156
g. Plural of numbers, letters, etc. 156
36 Capitals 157
a. First word of sentence 157
b. /andO 157
c In titles of books, etc. 157
d. In direct quotations 157
e. Titles of rank 158
f. Degrees and titles after a name 158
g. Words of family relationship L58
h. Proper nouns and their derivatives 159
i Months, days of the week, holidays 159
j. Movements, periods, events in history 160
k. B.C., A.D., words designating the Deity, etc. L60
1. Names of courses 160
37 Contractions L63
38 Abbreviations 163
39 Numbers 161
a. Written out in one or two words 164
b. Series, tabulations, statistics 165
c. Dates, street numbers, etc, 165
The Dictionary 167
40 Using a Dictionary 171
a. Preferred and variant spellings 172
b. Syllabication and compound words 172
c. Accent and pronunciation 173
d. Etymologies 175
e. Order of definitions 1 76
xii Contents
f. Parts of speech 176
g. Synonyms 177
h. Labels 178
i Inflectional forms 178
j. Idioms 179
k. Prefixes and suffixes 180
1. Foreign words 180
m. Proper names 181
Diction 182
Standard and Substandard Usage 182
41 Formal and Informal Language 184
42 Slang 189
43 Dialect 191
44 Archaic and Obsolete Words 193
45 Improprieties 193
46 Incorrect Idioms 196
47 Technical English 199
48 Triteness 203
49 Exactness 204
Style 215
50 Wordiness 217
a. Needless words and ideas 217
b. One word for many 217
c. Active voice for conciseness 218
d. Revising for conciseness 218
51 Repetition 221
a. Ineffective repetition 221
b. Vague and awkward synonyms 222
c. Unpleasant repetition of sounds 222
d. For emphasis or clarity 223
52 Specific and Concrete Words 227
Contents xiii
53 Connotation 231
54 Figurative Language 235
a. Figurative comparisons 236
b. Mixed and inappropriate figures 237
55 Fine Writing 241
56 Sentence Variety 242
a. Structure 242
b. Length 242
c. Pattern 242
d. Word order 244
The Paragraph 255
57 Writing Good Paragraphs 255
a. Central purpose stated in topic sentence 256
b. Detail 258
c. Unity 260
d. Development 264
e. Transition 271
f . Choppiness and excessive length 276
The Theme 287
58 Writing a Theme 287
a. Choosing an interesting subject 287
b. Limiting the subject 292
c. Thesis statement 295
d. Suitable treatment 296
e. Suitable tone 297
f. Planning and organizing 297
g. Topic outline 300
h. Sentence outline 302
i. Detail 302
Building a Theme: A Case Study 306
j . Check list of essentials 324
xiv Contents
The Research Paper 334
59 Writing a Research Paper 334
a. Choosing and limiting a subject 335
b. Compiling a working bibliography 338
c. A variant procedure controlled research 345
d. Primary and secondary materials 346
e. Taking notes 347
f. Outlining 356
g. Principles of documentation 357
h. Mechanics of documentation: footnotes, bibliography 360
i. Writing the paper 365
Specimen Student Research Paper: "The Piltdown Hoax" 367
Clear Thinking 398
60 Avoiding Errors in Content and Thought 398
a. Accurate data 398
b. Reliable authority 399
c. Sweeping generalizations 400
d. Specific evidence 401
e. Representative instances 401
f. Sticking to the point 402
g. Conflicting evidence 402
h. Begging the question 403
i. Unstated assumptions 404
j. Appeal to emotions 405
k. Cause and effect 406
1. Moderation 406
m. Adequate alternatives 407
Glossary 410
61 Glossary 410
INDEX 433
INDEX OF CORRECTION SYMBOLS 449
Contents xv
To the Student
Read this before your first assignment!
On the first day of your course in composition, it may seem
to you that all the problems of writing have been deposited on
your desk at once. This feeling is not unjustified. Even in your
first theme you will have to draw on a wide variety of skills in
the use of written English. In no other course are you expected
to know so much at the beginning, for in no other course do you
have as much background about seventeen years of experi-
ence with the subject, the English language. But even with
your past experience, in a new course you cannot predict what
errors you will make, what rules you will violate, what skills
you will need to acquire or to polish. Spelling, punctuation,
diction, sentence structure, or organization may be your par-
ticular weakness. You may tend to write short, undeveloped
paragraphs or sentences: the first of these problems will send
you to a chapter late in this book ; the second, to a section at
the beginning. Since anything and everything may be involved
in your early themes, you will know what you most need to
study only after you have done some writing in the course.
Properly speaking, therefore, this book has no beginning and
no ending. It does have a logical progression, starting with
"first aid" on the kind of sentence errors most likely to be made
at the beginning of the course. Grammatical usages, conven-
tions of punctuation and of manuscript form, the effective use
of words, the handling of larger units of composition, and the
xv i
elements of clear thinking are treated in turn. No handbook
can comprehensively cover every problem in writing, and this
one does not pretend to. But it does give you the rules, con-
ventions, and procedures that are fundamental to good writing.
In general, this book assumes that you have an elementary
knowledge of grammatical principles that you know the
parts of speech, for example. The emphasis, accordingly, is not
on terms and definitions but on what to do and how to do it.
In the first weeks of a course in composition, students need
to adjust to the individual instructor and to understand his
function. The instructor who marks your themes is probably
the last objective, knowledgeable critic of your writing that
you will ever have. A close friend, now and in later life, will
usually overrate your abilities or will hesitate to strain friend-
ship by telling you what he really thinks of your writing. Other
people simply will not have the inclination or the time to criti-
cize your work constructively or in detail. The student should
learn by his errors before he becomes a business or professional
man who cannot write well, and the student-instructor relation-
ship gives an unparalleled opportunity for this learning. Some
students fear that the instructor, with his seemingly arbitrary
requirements and his concern for rules, will stifle the creative
spirit. The truly creative writer is able to accept limitations
when necessary and to express his individuality within them.
In early themes students often encounter problems of diction,
the level or kind of language used. The best general principle
is to use language acceptable to the audience. Although a col-
lege theme is usually read only by the instructor, you should
work on the assumption that you are writing for a wider circle
of readers. In your first papers, written perhaps before you
have had an opportunity to study the chapter on diction
(pages 182-214), you should consciously avoid slang, cliches,
and the quite informal language you use with those of your own
To the Student xvii
age. At the other extreme, stilted and flowery language is
equally objectionable, because it is too artificial to communicate
well. Try to write as if you were making a plain, formal, but
unoratorical talk to an audience (not a class) of twenty or more
adult citizens in a conference room in a public library. Avoid
speaking directly to your reader as an individual in your
themes. Such direct address destroys the presumption that you
have an audience of more than one, and it tends to make the
reader uncomfortable.
The subjects of papers (see pages 287-291) may range from
an autobiographical account of a significant event in your
childhood to a philosophical discussion of existentialism in the
theater. The essential thing is to write on the assigned topic
(or subject area) and develop it in the manner required. Most
courses begin with rather simple subjects, usually related to
personal experiences, and progress to more intellectual ones,
often related to reading done in the course. Even the simplest
subject, however, may be treated with imagination and made
fresh and interesting to a reader. The process of writing can
itself enable a writer to perceive things which he has never
understood before.
The writing of your theme is only part of the assignment.
When your instructor returns your paper, he will have marked
it for errors. You should then revise your paper to correct these
errors. One method of revising is shown on the following pages:
the correction is neatly written above the error. If more
thoroughgoing revision is necessary, your instructor will tell
you how he wishes you to proceed.
The instructor may point out an error by writing in the
margin of your paper the number of the appropriate section of
this book (see page xx). For example, if he writes "15a" beside
one of your sentences, look up section 15a. The table of con-
tents, pages vii-xv, together with the guide numbers at the
xviii To the Student
tops of the pages, will help you find the section quickly. You
will discover that section 15a discusses dangling constructions.
Read it carefully; be sure you understand what a dangling
construction is, why your sentence is so marked, and how you
can correct it.
Or the instructor may point out an error by using a correction
symbol (see page xxi) * A list of these symbols is given inside the
cover and also on pages 449-452. Thus you will find that "dg"
means "dangling construction," discussed on pages 61-63.
By either method of correction you will be directed to the
pages of this handbook that will help you identify your mistakes
and show you how to correct them.
When you revise and correct papers which have been graded
and returned to you, be sure to follow the directions given by
your instructor. If you need to rewrite a long sentence or a
paragraph, he may request that you do so on an inserted page
or on the back of a page of your manuscript. Conscientious
correction and revision will help you to avoid similar errors in
later papers, especially if you study the rules and understand
the changes you are asked to make. It may turn out to be the
most rewarding work you will do in your composition course.
To the Student xix
^
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XXI
Practical
English
Handbook
First Aid for Sentences
A sentence must have a subject and a verb, and it must be
capable of standing alone. To be effective it must also show by
its structure the relationships among the ideas it expresses; that
is, it must make proper use of coordination and subordination.
Sections 1-6 discuss the most common sentence faults and
point out how to avoid or correct them.
FRAGMENTS
A student leaving home for the first time, enter-
ing college, facing many new responsibilities
The arrangement of a schedule, the adjustment
to new friends, the management of his budget
No parents calling him several times before he
gets out of bed each morning.
Teachers who merely make assignments without
reminding the student to study.
That he should spend a certain amount of time
on each unit of work.
Noun phis present par-
ticiple, three times; no
subject-verb structure
Noun plus prepos itional
phrase, three times; no
subject-verb structure
Noun plus verbal plus
dependent clause; no
independent clause
Noun plus "who"
clause; no independent
clause
Dependent "that" clause
should not stand alone
Because the freshman must become a man, live
independently, and think for himself.
Clause made dependent
by "Because"; should
not stand alone
2 First Aid for Sentences
Sentence Fragment
In general, avoid sentence fragments in college writing.
A fragment is a part of a sentence written as a complete sen-
tence. It can be a dependent clause, a phrase, or any other word
group which violates the accepted sentence pattern. The prin-
cipal objection to fragments is that they often reflect incom-
plete and perhaps confused thinking.
Compare the fragments on the left below with the revisions
on the right.
Participks made verbs
Fragment made part of
first sentence with colon
COMPLETE SENTENCES
When a student leaves home for the first time
and enters college, he faces many new responsi-
bilities:-
^the arrangement of a schedule, the adjustment to
new friends, the management of his budget.
Subject and verb
added
"Who" omitted; "make"
attached to "teachers"
Clause changed to
phrase and made part
of preceding sentence
"Because 11 omitted;
clause stands alone
He cannot depend on his parents to call him
several times before he gets out of bed each
morning.
Teachers merely make assignments without re-
minding the student to study ^
anv
^to s
spend a certain amount of time on each unit
of work.
The freshman must become a man, live inde-
pendently, and think for himself.
Sentence Fragment 3
Fragments occur frequently in conversation when the mean-
ing is clear from the context.
CONVERSATION "Do you study harcP"
"Yes. Sometimes. Especially when the assignments
are long."
"Got a match?"
"Here."
"Thanks."
Written dialogue often uses fragments to reproduce the
patterns of informal speech.
Sometimes fragments are used in more formal kinds of writing
for special effect or emphasis.
FICTION He stood naked and alone in darkness, far from the lost world
of the streets and faces; he stood upon the ramparts of his
soul, before the lost land of himself; heard inland murmurs
of lost seas, the far interior music of the horns. The last
voyage, the longest, the best.
Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward, Angel 1
The incomplete sentence at the end of this passage contrasts
effectively with the long, formally constructed sentence that
precedes it.
EXPOSITION It is one of the loveliest of stories. So much irony; so much
humour; so kind and understanding; and wrapped up in
the most delicate poetic mood.
Sean OTaolain, The Short Story*
Reprinted by permission of Charles Scribner's Sons, publishers.
2 Reprinted by permission of the Devin-Adair Company, publishers
4 First Aid for Sentences
XJ4- 2
This long and carefully constructed fragment lacks subject and
verb ("It has" or "It contains"), but these are immediately
clear from context. There is a vast difference between such
clearly intentional constructions as those above and the point-
less disregard of pattern in the fragments on page 2.
Comma Splice /C4-
Do not use a comma by itself between independent clauses
which are not joined by a coordinating conjunction (and/ but/
or, nor, for, yef, so).
Use of a comma alone is a comma splice, or comma fault,
a failure to recognize the line between independent clauses.
Comma splices may be corrected in four principal ways:
(1) Use a period and write two sentences.
(2) Use a semicolon.
(3) Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction.
(4) Make one of the clauses dependent.
(See also 25b, on the colon.)
COMMA SPLICE
Human nature is seldom as simple as it appears to be, hasty
judgments are therefore often wrong.
CORRECTIONS
(1) Human nature is seldom as simple as it appears to be. Hasty
judgments are therefore often wrong.
(2) Human nature is seldom as simple as it appears to be; hasty
judgments are therefore often wrong.
Comma Splice 5
(3) Human nature is seldom as simple as it appears to be, and
hasty judgments are therefore often wrong.
(4) Because human nature is seldom as simple as it appears to be,
hasty judgments are therefore often wrong.
In any sentence, one or two solutions may be more appropriate
than others. Here (1), (2), and (4) seem preferable to (3).
When possible, subordinate one of the clauses or reduce it to
a phrase or even a single word. In (4), one of the independent
clauses is made a dependent adverbial clause. The sentence
might also be rewritten as follows:
ADVERBIAL CLAUSE Human nature is so complex that hasty judgments
are often wrong.
(or)
PHRASE Hasty judgments often overlook the complexities
of human nature.
Before conjunctive adverbs (however, moreover, therefore,
furthermore, etc.) use a semicolon to join independent clauses.
The rare book had a torn flyleaf; therefore it was advertised at
a reduced price.
Although experienced writers occasionally use only a comma
between brief and closely related independent clauses, you
would do well to avoid this practice.
Fused Sentence
Avoid fused sentences, that is, two sentences written to-
gether as if they were one.
A fused sentence occurs when two independent clauses have
no punctuation and no coordinating conjunction between them.
6 First Aid for Sentences
With no separation the clauses blur into each other. A fused
sentence confuses and annoys the reader more than a comma
splice.
FUSED Human nature is seldom as simple as it appears to be hasty
judgments are therefore often wrong.
Fused sentences may be corrected in the same ways as a comma
splice. (See 2.)
EXERCISES
(1) Point out the complete sentences in the following paragraphs.
(2) Point out the sentence fragments, comma splices, and fused sentences;
copy the paragraph and correct these errors.
A
When I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among
my comrades in our village on the west bank of the Mississippi River.
To be a steamboatman. We had transient ambitions of other sorts,
however they were only transient. When a circus came and went, it
left us all burning to become clowns, the first Negro minstrel show that
ever came to our section left us all suffering to try that kind of life
now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would
permit us to be pirates. These ambitions fading out, each in its turn.
The ambition to be a steamboatman always remaining.
Adapted from Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi
Fused Sentence 7
3
u -
B
The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess. But a very
difficult one to acquire. It can hardly be reduced to rules your own
good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can. "Do
as you would be done by" is the surest method that I know of pleasing.
Observe carefully what pleases you in others, probably the same things
in you will please others. If you are pleased with the complaisance and
attention of others to your humours, your tastes, or your weaknesses.
Depend upon it, the same complaisance and attention on your part
to theirs will equally please them. Take the tone of the company that
you are in do not pretend to give it, be serious, gay, or even trifling,
as you find the present humour of the company, this is an attention
due from every individual to the majority. Do not tell stories in com-
pany there is nothing more tedious and disagreeable, if by chance you
know a very short story, and exceedingly applicable to the present
subject of conversation, tell it in as few words as possible, even then,
throw out that you do not love to tell stories. But that the shortness
of it tempted you.
Adapted from Lord Chesterfield, iMters to His Son
8 First Aid for Sentences
Choppy Sentences
In general, do not write a number of short, simple sentences
in succession.
Short and choppy sentences not only become monotonous but
fail to express thought relationships: cause, condition, conces-
sion, time sequence, purpose, and so on.
CHOPPY He wanted a college education. He was a good student.
His family was poor. The college gave him a scholarship.
Recognizing and expressing the relationships among these
thoughts can give one sentence in which three of the independ-
ent sentences are reduced to phrases:
IMPROVED The college gave him a scholarship because he needed
money, wanted an education, and was an excellent
student.
In the following sentences, choppiness can be avoided by com-
bining independent clauses and by using more dependent
clauses:
CHOPPY
That year the rains were heavy.
They drowned out the crops.
Jeff struck our last match.
The gust of wind was strong.
It blew out our match.
Mary dropped listlessly into the
hammock.
She said that she was bored to
death.
IMPROVED
That year the heavy rains
drowned out the crops.
Just as Jeff struck our last match,
a strong gust of wind blew it
out.
Mary dropped listlessly into the
hammock and said she was
bored to death; but her grand-
mother, who was unsympa-
Choppy Sentences 9
Her grandmother was unsym- thetic, replied that children of
pathetic. her generation were too busy to
She said that children of her gen- be bored,
eration were not bored.
They were too busy to be bored.
Particularly in exposition, constant use of short and simple
sentences sketches your thought but leaves unexpressed the finer
relationships between ideas. The reader must then figure out
these relationships for himself, and he will almost certainly miss
some of them.
EXERCISES
Make one sentence out of each of the groups below.
Main Street is a novel by Sinclair Lewis.
It was published in 1920.
It is a satire.
It condemns a typical small town, Gopher Prairie.
It attacks conventional, middle-class life throughout the country.
Carol Kennicott is the heroine.
She expresses Lewis's views.
She hopes to reform the town.
She is ultimately frustrated by the conventional and unresponsive
citizenry.
iO First Aid for Sentences
Lewis satirizes the residents of Gopher Prairie.
He says that they are smug and self-satisfied.
In his opinion they are shallow hypocrites.
His primary indictment is that they are dull.
He says that they have made dullness their god.
B
Improve the following passage by combining choppy sentences into more
fully developed ones.
Carol had walked for thirty-two minutes. She had completely
covered the town. She had walked east and west, north and south.
She stood at the corner of Main Street and Washington Avenue. She
despaired.
Main Street had Lwo-story brick shops. Its wooden residences were
a story-and-a-half tall. From concrete walk to walk the street was a
muddy expanse. Fords and lumber-wagons huddled on it. It was too
small to absorb her. The broad, straight gashes of the streets were
unenticing. They let in the grasping prairie on every side. She realized
the vastness of the land It was empty. A few blocks away stood a
skeleton iron windmill. It was on a farm at the north end of Main
Street It was like the ribs of a dead cow. She thought of the coming
Choppy Sentences 11
of the Northern winter. The unprotected houses would crouch together.
They would be in terror of storms. The storms would gallop out of
that wild waste. They were small and weak. They were little brown
houses. They were shelters for sparrows. They were not homes for
warm laughing people.
Adapted from Sinclair Lewis, Main Street*
Excessive Coordination X
Avoid strings of short clauses connected by one/, and so/
buf, or, nor, for, yef, so.
Too many short clauses connected by coordinating conjunc-
tions are monotonous and often misleading. Too much coordi-
nation may obscure or distort meaning by failing to express
relationships between thoughts. English is rich in subordinating
connectives, both prepositions and conjunctions, and a major
skill in writing is the ability to use them.
STRINGY This mountain is six thousand feet high, and it is only four
miles from the airport, and the field is not a very large
one, but no plane has ever crashed on it.
If the final clause is to be stressed, make it the independent
clause in a complex sentence retaining one and.
3 Adapted for this exercise by permission of the publishers, Harcourt,
Brace and Company, Inc.
12 First A id for Sentences
X
CJT 5
IMPROVED Although this mountain is six thousand feet high and only
four miles from the small airport, no plane has ever
crashed on it.
STRINGY The Senator was a liberal, and so he was in favor of the
welfare program, and the new tax bill seemed to him in-
adequate, and so he voted against it.
IMPROVED Being a liberal and feeling that the new tax bill was in-
adequate to support the welfare program, the Senator
voted against it. (The first two clauses above have been
subordinated here and shortened; the participles being
and feeling modify the Senator.}
EXERCISE
Correct excessive coordination in the following by subordinating some
of the ideas.
Yesterday I was sitting at the breakfast table, and I was talking to
a young freshman. I have a vital interest in him; so I was talking to
him about his next year's course. I suggested a subject, and told him
I thought it would be good for him to take. "Is it easy?" was his first
question, but I answered in the negative, and his interest waned. We
must in tune work in the world, and it has few easy roads. It has few
"snap" courses. We shall be forced to do a great many hard things.
If I were a freshman I should learn to do such things early.
Adapted from Thomas Arkle Clark, "If I Were a Freshman Again" 4
4 Adapted for this exercise from The American College Magazine, July,
1910.
Excessive Coordination 13
Faulty Subordination
Express the main thought in the main clause and minor
thoughts in subordinate constructions. Avoid a series of over-
lapping subordinate constructions.
Sections 4 and 5 suggest ways to subordinate for variety and
emphasis. Below are two pitfalls to avoid in deciding which
thoughts should be subordinated.
OQ Do not express the main thought of a sentence in
a subordinate clause.
The main thought belongs in the main clause. Expressing the
main thought in a dependent construction is called upside-
down subordination.
In the following sentence, the main thought is that a child
was killed.
ACCURATE The child was killed as he ran across the street.
DISTORTED The child ran across the street as he was killed.
But if the important thought is the manner of the child's death,
the sentence might read :
The child was running across the street when he was killed.
OD Avoid a series of overlapping subordinate construc-
tions, in which each depends on the last.
Monotony and confusion result from a stair-step sentence,
in which a number of constructions begin with who, which, that,
for, and of.
i4 First A id for Sentences
6b
Othello is a play
which tells about a dark Moor
who loved the Venetian girl Desdemona
who was innocent of the sin of adultery
that he accused her of
after lago had aroused his suspicions.
IMPROVED The play Othello tells the story of a dark Moor's love for
the innocent Venetian girl Desdemona and of his ac-
cusing her of adultery after lago had aroused his sus-
picions.
The structure of this sentence may be plotted thus:
.of a dark Moor's love for the
innocent Venetian girl Desdemona
The play Othello tells the story and
^of his accusing her of adultery
after lago had aroused his
suspicions.
STILL BETTER In the play, Othello accuses his beloved and innocent
Desdemona of adultery because lago has aroused
his suspicions.
This sentence breaks into three simple parts.
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE In the play,
Faulty Subordination 15
6b
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE Othello accuses his beloved and innocent
Desdemona of adultery
ADVERBIAL CLAUSE because lago has aroused his suspicions.
Writing effective sentences depends largely on the ability to
sense relationships and to express them accurately.
EXERCISES
Rewrite the following paragraph; avoid excessive overlapping subordi-
nation.
It is not possible to make the very best cheese in vast quantities at
a low average cost because "scientific sampling" got in its statistically
nasty work, which found that the largest number of people will buy
something that is bland and rather tasteless. Those who prefer a prod-
uct of a pronounced and individualistic flavor have a variety of prefer-
ences, although nobody is altogether pleased by bland foodstuff, in
other words; even though nobody is very violently put off with the
result that a "reason" has been found for turning out zillions of pack-
ages of something that will "do" for nearly all and isn't even imagined
to be superlatively good by a single soul!
Adapted from Philip Wylie, "Science Has Spoiled My Supper" 5
5 Adapted for this exercise from The Atlantic Monthly, April, 1954; by
permission.
1 6 First A id for Sentences
6b
B
The following is an exercise in thinking and relationships \ designed to
point up differences in meaning that result from subordination. The idea
or the emphasis of a sentence may change if the subordination of the
clauses is reversed. Answer the questions which follow each pair of sen-
tences. Be ready to support your answers in discussion.
1. A. Although Lincoln was born in a log cabin, he became President.
B. Despite the fact that Lincoln was President, he was born in a
log cabin.
Which of these sentences might be spoken by a snob?
Which by a person who admired achievement?
2. A. While Hawthorne lived as a recluse, he spent his time studying
to become a writer.
B. Hawthorne lived as a recluse for years while he was studying to
become a writer.
Which of these sentences would be more likely to appear in
an essay which stresses the intimate details of the author's
life?
3. A. Just as he turned the corner of the building, he caught a glimpse
of his wife.
B. He was just turning the corner of the building when he caught
a glimpse of his wife.
In which sentence is the place where he saw her more im-
portant than seeing her?
In which sentence is the glimpsing of his wife more im-
portant?
4. A. Because millions of students enrolled in college, standards were
lowered.
B. Because standards were lowered, millions of students enrolled
in college.
Faulty Subordination 17
6b
In which sentence does the writer believe that mass edu-
cation lowers standards?
In which does the writer believe that students seek the easy
way?
5. A. Although most people give lip service to the idea of progress,
they are aware that the character of men never changes.
B. Although the character of men never changes, most people give
lip service to the idea of progress.
Which would be the more appropriate topic sentence for an
essay on morals?
6. A. Many people who came to the New World had a dream of
freedom.
B. Many people who had a dream of freedom came to the New
World.
What seems to be the most significant idea in these two
sentences?
Which sentence stresses it more?
18 First A id for Sentences
The Forms of
Words
Like some other languages, English once had an extensive
system of endings and other changes in word form which showed
the relationships between words within sentences. Many nouns,
for instance, had one ending when used as a subject (Old English
seonu, sinew) and another when used as an object (seonwe).
Most of these changes, called inflections, have long since dis-
appeared, though pronouns still have functional forms (/, me;
they, them), and there are some distinct verb forms (go, goes; ran,
ran; went, gone). But these are only fragments of a once exten-
sive system of complex grammatical relationships. Today,
changes in the forms of words occur chiefly in connection with
four parts of speech: verbs, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs. 1
The following sections (7-14) treat these changes.
are of course inflected for the plural and the possessive (boy,
boys, boy's, boys 1 ), but the problems arising from these changes are matters
of mechanics as much as of grammar and are therefore discussed under
Spelling (33e) and The Apostrophe (35)
The Forms of Words 19
Verb Forms
Mr
All forms of a verb are built upon the three principal parts:
the present infinitive (without to), the past tense form, and the
past participle.
English verbs are regular or irregular.
Regular verbs (such as help, talk, nail, open, close) form the
past tense and the past participle by adding -d or -ed or some-
times -t (as in burnt, dwell). Thus the principal parts of the verb
to close are close, closed, closed; those of to talk are talk, talked,
talked.
Irregular verbs usually form the past tense and the past
participle by a change in the root vowel: drink, drank, drunk.
Consult a dictionary when in doubt; if only the infinitive form
is given, the verb is regular. For an irregular verb like think,
the dictionary also gives thought (the form of the past tense and
the past participle) and thinking (the present participle). The
principal parts are think, thought, thought. For a verb as irregular
as see, the dictionary lists all three principal parts: see, saw,
seen. The principal parts of the most troublesome verbs should
be so familiar to you that you automatically use them correctly.
Cover the two right columns in the list below and recite the principal
parts of these verbs. Check your errors. Study those you missed.
PRINCIPAL PARTS OF SOME TROUBLESOME VERBS
INFINITIVE PAST J^SNSE PAST PARTICIPLE
j[
^ , Jawokefiasyaked^
be
20 The Forms of Words
INFINITIVE
( > PASTTENSE^
begin
Sfcegs^
bid (to offer as a price
^bidl)
or to make a bid in
playing cards)
bid (to command,
^bao9,^d^
order)
blow
MgjJ>
burst
''ISurst
choose
chose i
come
/came
do
diet;
deal
ftealt,, -
dive
tfive^jlove>
drag
dragged
draw
drew
drink
drank
drive
drove
drown
drowned
fall
fell
freeze
froze
give
gave
grow
grew
hang (to execute)
hanged
hang (to suspend)
hung
know
knew
lead
led
lend
lent
ring
rang
run
ran
see
saw
shine (to give light)
shone
shine (to polish)
shined
shrink
shrank, shrunk
sing
sang
PAST PARTICIPLE
begun
bid
bidden, bid
blown
burst
chosen
come
done
dealt
dived
dragged
drawn
drunk
driven
drowned
fallen
frozen
given
grown
hanged
hung
known
led
lent
rung
run
seen
shone
shined
shrunk, shrunken
sung
Verb Forms 21
8
INFINITIVE PAST TENSE PAST PARTICIPLE
sink sank, sunk sunk
swim swam swum
swing swung swung
take took taken
write wrote written
In a few confusing pairs of verbs, it helps to remember that
one is transitive (takes a direct object) and that the other is
intransitive (does not take a direct object):
TRANSITIVE lay (to place) laid laid
INTRANSITIVE lie (to recline) lay lain
TRANSITIVE set (place in position) set set
INTRANSITIVE sit (be seated) sat sat
TRANSITIVE raise (lift) raised raised
INTRANSITIVE rise (get up) rose risen
It may be helpful to remember that the intransitive verbs above
have the root vowel i in the present tense: lie, sit, rise.
Set also has some important intransitive forms: a hen sets;
concrete sets; the sun sets.
Lie (to tell a falsehood) is intransitive like lie (to recline) but
has different principal parts: lie, lied, lied.
Tense and Sequence of Tenses
For each of the three time designations present, past,
and future English verbs have three major tense forms:
simple, progressive, and perfect.
22 The Forms of Words
8
SIMPLE
Present
Past
Future
PROGRESSIVE 2
Present
Past
Future
PERFECT
Present
Past
Future
IRREGULAR
I go
I went
I shall (or will) go
I am going
I was going
I shall (or will) be going
I have gone
I had gone
I shall (or will) have gone
REGULAR
I walk
I walked
I shall (or will) walk
I am walking
I was walking
I shall (or will) be walking
I have walked
I had walked
I shall (or will) have walked
In general, the present, past, and future tenses express
present, past, and future times respectively, but there are ex-
ceptions. Compare the following:
I eat lunch. (Simple present with the force of repeated or
habitual action.)
I am eating lunch. (Present progressive present action.)
I leave for New York tomorrow. (Present tense future action.)
I am leaving in fifteen minutes. (Present progressive future
action.)
As the last two examples illustrate, the time expressed by the
tense form is often qualified or altered by an adverb or ad-
verbial phrase.
2 0nly the simple progressive forms are given here. There are in addition
the forms with the auxiliary do (I do go, etc.), and the perfect forms (/ have
been going, I shall have been going, etc )
Tense and Sequence of Tenses 23
8
The three perfect tenses indicate time or action completed
before another time or action and are used in well-defined se-
quences. Study the following illustrations:
PRESENT PERFECT IS USED WITH PRESENT
I have bought my ticket, and I am waiting for the bus.
I have bought my ticket already. (Note that the controlling time
word need not be a verb.)
PAST PERFECT IS USED WITH PAST
I had bought my ticket, and I was waiting for the bus.
I had bought my ticket before three o'clock.
FUTURE PERFECT IS USED WITH FUTURE
I shall have eaten by the time we go. (The controlling word, go, is
a present tense form but has future force.)
I shall have eaten by one o'clock.
The future perfect is formal and rare. It is more common to
use the simple future tense to describe future perfect action with
a controlling verb, another word, or a phrase having future force.
RARE I shall have eaten before you go.
MORE COMMON I shall eat before you go.
I shall eat before your departure.
In conversation, present tense is often used for the future or
the future perfect.
"When will you eat lunch?"
"I eat before the plane leaves." (shall eat or shall have eaten)
In general, relationships between verbs and expressions of
time should be logical and consistent.
54 The Forms of Words
8
TWO PAST ACTIONS
The sailor stood on the shore and threw pebbles at the seagulls.
(Not throws.)
He turned away when he saw me watching him.
TWO PRESENT ACTIONS
As the school year draws to a close, the students are swept into a
whirl of activities.
FUTURE ACTIONS
We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the
hills; we shall never surrender. (Winston Churchill)
Again there are exceptions. Statements of natural truth or
scientific law are generally in the present tense regardless of the
controlling verb.
In 1851, Foucault's pendulum gave convincing proof that the
earth rotates on its axis.
BUT Ancient Greek scholars believed that the earth was motionless.
Verbals (infinitives, gerunds, participles verb forms which
function as other parts of speech) are generally in the present
tense when they express action which occurs at the same time
as that of the controlling verb.
I wanted to go.
NOT I wanted to have gone.
I had expected to meet my friends at the game.
NOT I had expected to have met my friends at the game.
I would have preferred to wait until they came.
NOT I would have preferred to have waited until they came.
An exception is the perfect participle, a formal way to express
an action which precedes another action.
Tense and Sequence of Tenses 25
8
Having completed the operation, the surgeon left at noon.
BUT NOT After having completed the operation, the surgeon left at
noon. (After is redundant repetitious; the perfect par-
ticiple expresses the idea by itself.)
EXERCISE
Choose the correct form of the verb in the following sentences.
1. The book (lay, laid) gathering dust on the shelf four years, and
the porcelain egrets (set, sat) undisturbed.
2. The reporter preferred (to write, to have written) the column in
collaboration with the editor.
3. The deeds had been (laying, lying) on the desk since Mr. Maule
carefully (had lay, had laid, had lain) them there forty years before.
4. (Having sailed, After having sailed, Sailing) for thirty years, the
ancient mariner wished (to retire, to have retired).
5. The dog (has carried, carried) the paper to the porch already.
6. The broker had expected (to sell, to have sold) the stock before
the recession came.
7. By next month I shall have (know, knew, known, knowed) him
for four years.
8. A heavy rain makes the river (rise, raise) rapidly; last week it
(raised, rose, risen) to flood level.
9. Carefully (laid, lain) away was every letter which Algernon had
ever written her.
10. He was heartbroken to learn that his friend (died, had died) only
the day before.
11. Galileo demonstrated that a light body (falls, fell) as rapidly as
a heavy one.
12. He (sat, set) the chair in the shade of the tree and (sat, set)
down.
13. When the water boy (came, come) onto the field, the players all
(drank, drunk) from the old tin dipper.
14. After the heavy meal, the audience (dozed, had dozed) while the
speaker droned on about how overeating (kills, has killed) many
Americans every year.
26 The Forms of Words
AJTT
Voice /V7T
In general, make your verbs active rather than passive. The
active voice is usually more direct and forceful than the
passive.
A transitive verb may be either active or passive. When the
subject performs the action, the verb is active. If the subject
is acted upon, the verb is passive. In most sentences the actor
is more important than the receiver of the action. Note the loss
of emphasis when the voice of the verb is changed from active
to passive in the following sentences.
ACTIVE The luxury liner jammed into the giant iceberg.
PASSIVE The giant iceberg was jammed into by the luxury liner.
ACTIVE The Ferrari ran a good race.
PASSIVE A good race was run by the Ferrari.
The passive is useful when the performer of an action is un-
known or irrelevant; when the emphasis is on the receiver, the
verb, or even a modifier; or when, as in technical writing, a tone
of objectivity is desirable. In the following passive sentences,
the performers of the actions (subjects in active sentences) do
not appear; the emphasis is intentionally placed on the ideas
expressed by the italicized words.
The race was run in record time.
The match was played brilliantly.
Behind the Iron Curtain, democratic elections are forbidden.
The police were totally baffled.
Readings were taken at half-hour intervals during the first forty-
eight hours.
Voice 27
10
Examine carefully every passive construction you write. De-
cide whether the passive helps to place emphasis where it should
or whether it is merely weak and wordy.
Mood
The mood (or mode) of a verb indicates how an action is
thought of as fact, command, wish, or condition contrary
to fact.
Modern English has three moods: the indicative, for ordi-
nary statements and questions; the imperative, for commands;
and the subjunctive, now used in only a few situations to
indicate wish, command, or condition contrary to fact.
INDICATIVE He stays with me.
Does he want to go with you?
IMPERATIVE Stay with me.
Let us pray.
SUBJUNCTIVE I wish he were going with you.
If this be true, no man ever loved.
It is necessary that he stay absolutely quiet.
The imperative is like the indicative present tense without ->$.
The commonest subjunctive forms are were and be. All others
are like the present-tense form without -s.
lUd Use the subjunctive to express commands, requests,
wishes, and conditions that are improbable or contrary to
fact.
28 The Forms of Words
10a
The subjunctive verb form (in this case, usually be) is used in
/Aa/-clauses after such verbs and verbal expressions as insist,
urge, require, request, ask, order, demand, beg, is necessary, and
is important.
It is important that the Steering Committee be notified at once of
any new developments.
I move that the meeting be adjourned.
The minister requested that each member of the congregation
remain in his seat.
The subjunctive is used in clauses expressing wishes and con-
ditions that are improbable or contrary to fact.
I wish that he were here.
Would that he were here!
// 1 were you, I would finish school before getting married.
//a causeway were built, more tourists would come to the island.
Were a causeway built, more tourists would come to the island.
But the indicative, not the subjunctive, is used in tf-clauses
expressing ordinary conditions.
If a causeway is built next year, more tourists will come to the
island.
If it rains, the picnic will be postponed.
I'll go if he goes.
Auxiliary verbs like should, would, may, and might are often
used to avoid subjunctive constructions.
// he should receive a traveling scholarship, he would go to Italy.
I wish that I might go too.
It is well to avoid the subjunctive if the same idea can be
expressed more naturally or economically by rephrasing.
Mood 29
lOb
It is necessary that repairs on the church be started at once.
(Subjunctive)
It is necessary to start repairs on thel
church at once. I (Statement recast in
Repairs on the church must be started | indicative mood)
at once. J
I UD The tense and mood of the verb in the if-clause
govern the verb in the following clause.
If I am wrong, I will admit my error.
If I were wrong, I would admit my error.
If I had been wrong, I would have admitted my error.
EXERCISE
Use the proper form of the verb to be in each of the blanks below.
1. Whenever a stoic suffers, he acts as if he unmoved.
2. If the ruts deep, the axles would drag.
3. If the ruts deep, the axles will drag.
4. When the captain saw the fog, he said he wished the ship
already at sea.
5. The overseer hopes that the crop planted before the
rains come.
6. Although he was sober, he staggered as if he drunk.
7. It is necessary that dinner ready when the guests
arrive.
8. this statement true, he would have to change his entire
argument.
30 The Forms of Words
9. The driver was unable to tell whether his tail light
or off.
10. If he _ not sick, I would demand that he
work on time every morning.
11
on
at
Agreement Subject and Verb
A verb should agree with its subject in number and in
person.
The only English verb still extensively inflected for person
and number is to be:
1st person 2nd person 3rd person
PRESENT
Singular
Plural
I am
we are
you are
you are
he is
they are
PAST
Singular
Plural
I was
we were
you were
you were
he was
they were
FUTURE
Singular
Plural
I shall be
we shall be
you will be
you will be
he will be
they will be
To be is inflected in the same way when used as an auxiliary:
he was seen, they are seen, we shall be seen. (The distinction
between shall and will indicated above is now seldom observed
in speech and less and less often in writing. Will is increasingly
used in all persons.)
Other verbs are inflected for person and number only in the
Agreement Subject and Verb 31
lid
third person singular present, though all verbs are inflected for
tense:
2nd
3rd
3rd
you run
you run
he runs
they run
he walks
they walk
you ran
you ran
he ran
they ran
he walked
they walked
1st
PRESENT
Singular I run
Plural we run
PAST
Singular 1 ran
Plural we ran
FUTURE
Singular I shall run you will run he will run he will walk
Plural we shall run you will run they will run they will walk
The -s or -es ending of the third-person present-tense form of
the verb is a sign of the singular; the -s or -es ending of a noun
is a sign of the plural.
The dog barks. The ax does cut.
The dogs bark. The axes do cut.
Most errors in agreement of subject and verb occur with com-
pound subjects or when a noun between subject and verb has
a different number from the subject.
lid A compound subject with and takes a plural verb.
Two or more subjects connected by a coordinating conjunc-
tion are said to be compound.
Work and play are good for every college student during vacations.
Baseball and swimming are my favorite summer sports.
32 The Forms of Words
lie
EXCEPTION: Compound subjects connected by and but ex-
pressing a singular idea take a singular verb.
The secretary and treasurer of the corporation plans to spend his
vacation in Europe. (One person holds both offices.)
The tumult and the shouting dies. (Kipling)
lib After a compound subject with or, nor, either . . .
or, neither . . . nor, not . . . hut, the verb agrees in num-
ber and person with the nearer part of the subject.
NUMBER Neither the farmer nor the businessman is pleased by higher
taxes.
Either the marbles or the knife is first prize.
Either the knife or the marbles are first prize.
^\
PERSON Either you or / am mistaken.
Neither you nor your successor is affected by the new
regulation.
Because such constructions are frequently awkward, it is
usually wise to find another way of expressing the idea:
One of us is mistaken.
You and your successor are not affected by the new regulation.
MC Intervening phrases or clauses do not affect the
number of a verb.
The engine as well as the fuselage and the wings was destroyed
in the crash.
Agreement Subject and Verb 33
nd
The pilot along with all his passengers was rescued from the sea
by helicopter.
Connectives like as well as and along with are not coordinating
conjunctions but prepositions and do not form compound sub-
jects. Similar phrases that cause errors in agreement begin with
in addition to, together with, with, and including.
lid A collective noun takes a singular verb when re-
ferring to a group as a unit, a plural verb when the members
of a group are thought of individually.
A collective noun names a class or group: family, flock, jury,
congregation, etc. Meaning often determines number.
The family is going on its vacation to Florida, Maine, and
Colorado. (All go together.)
The family are going on their vacations to Florida, Maine, and
Colorado. (Separate vacations.)
I I 6 Most nouns plural in form but singular in meaning
take a singular verb.
Nouns such as economics and news are singular; others such
as Irousers and scissors are plural except when used after pair.
When in doubt, consult a dictionary.
Economics is often thought of as a science.
The news of the defeat is disappointing.
Tactics is the art of maneuvering military forces.
54 The Forms of Words
BUT Northern and Southern tactics toward the end of the Civil War
were quite different.
The data about the rocket ship is confidential.
BUT Data about the project were collected from various underground
sources.
His trousers were impressed and frayed about the cuffs.
An old pair of trousers is a prime essential for the do-it-yourself
artist.
The scissors she had were so dull they wouldn't cut butter.
If a better pair of scissors is what you want, take these.
Ill Indefinite pronouns such as each/ either/ neither/
one, no one/ everyone, someone/ anyone/ nobody/
everybody/ somebody/ anybody usually take singular
verbs.
Neither of his themes was acceptable.
Everybody has some trouble choosing a subject for an informal
essay.
Each student has picked a date for his oral report.
Each student and each instructor has agreed to follow the procedures
suggested by the honor council. (Notice here that compound
subjects joined by and and preceded by each take a singular
verb.)
11 Q Some words, such as none/ some/ part/ all/ half
(and other fractions), take a singular or a plural verb,
Agreement Subject and Verb 35
llh
depending on the meaning of the noun or pronoun which
follows.
JT singular-
Some of the sugar was spilled on the floor.
Some of the apples were spilled on the floor.
^singular
Half of the money is yours.
Half of the students are looking out the window.
None is sometimes considered singular (not one) and some-
times plural (not anyof a number) :
None ofthose accused was really responsible.
None of those accused were really responsible.
In sentences beginning "The number of," the verb is usually
singular, since numberis consideredthe subject:
The number of questions on the exam was twice as large as I
expected.
But "A number of" is considered equivalent to the adjective
some, and the following noun or pronoun controls the verb:
A number of the guests were whispering together.
llh In sentences beginning with There or Here fol-
lowed by verb and subject, the verb may be singular or
plural, depending on the subject.
There or Here is merely a device to let the subject follow the
verb, a "space filler" or expletive.
36 The Forms of Words
llj
There was a long interval between the first and the second
Crusades.
There were thirteen blackbirds perched on the fence.
Here is a thing to remember.
Here are two things to remember.
In sentences beginning with It, the verb is singular.
^>
It was many years ago.
/>
It is the boys who are to blame.
Ill A verb agrees with its subject, not with a subjective
complement.
Television and radio are his main source of pleasure.
His main source of pleasure is radio and television.
1 1 1 When a relative pronoun (wfco, w/i/c/i, that ) is
a subject, its verb has the same person and number as the
antecedent of the pronoun.
An antecedent is the word to which a pronoun refers and
which lends its meaning to the pronoun.
^ Relative _^ Verb of rela-
Antecedeni pronoun live pronoun
We who are about to die salute you.
The costumes which were worn in ;the ballet were dazzling.
*~\ /~\ /
/, who am old, must soon face^aeath.
f Agreement Subject and Verb 37
Ilk
He was one candidate who was able to carry out his campaign
pledges.
He was one of the candidates who~were able to carry out their
campaign pledges.
BUT He was the only one of the candidates who was able to carry out
his campaign pledges.
Ilk A title is singular and requires a singular verb even
if it contains plural words and plural ideas.
Men Working, by John Faulkner, describes Southern WPA
workers during the depression.
"Prunes and Prisms" was a syndicated newspaper column on
grammar and usage.
EXERCISE
Correct the errors in agreement in the following sentences. If a sentence
contains no error, write C to indicate that it is correct.
1. The increase in the number of nations in some continents are
amazing, but the textbooks in the course in international relations fail
to mention the changes.
2. Two sets of directions have been mailed out with the drill, but
neither have proved to be very effective.
3. The odor of cigarette, cigar, and pipe smoke, mingled with the
smell of hair oils, fill the shop.
38 The Forms of Words
Ilk
4. There are more people capable of filling highly specialized jobs
than there was five years ago.
5. Ethics are the study of moral philosophy and standards of
conduct.
6. This tribal custom is enforced by strict taboos, the violation of
which bring immediate death.
7. The sparks which rise from the campfire into the dark night often
stimulates the imagination.
8. Very seldom is profanity and insulting remarks heard at college
dances.
9. The increasing number of scholarships in colleges are enabling
more and more worthy students to get an education.
10. Childish sentences or dull writing are not improved by a sprink-
ling of dashes.
11. The rumor is that either you or your neighbor have written your
congressman.
12. A football team form in a huddle to decide on its next play.
13. A formal dinner and dance usually ends the year's social ac-
tivities.
14. A formal dinner and a dance usually ends the year's social
activities.
Agreement Subject and Verb 39
12
15. A formal dinner followed by a dance usually ends the year's
social activities.
16. Neither he nor you is to drive the car again before each has had
a few more lessons.
17. D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers are a landmark among the
novels of our time.
18. According to Longfellow, every one of us are able to leave foot-
prints on the sands of time.
19. None of the pages was torn, but two thirds of the print were
blurred.
20. Knowing how to play several positions are the chief character-
istic of a good utility man on a baseball team.
Agreement and Reference of Pronouns
A pronoun should agree with its antecedent in gender and
in number.
Most pronouns refer to a definite antecedent, either expressed
or understood.
12d A compound antecedent with and generally takes
a plural pronoun.
40 The Forms of Words
My brother and your sister strongly support their campus
organizations.
The secretary and the treasurer of the corporation made their
reports.
BUT The secretary and treasurer of the corporation made his report.
Omitting the before the second noun signals that one person is
both secretary and treasurer.
12b After a compound antecedent with or/ nor,
either ... or/ neither . . . nor, nof on// . . . but a/so/
a pronoun agrees with the nearer part of the antecedent.
(See11b.)
~- __
Neither the secretary of state nor his undersecretary was in his seat
at the council table.
Neither the secretary of state nor his assistants were inconsistent
in their policy.
12C A collective noun antecedent takes a singular pro-
noun when the members of the group are considered as a
unit, a plural pronoun when they are thought of individually.
(See lld.)
A UNIT The committee was charged to present its report no
later than April 1.
INDIVIDUALS The committee filed into the room and took their seats
around the conference table, some of them obviously
nervous.
Agreement and Reference of Pronouns 41
12d
1 2d Such singular antecedents as each, either, neither,
one, no one, everyone, someone, anyone, nobody,
everybody, somebody, anybody usually call for singular
pronouns. _____
Not one of the hunters felt that he had had a good day.
Everyone put his gun in the rack and went to his room to dress
for dinner.
NOTE: Use his, not the needlessly explicit his or her, in a sen-
tence like the following:
Each rider took his (not his or her) horse successfully over the
hurdles.
Which refers to animals and things. Who refers to
persons, but may be used with animals and some things
called by name. That refers to animals or things, and
sometimes to persons.
The boy who was fishing in the dirty water was barefooted.
The dog which (or that) sat beside him looked listless.
In some expressions that and who are interchangeable.
A child that (who) sucks his thumb
A woman that (who) giggles
The man that (who) sold papers on the corner
NOTE: Whose (the possessive form of who) is often used to
avoid the awkward of which, even in referring to animals and
things.
The automobile whose right front tire blew out crashed and
burned.
42 The Forms of Words
12f
12i The antecedent of a pronoun should usually be a
single word or a word group, not an implied idea and
never one of several possible ideas.
This, that, which, and it offer easy temptation to confusing
and misleading reference.
AMBIGUOUS John lost his temper, and his boss reprimanded him.
That was why he resigned.
CLEARER John resigned because he lost his temper and his boss
reprimanded him.
BETTER John resigned because his boss reprimanded him for losing
his temper.
OR John lost his temper and resigned because his boss repri-
manded him.
CONFUSED Some ballads hundreds of years old are still enjoyed
today. This is one of the differences between them and
most modern hillbilly songs.
This may refer to the fact that some old ballads are still en-
joyed, or that they are hundreds of years old; or it may refer
to the unexpressed idea that their age indicates an enduring
quality which many modern hillbilly songs do not have.
CLEAR Some ballads hundreds of years old are still enjoyed
today. It is not likely that modern hillbilly songs
will have the same enduring value.
MISLEADING The school janitor read every book on the list except
Moby-Dick, which pleased the instructor immensely.
(What pleased the instructor? The failure to read
Moby-Dick? Probably not.)
IMPROVED The instructor was pleased because the school janitor
read every book on the list except Moby-Dick.
Agreement and Reference of Pronouns %3
12g
STILL BETTER Although the school janitor did not read Moby-Dick,
the instructor was pleased because he read every-
thing else on the list.
Many fuzzy references result from starting a sentence without
foreseeing problems that come up later.
NOTE: In informal writing especially, experienced writers
sometimes let this, which, or it refer to the whole idea of an
earlier clause or phrase when no obscurity is possible.
The employee heard that his boss had described him as incom-
petent. This made him resign.
12g A pronoun should not ambiguously refer to several
possible antecedents.
AMBIGUOUS While my father and my brother John were fishing from
the small boat, he fell in.
CLEAR While my father and my brother John were fishing from
the small boat, my father fell in.
EXERCISES
Correct errors in agreement and reference of pronouns in the following
sentences. If a sentence contains no error , label it C.
1. The audience did not express their full appreciation of the intri-
cate steps of the ballerina.
2. When I replaced the sword in the scabbard, I saw to my horror
that it had been damaged.
44 The Forms of Words
12g
3. Just as the father and his little boy walked up to the clown, he
began to laugh.
4. On some campuses they will not allow you to have a car because
they cause congestion and because they have so little parking space.
5. The sideshows and the elephants, who were the chief attractions
of the circus, had been delayed by an accident.
6. It may rain, but it has its advantages.
7. In The Call of the Wild the dog Buck, who grew up in civiliza-
tion, finally reverted to the primitive and lived with wolves.
8. When the chauffeur and mechanic for the Van Holsteins won
the amateur contest, he gave up his job and relied on it to get him into
show business.
9. Through military training, the youth of America acquire a great
deal of knowledge. When he finishes his period of service, he has a
more mature mind and is able to make quick decisions.
10. Each note was so clear that their effect on the audience was
electrifying.
11. Neither the boy nor his parents were aware of the great prob-
lems which their decision had caused.
12. As a camper you must learn first to care for your equipment so
that it will care for you, which applies to most situations in life.
Agreement and Reference of Pronouns 45
12g
13. Someone dropped their pencil on the floor, and it broke the
silence.
14. He had never seen a cow barn and never tried to milk one.
15. To laugh is to cause other people to laugh, for it is pleasantly
contagious.
B
Correct errors in agreement and reference in the following sentences
If a sentence contains no error, label it C.
1. The board of directors as a whole was adamant in their decision
not to accept the resignation of the chairman.
2. Everyone should do their best to keep the countryside clean.
Neither the thoughtless camper nor the litterer deserve to use our
national parks.
3. A bachelor leads a lonely life, but they also have more freedom
to do precisely as you wish.
4. Neither snow nor rainstorms prevent the mailman from making
their appointed rounds because they are dedicated men.
5. Spring brings with it signs of renewal that make themselves
known in a thousand ways.
6. One of the most pleasant sights on our travels were the miles of
daffodils which bloom in the early spring.
46 The Forms of Words
13
7. The automobile, along with several other important inventions,
has created an incredibly complex world.
8. The noises of a barking dog or of a prowling cat often disturb
snoring sleepers even though they are not extremely loud.
9. A dusty book is one of the saddest of sights because it tells the
observer that knowledge is going to waste.
10. Either a sprinkler system or a convenient fire alarm box are
necessary in most academic buildings, especially if it is large.
Case
Case is the form of a noun or pronoun which shows its use
in its clause or sentence.
English has remnants of three cases: subjective, possessive,
and objective. Nouns are inflected for case only in the posses-
sive (father, father's). An alternative way to show possession is
with the "o/ phrase" (the house, of the house). Some pronouns,
notably the personal pronouns and the relative pronoun who,
are still fully inflected for three cases:
SUBJECTIVE (acting) I, he, she, we, they, who
POSSESSIVE (possessing) my (mine), your (yours), his, her (hers), its,
our (ours), their (theirs), whose
OBJECTIVE (acted upon) me, him, her, us, them, whom
Case 47
13a
To determine case, find how a word is used in its own clause
for example, whether it is a subject or subjective comple-
ment, a possessive, or an object.
lOQ Use the subjective case for subjects and subjective
complements.
He and I have not been inside the library this term. (Never Him
and me)
It looked as if he and I were going to be blamed. (Never him and
me)
The two guilty ones who went unpunished were you and I. (In
formal usage, not you and me)
It is I is punctiliously formal. In conversation, however, it's
me is used almost universally. It's us, it's him, and it's her are
also common usages. Colloquially, too, you and me is sometimes
used instead of you and I for the subjective complement.
Use the objective case for the object of a
preposition.
FAULTY The teacher had to choose between you and I.
RIGHT The teacher had to choose between you and me.
Between is a preposition, and you and me is a compound object.
People trying to be very proper often misguidedly use the sub-
jective case in sentences of this kind.
Be careful about the case of pronouns in constructions like
the following:
FAULTY A few of we girls learned how to cook when we went on a
camping trip.
48 The Forms of Words
13d
RIGHT A few of us girls learned how to cook when we went on a
camping trip.
If in doubt, test by dropping the noun: not of we, but of us.
13C Use the objective case for the subject or the com-
plement of an infinitive.
SUBJECT
I considered him to be the best swimmer in the pool.
Though she was suspected, they finally discovered the guilty
COMPLEMENT
person to be him.
1 3d Give an appositive the same case as the word it
refers to.
An appositive is a substantive (a noun, or a word or group
of words used in place of a noun) which follows and explains
another substantive.
The poet John Milton was blind in his old age
Watch pronoun appositives carefully. In the following sen-
tences the pronoun appositives take different cases, depending
on the case of the word they refer to.
SUBJECTIVE Two members of the committee Bill and I were ap-
pointed by the chairman.
OBJECTIVE The chairman appointed two members to the committee
Bill and me.
Case 49
13e an
IO8 Give a pronoun after than or as in an elliptical
clause (a clause in which one or more words are "under-
stood") the same case it would have if the clause were
completely expressed.
UNDERSTOOD
No one else in the match was as versatile as she (was).
UNDERSTOOD
He admired no one else as much as (he admired or he did) her.
I3r Use the possessive case for most pronouns preced-
ing a gerund; a noun so used may be possessive or ob-
jective.
Typical uses of the possessive follow:
My driving did not overjoy my father.
Mary's singing was not exactly suitable for opera.
Compare:
My behavior did not overjoy my father.
Mary's voice was not exactly suitable for opera.
When a phrase intervenes or when a noun preceding the
gerund is plural, is abstract, or denotes an inanimate object, the
noun is not likely to be possessive.
There was a regulation against the family of a sailor meeting him
at the dock. (Intervening phrase, of a sailor)
There is no rule against men working overtime. (Plural noun)
I object to emotion overruling judgment. (Abstract noun)
The crew did not mind the ship staying in port several days.
(Noun denoting inanimate object)
50 The Forms of Words
When the verbal is a participle, not a gerund, the noun or
pronoun preceding it is in the objective case.
I heard him singing loudly,
I hear you calling me.
Use an of-phrase to indicate possession for most
nouns denoting abstractions or inanimate objects.
INCONGRUOUS The building's construction was begun when winter
ended.
PREFERRED The construction of the building was begun when
winter ended.
There are well-established exceptions: e.g., an hour's delay,
for pity's sake, a month's rest, heart's desire, a moment's hesitation,
a day's work.
13h Form the possessive of a personal pronoun without
an apostrophe; an indefinite pronoun requires an apos-
trophe.
PERSONAL PRONOUNS yours, its (not it's, which means "it is"), hers,
his, ours, theirs
INDEFINITE PRONOUNS everyone's, other's, nobody's, one's, anybody
else's, etc.
13l The case of an interrogative or a relative pronoun
is determined by its use in its own clause.
The interrogative pronouns are who, whose, whom, what, which.
The relative pronouns are who, whose, whom, what, which, that,
and the forms with -ever, such as whoever and whosoever. Those
Case 51
which give difficulty through change in form are who and
whoever. Who and whoever are subjective; whom and whomever
are objective.
The case of these pronouns is clear in uncomplicated sen-
tences.
Whollefeated Richard III?
Winston Churchill, whom I admire, piloted England through her
darkest hour.
But when something (usually another subordinate clause) in-
tervenes between the pronoun and the rest of its own clause,
its function is sometimes obscured:
Who do the history books say defeated Richard III?
Winston Churchill, whom it seems all the world admired^ piloted
England through her darkest hour.
The intervening expressions should not be allowed to draw the
pronouns into a different case.
There are two simple ways of telling the case of the pronoun
in such sentences:
(1) Mentally cancel the intervening words:
Who do tho history books say defeated Richard III?
Winston Churchill, whom it seems all the world admired, piloted
England through her darkest hour.
(2) Mentally rearrange the sentence in declarative order, the
normal order of a statement: subject verb complement:
The history books do say who defeated Richard III.
... it seems all the world admired whom (him) ....
In speech (though not in writing) who is the usual form for
an object as well as for a subject at the beginning of a sentence:
52 The Forms of Words
ML 13!
SUBJECT Who won the race? (Speech and writing)
SUBJECT Who do you think won the race? (Speech and writing)
OBJECT Who were you talking to over there? (Speech)
The case of a relative pronoun is determined by its use in its
own clause, not by the case of its antecedent.
Here are three easy steps for checking this usage:
(1) Pick out the relative clause and draw a box around it.
This is the boy [ (who, whom) the witness said started the fight. |
The teacher protected the boy | (who, whom) the plaintiff alleged
John whipped.!
(2) Cancel intervening expressions (he says, it is reported,
etc.).
This is the boy [(who, whom) the witness said started the fight. [
The teacher protected the boy [(who, whom) 4ho plaintiff alleged
John whippecL|
(3) Find the verb in the relative clause.
This is the boy
The teacher prc
subject verb
who -wbefia- started the fight.
>tected the boy
object subject verb
*vfee- whom John whipped.
NOTE : Do not confuse the function of the relative pronoun
in its clause with the function of the clause as a whole.
object of verb
I subject^
I know who started the fire.
Case 53
/ subjt
object of preposition
Give the book to
subject
whoever comes without one.
subject of verb ^^
WhonT he will appoint is a matter of grave question.
object
EXERCISES
Select the accepted form in parentheses and label with one of the numbers
below.
USES OF THE SUBJECTIVE CASE
51. Subject of a verb
52. Subjective complement
53. Appositive to a word in the
subjective case
USES OF THE OBJECTIVE CASE
01. Direct object of a verb or
verbal
02. Indirect object of a verb or
verbal
03. Object of a preposition
04. Appositive to a word in the
objective case
05. Subject or complement of an
infinitive
1. Members of the court-martial asked him (who, whom) he had
marked absent at roll call.
2. He is the one (who, whom) it is thought shot down the plane.
3. I wonder (who, whom) it was.
4. The man (who, whom) was granted an honorary degree by the
Board of Trustees was an outstanding biologist.
5. At the party the host smiled most graciously at (whoever,
whomever) he disliked most intensely.
6. The speaker defended his privilege to talk derogatorily about
(who, whom) he pleased.
7. The Dean of the Faculty referred to the new Chancellor as "a
man (who, whom) all of us (who, whom) know him admire. 7 '
54 The Forms of Words
8. The representative answered the letter written by the lady, (who,
whom) I had learned by this time carried on a voluminous correspond-
ence with public officials.
9. Ulysses slew the suitors (who, whom) he had found courting his
wife.
10. Ulysses slew the suitors (who, whom) were courting his wife.
11. Out of the five English teachers (who, whom) taught me in high
school, there is one (who, whom) I shall always remember.
12. (Who, Whom) did the inmate say that he was?
13. (Who, Whom) did Caesar say "Et tu" to?
14. He was an honest man (who, whom) many people believe the
Senator persecuted.
15. My candidate is one politician (who, whom) I consider an honest
man.
B
Select the acceptable form of the pronoun or noun in each of the following
sentences.
1. (It's, Its) a pity that the team lost (it's, its) star end.
2. At that tune Mr. Nottingham could not tell (who, whom) the
winner of the election was.
3. It was a good (day's, days) work to repair the (house's roof,
houses roof, roof of the house) .
4. My father told both of (we, us) boys John and (I, me) to
bring some more coal for the fire.
5. What kind of teacher did you expect (she, her) to be?
6. The English instructor objected to the (student, student's)
working the exercises in class.
7. The chairman asked the first two speakers, (she and I, her and I,
she and me, her and me), to be brief.
8. The manager recommended (Bill and me, Bill and I) for a raise.
9. You must choose between (he and I, he and me, him and me,
him and I).
10. He could always run the hundred-yard dash faster than (I, me).
Case 55
14
Adjectives and Adverbs
Use adjectives to modify nouns and pronouns; use adverbs
to modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, prepositions, and
conjunctions.
Most adverbs end in -ly, whereas only a few adjectives have
this ending e.g., lovely, holy, manly, friendly. Some adverbs
have two forms, one with -ly and one without: slow and slowly,
loud and loudly. Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to
adjectives: warm, warmly; pretty, prettily.
With some adverbs the presence or absence of -ly indicates a
distinction in meaning. High, for example, is used in a physical
sense. A drill team may "march fast and step high." Highly
is used abstractly. Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address said,
". . . we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died
in vain. . . ." He could not have used high in this sentence.
Similar pairs are most and mostly, direct and directly, hard and
hardly.
Most of us habitually use the correct adjective and adverb
forms in sentences like the following:
He stood close to us.
The barber gave him a close shave.
He cut close to the marker on the turns.
Study the text closely.
He gave the clerk the exact change.
He left exactly when the noon whistle blew.
A frequent error is the use of an adjective instead of an adverb
to modify a verb, an adjective, or an adverb: e.g., sure for
surely, easy for easily, good for well, real for really, some for
somewhat, etc.
56 The Forms of Words
14a
NOT The real sincere student studies the rules good.
BUT The really sincere student studies the rules well.
14a Form the comparative and superlative degrees by
adding -er and -esf to most short adjectives and some
adverbs. Place more and mosf (or less and least)
before long adjectives, participles, and most adverbs.
ADJECTIVES
or
ADVERBS
COMPARATIVE
SUPERLATIVE
dear
dearer
dearest
pretty
prettier
prettiest
close
closer
closest
slow
slower
slowest
sincere
sincerer
sincerest
sincere
more sincere
most sincere
pitiful
more pitiful
most pitiful
grasping
more grasping
most grasping
slow
slower
slowest
slowly
more slowly
most slowly
rapidly
more rapidly
most rapidly
rapidly
less rapidly
least rapidly
Certain adjectives and adverbs have irregular comparative
and superlative forms: good, better, best; well, better, best; little,
less, least; bad, worse, worst; etc.
Some adjectives and adverbs are "absolute" and cannot,
strictly speaking, be compared: e.g., dead, perfect, complete,
unique. A. thing cannot, logically, be more or less dead, etc.
There are exceptions, as in phrases like "deader than a door-
nail."
Adjectives and Adverbs 57
14b
14b Use the comparative to refer to two things; the
superlative, to more than two.
Both cars are fast, but the small car is (the) faster.
All three cars are fast, but the small car is (the) fastest.
14C Use predicate adjectives, not adverbs, following
linking verbs like is, seems/ becomes, looks, appears/
fee/s, sounds, smells, tastes.
A. predicate adjective describes the subject. An adverb
modifies the verb.
He feels bad. (He is ill or depressed. Feels is a linking verb; it
names a condition, not an action )
He reads badly. (Reads names an action; it is not a linking verb.)
The tea tasted sweet. (Sweet describes the tea, not the manner of
tasting.)
She tasted the tea <
She sang sweetly. (Sweetly tells how she sang.)
I4CI Use an adjective to follow a verb and its object
when the modifier refers to the object, not the verb.
Verbs like keep, build, hold, dig, make, think cause special
problems. Meaning determines use. With verbs of this kind
you must think carefully to determine whether to use an ad-
jective or an adverb.
Keep your clothes neat. (Adjective complement)
58 The Forms of Words
14d
Keep your clothes neatly in the closet. (Adverb modifies verb)
Make my bed soft.
Make the bed carefully.
EXERCISE
Correct faulty adverbs and adjectives in the following paragraph.
Weather is not only a subject that everyone talks about, but also a
topic that makes a man reveal his real character to his friends. The
obnoxiousest commenters on the weather are those who become ecstat-
ically about all the elements. After lightning hits the beautifullest
tree in his yard, the optimist is real happy that he himself has escaped
safely and soundly. On a hot afternoon a chipperly elder lady is
thankful because the heat, she says, makes her feel good. But the
worse commenter on the weather is the poetic raver: a real hot cup of
coffee, he believes, tastes especially well when a man gets up early to
watch the sun rise over the mountains. The talk of someone who waxes
poetically ruins good weather. It is pleasant to be with a man who
speaks plain about the weather or says nothing because excessive pretty
talk always makes him feel bad even when the sun shines bright.
Adjectives and Adverbs 59
Tlie Position of Words
Words must be placed precisely if sentences are to communi-
cate clearly and effectively. The basic pattern of the English
sentence is simple: subject-verb, or subject-verb-complement.
However, the modifying elements words, phrases, and
clauses that are added to the basic sentence pattern do not
have a rigid position. These, therefore, are the elements with
which problems are most likely to arise.
Modifiers
Do not let modifiers float loosely in sentences or seem to
attach to the wrong word.
Poorly placed modifiers cause confusion, misunderstanding,
and a good many howlers.
Usually a modifying adjective precedes its noun, whereas an
adverb may precede or follow the word it modifies. Preposi-
tional phrases usually follow closely, but may precede; adjective
clauses follow closely; and adverbial phrases and clauses have
the greatest range of all in possible positions.
60 The Position of Words
15a
15d Avoid dangling constructions, those which refer to
the wrong word or to none at all.
When a modifier relates to the wrong noun or pronoun or has
no noun or pronoun to modify, it may be confusing or unin-
tentionally funny, and the joke is on the writer. Most danglers
are verbal phrases, but a few are prepositional phrases or
elliptical clauses.
DANGLING PARTICIPLE Running along the street, my nose felt
frozen. (A participle at the beginning of
a sentence normally modifies the first
noun or pronoun in the clause which
follows. Here running seems to modify
nose as it could in a different con-
text and the proper agent, /, is not
expressed.)
CORRECTION
OR
DANGLING GERUND
Running along the street, / felt as if my
nose were frozen. (The participle here
refers properly to /.)
As I ran along the street, my nose felt
frozen. (The participial phrase has been
changed to an adverbial clause, which
now modifies felt. I is expressed in the
subordinate clause.)
/'After snooping around the attic for
V several days before Christmas, a cowboy
^?
suit was finally discovered. (A gerund
early in a sentence normally attaches to
the first noun or pronoun in the follow-
ing clause. But snooping cannot refer
to suit.)
Modifiers 61
15a
CORRECTION
After snooping around the attic for sev-
eral days before Christmas, / finally dis-
covered a cowboy suit. (The gerund
here quite reasonably refers to /. Notice
that the sentence has been changed from
passive to active. Beware the passive
in such constructions.)
DANGLING INFINITIVE
IMPROVED
To get well, an operation is necessary.
(To get well refers to no word in this
sentence.)
To get well, he needs an operation (To
get well properly refers to the pronoun
he, which has been added.)
DANGLING PREPOSITIONAL In old age my father's impatience with
PHRASE new ideas became understandable to me.
(Whose old age?)
CORRECTION
DANGLING ELLIPTICAL
CLAUSE
CORRECTION
In old age / at last understood my
father's impatience with new ideas.
While still hopelessly sleepy and tirecM
the counsellor lectured me on breaking
rules.
^While I was still hopelessly sleepy
and tired, the counsellor lectured me
on breaking rules.
Note that some verbal phrases do not have to refer to a single
word in the sentence.
62 The Position of Words
15b
Strictly speaking, does this sentence contain a dangling construc-
tion?
To tell the truth, it does not.
Neither of these sentences contains a word which says who is
speaking or telling the truth. The phrases are sentence modi-
fiers.
15b Avoid misplaced modifiers which are awkward,
unintentionally funny, or actually misleading.
Trouble may occur in sentences that contain a number of
modifiers, especially when several vie for the same position.
Since adverbial modifiers are most mobile, these offer the
greatest chance for flexibility:
CONFUSING Remove any silks that have stuck to the ear of corn
with a brush.
CLEAR With a brush remove any silks that have stuck to the ear
of corn.
OR Remove with a brush any silks that have stuck to the ear
of corn.
Like the adverbial prepositional phrase just above, an ad-
verbial clause can sometimes effectively occupy any of several
positions in a sentence.
CONFUSING I knew I would recognize my cousin even though I had
never seen him because he had a wart on his nose when
I stepped off the train.
Here three adverbial clauses follow the main clause, "I knew I
would recognize my cousin." The modification of the first ad-
verbial clause (beginning with "even though") is clear, but the
other two clauses (beginning with "because" and "when") mis-
Modifiers 63
15b
lead the reader. It seems as if "I" had never seen my cousin
because he had a wart, and he seems to have the wart only
"when I stepped off the train." Note what happens in another
arrangement:
When I stepped off the train I knew I would recognize my cousin
even though I had never seen him because he had a wart on
his nose.
This change solves the first problem, but once more the final
adverbial clause seems to modify the one before it. It is possible
to change the construction of one adverbial clause; the other
two can then come at the beginning and the end of the sentence:
Even though I had never seen him, I knew I would recognize my
cousin by the wart on his nose when I stepped off the train.
The sentence may also be written as follows:
Even though I had never seen my cousin, I knew that when I
stepped off the train I would recognize him by the wart on his
nose.
An adjective clause will often seem to modify a noun which
intervenes between it and the word it should modify.
We rode a train to Chicago which carried many delegates to the
convention.
It was the train, not the city, which carried the delegates.
We rode to Chicago on a train which carried many delegates to
the convention.
Almost any modifier which comes between an adjective
clause and the word it modifies can cause awkwardness or
misunderstanding :
She worshipped her brother with all her soul who was five years
older than she.
4 The Position of Words
15c
Alchemy was the "science'* of transmuting lead into gold, which
was a common practice in the Middle Ages.
The first sentence is awkward but its intent is clear; the second
is actually misleading. Here are better arrangements:
With all her soul she worshipped her brother who was five years
older than she.
Alchemy, which was a common practice in the Middle Ages, was
the "science" of transmuting lead into gold.
Do not place a modifier between two words so that
it seems to "squint/ 1 to be capable of modifying either.
SQUINTING The horse which was pawing violently kicked its owner.
CLEAR The horse which was violently pawing kicked its owner.
OR The horse which was pawing kicked its owner violently.
SQUINTING Because savage tribes believe in many gods most of the
time their religious feelings are not very profound.
CLEAR Because most savage tribes believe in many gods, their
religious feelings are not very profound.
CLEAR Because savage tribes believe in many gods, their religious
feelings are not usually very profound.
EXERCISE
Correct the faulty modifiers in the following sentences.
1. Dangling by one leg from a pair of tweezers, the little girl held
the huge moth far out in front of her.
Modifiers 65
15c
2. The courageous patient was able to walk about two weeks after
the accident.
3. This computer is seldom used even though it is most effective
because of the high expense.
4. Being born and reared in a small town, Melvin's personality is
the embodiment of his confining environment.
5. The doctor paused in the hospital corridor to set his watch by
the elevator.
6. While sawing the wood, my finger was cut off.
7. Grandmother was wearing her spectacles on her forehead,
which she could not find.
8. The men who were beating on the door wildly began shooting
their pistols.
9. After cackling loudly, I knew that the hen had laid an egg.
10. I sometimes comprehend things which others do not understand
by using my imagination.
11. To keep from failing the course, the teacher advised me to study
harder.
66 The Position of Words
15c
12. While having my teeth examined, the dentist told me that two
wisdom teeth would have to be pulled.
13. To be absolutely certain, the answer must be checked.
14. The author urged his friends to buy his book by mail and by
telephone.
15. The carpenter inspected the board before sawing for nails.
16. At the age of five my grandfather told me about his life as a
soldier in the Confederate Army.
17. Having been found guilty of drunken driving, the judge sen-
tenced the young man to ninety days in jail.
18. The student waited for the teacher to give him his theme
impatiently.
19. Where can I buy overalls for children that won't shrink?
20. Serve one of the melons for dessert at lunch; keep one of them
for the picnic in the refrigerator.
Modifiers 67
Unnecessary Separation /QJLtfL
Do not unnecessarily separate subject and verb, parts of a
verb phrase, verb and object, or other closely related ele-
ments in a sentence pattern.
Separation of closely related elements can be awkward or
obscure.
AWKWARD My brother, having longed to go to Europe after he finished
college and before he began teaching, was greatly disap-
pointed when he was refused a reservation in early June.
IMPROVED Because he had longed to go to Europe after he finished col-
lege and before he began leaching r , my brother was greatly
disappointed when he was refused a reservation in early
June.
AWKWARD The dog had for several days been hungry.
IMPROVED The dog had been hungry for several days.
LUDICROUS She is the man who owns the service station's wife.
ACCURATE She is the wife of the man who owns the service station.
Separation by short modifiers and phrases is often idiomatic
and seldom causes confusion. An adverb frequently precedes
or follows a verb or comes between an auxiliary and a main verb :
John hardly ever feels well.
The Cabots speak only to God.
It is generally known that bears love honey.
We should always try to do our best.
An adverb seldom comes between a verb and its object:
NOT John loves exceedingly Mary.
NOT Jack loves better than anybody else in the whole world Jill.
68 The Position of Words
1117
In such situations the adverb tends to appear after the object
or before the verb:
John loves Mary exceedingly,
John never loved Mary.
Jack loves Jill better than anybody else in the world.
In a sentence with both indirect and direct object, the ad-
verb tends to precede the verb; a modifier placed at the end of
the sentence seems too far away.
Joe stealthily gave me the hotfoot.
In college writing it is best to avoid "split" infinitives. A
split infinitive has a modifier between to and the verb form,
as in to loudly yell. If any other position for the modifier is
natural and clear, it is wise to put it there. But sometimes it is
almost necessary to split an infinitive to avoid stiffness or
ambiguity.
UNNECESSARY He felt it to absolutely be impossible.
IMPROVED He felt it to be absolutely impossible.
JUSTIFIABLE It would be wise for the student to clearly define his
reasons for entering college.
In the last sentence above, the adverb might be considered
slightly awkward in any other position.
Parallelism
ii
Sentence elements of equal grammatical rank should be
expressed in parallel (i.e., similar) constructions.
Parallelism 69
17a
Parallel forms may be words, phrases, or clauses. When ele-
ments match in pairs or link in series, they should be in similar
form.
I/ Q Use similar grammatical forms for elements con-
nected by the coordinating conjunctions and, buf, or, nor.
Phrases equate with phrases, dependent clauses with de-
pendent clauses, independent clauses with independent clauses,
and so on.
NOT PARALLEL * phrase .
with several years of good behavior
>X^ on his record
The prisoner was a trusty and
\" ^ dependent clause
^ who therefore deserved a pardon.
PARALLEL
dependent clause
who had several years of good behavior
on his record
The prisoner was a trusty and
similar dependent clause -
therefore deserved a pardon.
OR
independent clause
The prisoner was a trusty with several years of good behavior
, on his record,
and
<* independent clause +-
he therefore deserved a pardon.
Infinitives equate with infinitives, participles with participles,
gerunds with gerunds.
70 The Position of Words
17a
CHILDISH
infinitive phrase
To have a definite schedule
and } are essential in college.
gerund phrase
following it
PARALLEL INFINITIVES
infinitive phrase
To have a definite schedule
and ) are essential in college.
infinitive phrase
to follow it
PARALLEL GERUNDS
gerund phrase
Having a definite schedule
and ) are essential in college.
gerund phrase
following it
Verbs equate with verbs.
CHAOTIC
verb
y are well acted,
prepositional phrase with no verb
Most successful motion pictures ( with an exciting story,
and
verbal
"having a strong central theme.
Parallelism 71
17b II
PARALLEL
Most successful motion pictures <
verb
are well acted,
verb
-tell an exciting story,
and
verb
'have a strong central theme.
I/ D Use similar grammatical forms for elements con-
nected by the correlative conjunctions (either ... or,
neither . . . nor, not . . . but, both . . . and).
Lapses in parallel structure with correlative conjunctions can
be avoided by use of the same grammatical construction after
each correlative.
SLOPPY
NEATER
SLOPPY
PARALLEL
BUT WORDY
^
I not only bought the dress but also the handbag.
^ * noun ^ *> noun
I bought not only the dress but also the handbag.
' independent clause
Either I shall buy the evening dress this afternoon
/ /1 - ^adverb 1
or tomorrow morning.
* independent clause
Either \ shall buy the evening dress this afternoon
y/r independent clause 1
or I shall buy it tomorrow morning.
PARALLEL I shall either buy the evening dress this afternoon
BUT STRAINED ^+*verb
or buy it tomorrow morning.
72 The Position of Words
II 17d
^^- * adverb
PREFERRED I shall buy the evening dress either this afternoon
^ +- adverb
or tomorrow morning.
The preferred construction is the one which is most clear
and natural and least repetitious.
I/ C Repeat the sign of parallelism when necessary for
clarity. See 18d.
1/Q Avoid misleading parallelism. Do not equate ele-
ments in constructions when they are not equal in idea.
MISLEADING The farmer stocked his pond with hream, bass, and gold-
fish were added by a neighbor going on vacation.
IMPROVED The farmer stocked his pond with bream and bass, and
a neighbor going on vacation added goldfish.
EXERCISES
A
Correct the faults in parallelism in the following sentences. If a sentence
is correct as it stands, label it C.
1. To produce perfect parallelism requires that a writer equate
sentence elements of equal grammatical rank and he should often be
careful to repeat the sign of parallelism.
2. The outside of New Hope Church was wooden, brick, and stone.
Parallelism 73
17dll
3. Voters not only elected representatives to their legislative bodies
but to the electoral college as well.
4. The article on hypnosis stated that the hypnotized patient kept
his eyes open, and he was able to walk, sing, talk, or any natural ac-
tivities of a normal person.
5 The clergy were corrupt and to a great extent living off the
tithes of the peasants.
6. The good speaker must possess sincerity, a good platform man-
ner, and have the ability to express his thoughts exactly.
7. I began to feel as if I had been painting for hours and should
never finish the job.
8. The best way to prepare for your examination is to go over your
notes and reading your text again carefully.
9. A wife should never come to breakfast in her bathrobe and
slippers and hair looking as if it had been combed with an egg beater.
10. This method of weeding the lawn will not only help you but
your neighbors as well.
11. Alcohol slows the drinker's reactions to a minimum and causes
74 The Position of Words
JI17d
him to delay in giving signals, to blow the horn, and come to a quick
stop.
12. This article presents no facts favorable to either the Democrats
or to the Republicans on this issue.
13. I can remember quite plainly what it is like to drink buttermilk
fresh from the churn, to see a deer's track in the orchard, and to sit
hi the semidarkness of a light from the kerosene lamp and listen to the
old folks talk.
14. You eat your breakfast, take your gun in your hand, your dog
to your side, and start toward the fields.
15. The verdict was in my opinion unfair because the jury seemed
obviously prejudiced and that the judge seemed antagonistic toward
the lawyer for the defense.
B
Correct faulty parallelism in the following passage.
Men in great places are thrice servants: servants of the sovereign or
state; fame's servants; and they serve business. Thus they have no
freedom, neither in their persons, nor in action, nor in their times. It
Parallelism 75
17d II
is a strange desire, to seek power and losing liberty; or seeking power
over others and to lose power over a man's self. The rising unto place
is not only laborious, but by pains men come to greater pains; it is
sometimes base, and by indignities men come to dignities. The stand-
ing is slippery ; and either the regress is a downfall, or at least an eclipse,
which is a melancholy thing.
Adapted from Francis Bacon, "Of Great Place"
76 The Position of Words
Completeness and.
Consistency
An effective sentence transmits the writer's exact meaning to
the reader. It must be complete in structure and consistent in
point of view. Any structural omissions or unnecessary struc-
tural shifts that might mislead, mystify, or annoy the reader
are pitfalls that the careful writer will take pains to avoid.
Completeness
Make your sentences complete in structure.
Every sentence should be clear; hence every sentence should
be complete in structure, with every part either expressed or so
clearly implied that there is no chance of confusion or misunder-
standing. In the struggle to put ideas into words, it is easy to
omit or misuse conjunctions and prepositions or to leave unex-
pressed some part of a thought which a reader will not be able
to supply for himself. Constructions expressing comparisons
and those with "understood" prepositions and verbs are some-
times not completely enough expressed to be clear.
Completeness 77
18d A
lOQ Do not omit necessary words in constructions with
so, such, and foo.
When there is danger of misunderstanding, the idea should
be completed or restated.
NOT CLEAR The street was too narrow. (Too narrow for what?)
Those coins were so rare. (So rare that what?)
CLEAR The street was too narrow to admit an automobile.
The street was extremely narrow.
Those coins were so rare that the experts could not
identify them.
However, to spell out all the implications of so, such, and too
would often be pedantic and unnecessary.
CLEAR I didn't dare pass the truck because the road was so narrow.
I didn't go. I felt too sick.
We stayed indoors because it was such a miserable day.
Such nonsense!
lob One preposition should not be "understood" when
a different preposition is called for.
NOT He was simultaneously repelled and drawn toward the city.
BUT He was simultaneously repelled by and drawn toward the
city.
BETTER He was simultaneously repelledoy the city and drawn toward
it.
OR He was simultaneously repelled and aUractedlfy the city.
78 Completeness and Consistency
18d
IOC One verb form should not be "understood" when
a different form is called for.
NOT In the iire the silver coins were melted and the paper money
burned. (Papfcr money were burned?)
BUT In the fire the silver coins were melted and the paper money
was burned.
NOT I wanted to and would have gone to college if my father had
let me. (Wanted to gone?)
POSSIBLE I wanted to go and would have gone to college if my father
had let me.
BETTER I wanted to go 1o college and would hate gone if my father
had let me.
NOT I always have and always will be a person who enjoys
arguments. (Always have be?)
POSSIBLE I always have been and always will be a person who enjoys
arguments.
BETTER I always have been a person who enjoys arguments and
always will bt*
Where the same form is called for in two constructions, it need
not be repeated.
To err is human; to forgive, divine.
When necessary for clarity, repeat an article
(a/ an/ the), an auxiliary verb, the sign of the infinitive
(to), a preposition, a possessive pronoun, or a relative
pronoun.
My rich friend owns a red and chartreuse convertible. (He has
one car, which is two-toned.)
My rich friend owns a red and a chartreuse convertible. (He has
two cars.)
Completeness 79
18e A
My minister and guardian planned to advise me about this prob-
lem. (One person is referred to.)
My minister and my guardian planned to advise me about this
problem. (Two persons are referred to.)
NOT The janitor and matron had left the dormitory.
BUT The janitor and the matron had left the dormitory.
NOT He declared that he had tried to stop the saw and cut off his
fingers. (The to carries over to cut and suggests a false
meaning.)
BUT He declared that he had tried to stop the saw and had cut off
his fingers. (Had makes the intended parallelism clear.)
NOT She opened the door, which sagged on its hinges and squeaked
as she entered.
BUT She opened the door, which sagged on its hinges and which
squeaked as she entered.
OR She opened the sagging door, which squeaked as she entered.
I O6 Omission of that sometimes obscures meaning.
OBSCURE The efficiency expert found one who can increase his effi-
ciency in this way does not tire.
CLEAR The efficiency expert found that one who can increase his
efficiency in this way does not tire.
Comparisons
Make your comparisons logical and complete.
Compare only similar terms. The following sentences illus-
trate the illogic of comparing dissimilar terms.
80 Completeness and Consistency
19
My first semester in college was like most freshmen.
Leading a sober life is better than beer joints and dance halls
The crisscrossed comparisons in these sentences can be dia-
grammed thus:
My + * most freshmen
first semester +- ?
Leading - ?
a sober life * ^ beer joints and dance halls
The first example needs something to equate with semester; the
second, something to equate with leading.
My first semester in college was like that of most freshmen.
Leading a sober life is better than frequenting beer joints and
dance halls.
The word other is often needed in a comparison:
ILLOGICAL Sanctuary has been more popular than any of Faulkner's
novels. (This sentence incorrectly implies that Sanctuary
is not a novel by Faulkner.)
RIGHT Sanctuary has been more popular than any of Faulkner*s
other novels.
OR Sanctuary has been the most popular of Faulkner's novels.
Avoid awkwardness and incompleteness in comparisons.
INCOMPLETE Mrs. Grader was as strict, if not stricter, than my present
chaperon. (As strict requires as, not than. Two con-
structions are telescoped.)
BETTER Mrs. Grader was as strict as my present chaperon, if not
stricter. (Than she is is understood.)
Comparisons 81
19
INCOMPLETE Yellowstone National Park is one of the most beautiful
if not the most beautiful park in the United States.
(After one of the most beautiful, the plural parks is
required.)
BETTER Yellowstone National Park is one of the most beautiful
parks in the United States, if not the most beautiful.
AMBIGUOUS I like Mary more than Jane
(More than I like Jane, or more than Jane likes
Mary?)
CLEAR I like Mary more than I do Jane.
OR I like Mary more than Jane does.
INCOMPLETE Stanley is a better boxer.
CLEAR Stanley is a better boxer than his brother.
OR Stanley is a better boxer than wrestler.
INCOMPLETE Stanley is the best boxer.
CLEAR Stanley is the best boxer in the Golden Gloves Tourna-
ment.
FEEBLE The Red Badge of Courage is different.
CLEAR The Red Badge of Courage is different from other war
novels of its time.
OR The Red Badge of Courage is unusual.
EXERCISES
A
In each of the follow ing sentences, repeat a word if necessary to clarify
meaning.
1. His dog and favorite hunting companion were waiting for him
at the back door just before sunrise.
2. Mr. Czerwinski said that his grandfather had migrated to Paris
and London, the birthplace of his grandmother, had finally become
their home.
82 Completeness and Consistency
19
3. His wife had planned to hide the package and present it to her
husband on Christmas morning.
4. Mrs. Duncan told us that Susie had gone over to visit Mimi and
David had not yet returned from the tennis courts.
5. He had done his best to miss the car and hit the child instead.
B
Make each of the following sentences logically complete and clear. If a
sentence is correct as it stands, label it C.
1. The umpire stated that he was aware and worried about the
attitude of the crowd.
2. Henry VIII was one of the most tyrannical if not the most
tyrannical king that ever lived.
3. Now that he is growing old, his hair is becoming grayer.
4. More than any of the early Presidents of the United States,
Thomas Jefferson helped to define American democratic government.
5. He feels, although it now appears impossible, man may someday
fly to Mars.
6. During the Civil War the North felt more antagonistic toward
Great Britain than the South.
7. Sandy resembles his father more than his brother Brad.
8. The grass in my pasture is greener.
9. Everything in Jake's room was in such a mess.
10. 0. Henry's short story 'The Gift of the Magi" has such a sur-
prise ending.
Comparisons S3
19
11. This secret was known to both my brother and closest friend.
12. The hat Anna finally selected was cheaper and prettier.
13. The doctor wanted to and would have operated on the baby if
the parents had not been too far away.
14. The President reacted more favorably to the bill than the
Senator.
15. My classmates enjoy the writings of Erskine Caldwell more than
Shakespeare.
16. A day at the races, Mr. Beatty argues, is generally less harrow-
ing than a prize fight.
17. There will be as many accidents this Fourth of July and maybe
even more than there were last year.
18. The parents had not known that their son's illness was so
serious.
19. Edgar Rice Burroughs' stories about Tarzan were much more
exciting to boys of the 1920's than Superman is to boys today.
20. I did not know this was the correct way to hold the racket until
the coach showed me.
21. My employer always has and always will be insolent to his
employees.
22. The laughter of a loon is more frightening than an owl.
23. When the fire alarm rang through the building, the students
were so calm.
24. It seemed to me at this point a change came over me.
4 Completeness and Consistency
20
25. George Bernard Shaw is the greatest dramatist.
26. I would have entered the sewing contest, but the other girls
were so skillful.
27. The Aleutian Islands are one of the windiest, if not the windiest,
place in the world.
28. Ah! Wilderness, the only comedy which Eugene O'Neill wrote,
is quite different.
29. He had had little knowledge and experience with the trigger
mechanism of the bomb.
30. The librarian became excited when she discovered the English
workbook and chemistry laboratory manual were missing from the
reserve shelf.
31. He wished very much to and probably would have taken the
sedative if the doctor had not forbidden it.
32. I soon returned home because the climate was not too healthful.
33. To many students, quantitative analysis is as difficult if not
more difficult than calculus.
Consistency
Be sure that your sentences have a consistent grammatical
point of view.
Unnecessary changes in tense, mood, voice, number, and
person can be annoying or misleading.
Consistency 85
20a
20 Q Avoid unnecessary shifts in tense from past to
present or from present to past.
A shift in tense should reflect a real change in time, not a
careless change in the writer's viewpoint.
NEEDLESS SHIFT FROM PAST TO PRESENT
I sat rigidly upright in the back seat of the taxi, wishing the
traffic light would turn green. It was already five minutes of one,
and my train was to leave at one. At last the light changed, and
we inched through the heavy traffic to the station. Hope is almost
gone, but I hurl myself through the door and dash madly toward
the platform. I risk a glance toward the station clock. The hands
point to twelve! The railroad was on Standard Time, and I was
on Daylight Time.
NEEDLESS SHIFT FROM PRESENT TO PAST
Jane Austen's Emma is full of well-meant schemes for arranging
other people's lives. She persuades her little friend Harriet that
Farmer Martin is not a socially acceptable suitor, and she diverts
Harriet's affections to the Reverend Mr. Elton. When that plan
misfires, she is ready with still another, which ends even more
disastrously. From this and other experiences Emma learned
that it was dangerous to meddle with the affairs of others, and
she was honest enough to admit her faults. Harriet was at last
united with the young farmer, and Emma married the man who
had been her unsparing critic.
Needless shifts between the conditional and other verb forms
should be avoided. Conditional forms usually have should,
would, or could.
The next war could be lost within twelve hours if one of the powers
can make a surprise attack. (Use could be lost . . . could make, or
can be lost . . . can make.)
86 Completeness and Consistency
20e
20 D Avoid careless shifts in person.
In felling a tree, a good woodsman [3rd person] first cuts a deep
notch near the bottom of the trunk and on the side toward
which he [3rd person] wishes the tree to fall. Then you [2nd
person] saw on the other side, directly opposite the notch. (The
second sentence should read Then he saws .... Or the first, you
first cut . . . toward which you wish . . . .)
2UC Avoid unnecessary shifts in mood.
It is necessary that the applicant fill [subjunctive] in this form
and mail [not mails, indicative] it by April 15.
If wishes were horses, beggars would [not will] ride.
20d Avoid unnecessary shifts in voice.
POOR My mother cooked [active] the shrimp casserole for thirty
minutes; then it was allowed [passive] to cool.
BETTER My mother cooked the shrimp casserole for thirty minutes;
then she allowed it to cool.
2U6 Avoid unnecessary shifts from one relative pro-
noun to another.
SHIFT She went to the cupboard that leaned perilously forward
and which always resisted every attempt to open it.
CONSISTENT She went to the cupboard which leaned perilously for-
ward and which always resisted every attempt to open
it. (Or, that ... that.)
Consistency 87
20f
20i" Avoid a shift from indirect to direct discourse in
the same construction.
<* Indirect *
MIXED Jan says she wants to go to the farmer's market and
-+ Direct
will it be open?
- Indirect +>
INDIRECT Jan says she wants to go to the farmer's market but
-4 Indirect *
wonders whether it will be open.
- Direct
DIRECT Jan said, "I want to go to the farmer's market. Will it
be open?"
Indirect discourse paraphrases the speaker's words; direct
discourse quotes them exactly.
EXERCISE
Rewrite the following passage so that it maintains a consistent gram-
matical point of view.
Mother always told us that one who lives in a country town should
know his neighbor, and you should try to love them as yourself. When
the Swinsons moved to our town several years ago, they were at first
loved by all of us. My brother became a good friend of their little boy
Pete, who was the youngest child and that came to our house often
to play. One day Pete tells us that he is going on a vacation and would
88 Completeness and Consistency
20f
we take care of his old bird dog Joe while he was gone. We agreed,
and our troubles begin. Every night we were disturbed while Joe
barked, and he also causes us trouble during the day. Joe tore up the
clothes which were hung on the line and that were the best clothes we
had, and the tomatoes in our garden were pulled off the vine by Joe.
The row of corn was pulled up by their roots. One day we found him
sleeping in Aunt Susan's petunias. Never take care of someone else's
dog; you should advise them to take them with them. Now we tell
Mother that no one should know his neighbor well. They impose on
you.
Consistency 89
Punctuation
A knowledge of the conventions of punctuation is essential to
clear and easy reading. Punctuation marks separate, group,
and qualify words and sentences; and they help to indicate
pauses, intonations, and gestures used in speaking. Consider
the following:
What did you say asked Dolly twisting her handkerchief and
screwing up her pretty face nothing to worry about dear quietly
answered her mother what a fuss you do get into heavens now take
the nice medicine
Without punctuation these sentences telescope confusingly, and
it is not even possible to tell at first that two people are speaking.
Now see how much clearer the passage becomes:
"What did you say?'* asked Dolly, twisting her handkerchief
and screwing up her pretty face.
"Nothing to worry about, dear," quietly answered her mother.
"What a fuss you do get into! Heavens I Now take the nice
medicine."
Many experienced writers punctuate almost by habit, but
even they have to begin by learning to follow generally accepted
practices.
90 Punctuation
End Punctuation / /? / /
End a declarative sentence with a period, an interrogative
sentence with a question mark, and an exclamatory sentence
with an exclamation point.
End punctuation signals the end of a sentence just as a capital
letter signals the beginning.
There are three end marks: the period (), the question
mark (?), and the exclamation point (!). Each also has
special uses within a sentence.
21 Q Use a period to end a sentence which makes a
statement or expresses a wish or a command*
STATEMENT Professor Knight and Miss Johnson were married in the
chapel on the campus.
The best man asked the groom whether he had forgotten
the ring* (This sentence is a statement even though it
expresses an indirect question.)
WISH I should like to be a million miles from here*
COMMAND Do not forget to pay the minister for performing the
ceremony,
21 D Use periods after most abbreviations.
Periods follow such abbreviations as Mr., Dr., Pvt., Ave.,
B.C., A.M., Ph.D., e.g., ibid., and so forth.
In general, abbreviations of governmental and international
agencies do not take periods: FCC, FBI, TVA, UN, UNESCO,
End Punctuation 91
21c/
NATO, and so forth. Usage varies. When in doubt, consult
your dictionary.
A comma or some other mark of punctuation may follow the
period after an abbreviation, but at the end of a sentence only
one period is used.
After he earned his M.A., he began studying for his Ph.D.
(NOT Ph.D..)
21 C Do not use a period after the title of a theme or
book or periodical. Use a question mark or an excla-
mation point when it is part of the title.
Shall We Dance? The Sound and the Fury
Westward Hoi Ahl Wilderness
21 d Use a question mark after an interrogative sen-
tence, that is, a direct question. (See 2 la for punctuation
of an indirect question.)
Where were you at 12:30 on the night of December 10?
Did you file a report on the accident?
You filed a report on the accident? (A question in the form of a
declarative sentence )
Question marks may follow separate questions within a single
interrogative sentence.
Do you recall the time of the accident? the license numbers of
the cars involved? the names of the drivers? of the witnesses?
2 IB Use a question mark within parentheses to show
that a date or a figure is doubtful.
Pythagoras, who died in 497 B.C.(?), was a mathematician and a
philosopher.
92 Punctuation
./?/ // 21 g
Use of a question mark or an exclamation point within a
sentence to indicate humor or sarcasm is a lame, unskillful
device.
The comedy (?) was a miserable failure.
My roommate is so funny (!) he slays me.
21 1 Use an exclamation point after a word, phrase,
or sentence to signal strong exclamatory feeling.
Never try to add feeling with an exclamation point when the
exclamatory impact is not suggested by the wording of the
sentence. Except in advertisements and comic strips, modern
writers are careful to use an exclamation point only when an
expression is obviously exclamatory in tone.
Wait! I forgot my lunch!
Stop the bus!
What a ridiculous idea!
BUT NOT I don't think I ever felt more discouraged in my life!
Never use an exclamation point and a comma together.
NOT "HelpV I cried.
"Help!", I cried.
BUT "Help!" I cried.
2lQ Do not use two end punctuation marks together.
NOT What a wondrous organ is the human eye!
Did he say, "It is time to weep."?
Did you ask, "What time is it?"?
End Punctuation 93
21g /
BUT What a wondrous organ is the human eye!
Did he say, "It is time to weep"?
Did you ask, "What time is it?"
See also 29f.
In the following sentence, the second period is required be-
cause of the intervening parenthesis:
He asked me how to punctuate interjections (Oh, well, gosh, etc.).
EXERCISE
Correct errors in end punctuation in the following passage:
1. Archimedes, bora in 287 BC (?), who is reported to have said,
"Give me a place to stand and I will move the world.", formulated one
of his most important scientific principles while taking a bath! He
jumped from his bath, as the story goes, shouting, "Eureka!".
2. Darkness is sometimes terrifying, sometimes comforting. What
a frightening experience it can be as a child to be alone in the dark!
And yet, cannot the darkness also soothe, comfort, give rest. If it
can hide a thousand demons, the darkness can also bring peace!
3. The question of how fish communicate? has led to a new science
involving underwater study of whales, porpoises, etc.. One PhD, who
is working with the Navy's Frogmen(!), claims that porpoises will
respond to a cry for help!. He is completing a book, / Lived with
Porpoises., which should cause a sensation when it appears.
4. Foreign affairs are much more complex today than one hundred
years ago! Participating in the U.N. and in such organizations as
94 Punctuation
,/ 22a
NATO, the United States must be both firm and flexible, a difficult
combination of attitudes, to say the least! Where do we go from here.
One would have to answer that it depends largely on where the world
goes from here! What truth there is in John Donne's statement that
"no man is an island."!
The Comma / ^
Use commas within sentences to reflect structure and to
clarify meaning.
The comma, the most common of the internal punctuation
marks, is chiefly used (1) to separate equal elements, such as
independent clauses and items in a series, and (2) to set off
modifiers or parenthetical words, phrases, and clauses. Elements
which are set off within a sentence take a comma both before and
after.
NOT This novel, a best seller has no real literary merit.
BUT This novel, a best seller, has no real literary merit.
22d Use a comma to separate independent clauses
joined by a coordinating conjunction.
The weather was clear at Philadelphia, and the pilot requested
permission to land there.
NOT The druggist prepared the prescription immediately for the girl
seemed on the point of fainting.
BUT The druggist prepared the prescription immediately, for the
girl seemed on the point of fainting.
The Comma 95
22b/,
NOTE: The comma is sometimes omitted when the clauses are
short and there is no danger of misreading.
The weather was clear and the pilot landed.
22 D Use a comma between members of a series, i.e.,
three or more similar items, whether words, phrases, or
clauses.
In the attic we found old furniture, worn-out clothes, and several
albums of pictures.
Some writers omit the final comma before and in a series.
In the attic we found old furniture? worn-out clothes and several
albums of pictures.
But the comma must be used when and is omitted.
In the attic we found old furniture, worn-out clothes, several
albums of pictures
And it must be used when the final elements could be misread.
An old chest in the corner was filled with nails, hammers, a
hacksaw and blades, and a brace and bit.
Series of phrases, dependent clauses, or independent clauses
are also separated by commas.
PHRASES We hunted for the letter in the album, in all the old
trunks, and even under the rug.
DEPENDENT Finally we decided that the letter had been burned,
CLAUSES that someone else had already discovered it, or that
it had never been written.
INDEPENDENT We left the attic, Father locked the door, and Mothei
CLAUSES suggested that we never unlock it again.
96 Punctuation
,/ 22b
In a series of independent clauses, the comma is not omitted
before the final element.
EXERCISE
Insert commas wherever necessary in the following sentences.
1. I knew that she was smiling at me but somehow I could not
force myself to look in her direction again.
2. The four books which he checked out of the library were Of Time
and the River Across the River and into the Trees Of Mice and Men and
The Grapes of Wrath,
3. The hamper was filled with cold cuts cheese crackers bread and
butter mustard barbecue sauce and mixed pickles.
4. He picked up the book and the pencil fell to the floor.
5. The little boy liked all kinds of jellybeans but the ones with
licorice flavor were his favorites.
6. The hunter should go into the blind load his gun sit perfectly
still and wait patiently.
7. The instructor said that the class had not been doing very well
in oral recitation that obviously everyone had failed to review his class
notes properly and that he would be obliged to impose penalties.
8. For breakfast she served us bacon and eggs toast and jelly and
hot coffee.
9. Careless driving includes speeding stopping suddenly making
turns from the wrong lane of traffic going through red lights and so
forth.
10. Driving was easy for a great part of the way was paved and
traffic was light.
The Comma 97
22c/,
22C Use a comma between coordinate adjectives not
joined by crncf. Do not use a comma between cumulative
adjectives.
Note the difference:
COORDINATE
Madame de Stael was an attractive, gracious lady.
Ferocious, vigilant, loyal dogs were essential to safety in the
Middle Ages.
CUMULATIVE
blue
*-*
tweed suit.
little
*t
old woman.
The uninvited guest wore a dark
The witch turned out to be just a wizened
Note that a comma is not used before the noun:
NOT gracious, lady
ferocious, dogs
BUT gracious lady
ferocious dogs
Coordinate adjectives modify the noun independently. Cu-
mulative ones modify not only the noun, but the whole cluster
of intervening adjectives. Two tests will be helpful.
TEST ONE And is natural only between coordinate adjectives,
an attractive and gracious lady
ferocious and vigilant and loyal dogs
But not
dark and blue and tweed suit
wizened and little and old woman
98 Punctuation
,/ 22c
TEST TWO Coordinate adjectives are easily reversible,
a gracious, attractive lady
loyal, vigilant, ferocious dogs
But not
tweed blue dark suit
old little wizened woman
The distinction is not always clear-cut, however, and the sense
of the cluster must be the deciding factor.
She was wearing a full-skirted, low-cut
(A velvet gown that was full-skirted and low-cut; not a gown
that was full-skirted and low-cut and velvet.)
EXERCISE
Punctuate the following. When in doubt apply the tests described above.
1. an old dilapidated cigar box
2. large glass front doors
3. a little black recipe book
4. a high-crowned lemon-yellow straw hat
5. a rough wild wheat field
6. a wrinkled brown paper bag
7. a hot sultry depressing day
8. the gloomy forbidding night scene
9. straight strawberry-blond hair
10. a woebegone ghostly look
The Comma 99
22d /,
22u Use a comma generally to set off a long introduc-
tory subordinate phrase or clause.
LONG PHRASE With this bitter part of the ordeal behind us, we felt
more confident.
LONG CLAUSE When this bitter part of the ordeal was behind us, we
felt more confident.
When the introductory element is short (usually six words or
less) and there is no danger of misreading, the comma is often
omitted.
SHORT PHRASE After this bitter ordeal we felt more confident.
SHORT CLAUSE When this ordeal was over we felt more confident.
Regardless of length, introductory participial, infinitive, and
gerund phrases are generally set off by commas.
PARTICIPLE Turning abruptly, she stalked from the room.
INFINITIVE To verify or correct his hypothesis, the scientist performs
an experiment.
GERUND After surviving this ordeal, we felt relieved.
A phrase or clause set off by a comma at the beginning of the
sentence usually would not require a comma if it were moved to
the end of the sentence.
BEGINNING If you turn in your papers today, you need not come to
class tomorrow.
END You need not come to class tomorrow if you turn in your
papers today.
100 Punctuation
,/22e
EXERCISE
Insert needed commas in the following sentences. If a sentence is correct
as it stands, label it C.
1. As the ship left the harbor and entered the open sea the young
scientist forgot his difficulties,
2. After checking the address once more the Reverend Joel Patrick
dropped the letter in the slot.
3. By the time the telegram finally arrived Mary was no longer
expecting it.
4. Since the library had not yet received a copy of Atoms for Peace
I was obliged to order one from the publisher.
5. Still running at top speed he rounded the corner of the house and
saw his father standing right in his path.
6. After properly grating the coconut you should sprinkle it on the
cake.
7. Of all her many delightful qualities I like her quiet humor best.
8. To regulate the machinery he was first obliged to readjust the
flywheel.
9. At midnight the bell tolled mournfully.
10. After Rima died Abel became a skeptic because God had not
saved her from the wrath of the savages.
2.2.B Use commas to set off nonrestrictfve appositives,
phrases, and clauses. Do not use commas to set off re-
strictive a p positives, phrases, and clauses.
A restrictive modifier points out or identifies its noun or pro-
noun; remove the modifier, and the sentence radically changes
The Comma 101
22e/,
in meaning or becomes nonsense. A nonrestrictive modifier
describes and adds information but does not point out or
identify ; omit the modifier, and the sentence loses some meaning
but does not change radically or become meaningless,
RESTRICTIVE Taxicabs that are dirty are illegal in some cities.
Water which is murky in appearance should always be
boiled before drinking.
The priest who died on the altar was my uncle.
The man in the gray flannel suit typifies a vast group of
Americans.
The play Hamlet has been a scholar's delight for over
three hundred years.
I did not do it because my father told me to; I did it because
I wanted to.
In all these sentences, the italicized expressions identify the
words they modify; to remove these modifiers is to change the
meaning radically or to leave the sentence an empty shell.
Contrast with the following:
NONRESTRICTIVE Taxicabs, which are always expensive^ cost less in
New York than elsewhere.
Oil, which is lighter than water 9 rises to the surface.
Father Preston, who died on the altar 9 was my uncle.
Red Walker, in a gray flannel suit^ looked like a
typical young American.
Shakespeare's last play, The Tempest^ is optimistic
and even sunny in mood.
We did not try to solve the problem, because our
teacher said it was too hard for us.
In these sentences the italicized modifiers add information, but
they do not point out or identify. They do not tell which taxi-
cabs, what kind of oil or water, which priest, and so on. They
expand the meaning of the sentence, but are not essential to it.
102 Punctuation
,/22e
NOTE: That never introduces a nonrestrictive clause.
Some modifiers can be read either as restrictive or as non-
restrictive, and the punctuation indicates which meaning is in-
tended.
The coin which gleamed in the sunlight was a Spanish doubloon.
(There were several coins.)
The coin, which gleamed in the sunlight, was a Spanish doubloon
(Only one coin.)
In speech, a nonrestrictive modifier may he preceded by a pause
whereas a restrictive modifier is not.
EXERCISES A
A
Answer the questions about each of the folbwing pairs of sentences.
1. A. My sister Myrtle McBride came to visit me last week end.
B. My sister, Mary Moore, came to visit me last week end.
How many sisters has the writer of sentence A?
How many sisters has the writer of sentence B?
2. A. James Thomson, who was the author of The Seasons, was a
friend of Pope.
B. The James Thomson who was the author of The Seasons was
a friend of Pope.
There were two English poets named James Thomson, one
who wrote The Seasons in the eighteenth century and one who
wrote The City of Dreadful Night in the nineteenth century.
Why would sentence A be likely to appear in a biography of
Pope? Why would sentence B be likely to appear in a history
of English literature?
The Comma 103
22e/,
3. A. The boy, carrying a lady's purse, blushed with shame.
B. The boy carrying a lady's purse blushed with shame.
Explain both sentences.
4. A. With one shot I bagged the two turkeys which were feeding
under the oak tree.
B. With one shot I bagged the two turkeys, which were feeding
under the oak tree.
Explain both sentences.
5. A, The kitten which has a white ring around its tail is excep-
tionally frisky.
B. The kitten, which has a white ring around its tail, is excep-
tionally frisky.
Explain both sentences.
B
Insert necessary commas in the sentences below. If a sentence is correct
as it stands, label it C.
1. Far back in history man was largely either a fanner the mainstay
of the world or a merchant the mainstay of the farmer.
2. The tables in the living room are covered with photographs of
Mrs. Godwin's only son who was killed in France in 1944 and of Mr.
Godwin who served in World War I.
104 Punctuation
,/22e
3. Justice the steel framework of society rests firmly upon principles
which are stated in the Constitution.
4. The 1945 headline "War Is Over" was electrifying.
5. The collection of frogs came to an end when he was forced to
release his precious charges in order to make room in the cage for a
bluejay.
6. I had a successful shopping trip, during which I bought a daring
hat and a handbag to match. The hat which I got at Johnson's cost
only $25.50, and the bag which I got at Thomason's cost only $10.98.
7. Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's
8. I read the book because it had been recommended to me by my
roommate.
9. I did not promise to read the book because my parents had told
me not to read it.
10. The water which comes from this mountain spring tastes better
than that which we draw from the well at home.
11. Bluebeard's wife Fatima has become a symbol of feminine
curiosity.
12. The people who found the lost child took him to their home
where they fed him and put him to bed.
13. The cry "All aboard!" rang through the station just as I arrived.
14. The play A DoWs House which was written by the Norwegian
dramatist Ibsen was very controversial when it was first produced.
15. The smallest soldier marching in the color guard is the one who
has earned the Congressional Medal of Honor.
The Comma 105
22f /,
22f Use commas to set off sentence modifiers, con-
junctive adverbs, and sentence elements out of normal word
order.
Sentence modifiers like on the other hand, for example, in fact,
in the first place, I believe, in his opinion, unfortunately, and cer-
tainly are set off by commas.
His mother, I believe, taught school before her marriage.
In my opinion, Wells's early novels stand the test of time better
than his later ones.
Conjunctive adverbs therefore, moreover, then, consequently,
nevertheless, and so on may appear at the beginning of a clause,
or they may be embedded within a clause. In either position
they are frequently set off by commas, especially when emphasis
is desired. But commas are not always required.
OPTIONAL
The secretary checked the figures once more; therefore, the mis-
take was discovered.
OPTIONAL
The secretary checked the figures once more; the mistake, there-
OPTIONAL
fore, was discovered.
But notice that the conjunctive adverb however is always set off
by commas.
The auditor found an error in the figures; however, the books still
did not balance.
The adverb however (meaning "no matter how") should never
be set off by commas.
However fast the hare ran, the tortoise kept ahead of him.
When part of a sentence is out of its normal word order, it is
set off by commas if necessary for clearness or emphasis.
106 Pundualion
./ 22g
Aged and infirm, the Emperor ruled through his loyal ministers.
OR The Emperor , aged and infirm, ruled through his loyal ministers.
BUT The aged and infirm Emperor ruled through his loyal ministers.
He was determined, although he was unnerved by his fright, to
spend some weeks in the house alone. (The adverb clause here
interrupts the movement of the sentence.)
22g
DATES
Use commas to set off degrees and titles and ele-
ments in dates, places, and addresses.
DEGREES AND TITLES
Bill Snipes, Ph.D., is our county historian.
Charles Morton, Jr., Chairman of the Board, was unable
to attend. (A degree or a title is set off by commas. In
alphabetical listings the abbreviations for junior and
senior should come after the whole name: John Smith,
Jr., but Smith, John, Jr.)
Sunday, May 31, is the date of commencement this year.
August 1945 marked the end of our fighting with Japan,
but December 31, 1946, was proclaimed as the official
day of victory . (When the day of the month is not given,
the year may or may not be set off by commas. When
the day is given, the year should be set off; when the
year comes within the sentence, as above, the second
comma must not be omitted.)
I entered college on 21 September 1945. (This military
style of writing dates requires no comma.)
The Korean War began in the year 1950. (No comma is
used here because 1950 is a restrictive appositive. See
22e and 23i.)
The name of Cairo, Illinois, is pronounced differently
from that of Cairo, Egypt.
I suggest that you send your manuscript to the editor of
The Atlantic Monthly^ 8 Arlington Street, Boston 16,
Massachusetts.
PLACES
ADDRESSES
The Comma 107
22h /,
EXERCISE
Insert necessary commas in the passage below. Do not duller the passage
with needless commas.
No fact however insignificant seems really trivial to the true anti-
quarian. Poking about in the catacombs of a metropolitan library, he
searches purposeful and dedicated for the facts of the past. He notices
that the American lexicographer Noah Webster Jr. was born on Oc-
tober 16 1758; and he learns moreover that the present address of the
Webster home is 227 S. Main Street West Hartford Connecticut The
subject of the dictionary then leads to the life of Samuel Johnson
Much to the surprise of the antiquarian, a philosopher of that same
name was born in America in 1696 A brown stain on an old copy of
Dr. Johnson's dictionary looks like tobacco; and the mind of the re-
searcher ever alert wanders to the subject of the use of snuff in the
eighteenth century. The decoration of snuffboxes he discovers was once
a minor art. So the search of the antiquarian wanders haphazardly on,
but perhaps his endeavor should be no more subject to question than
the researches of any true lover of knowledge for its own sake
2.2.\\ Use commas to point a contrast, to give emphasis,
and to set off short interrogative elements.
She was beautiful, but devoid of personality.
The pilot had been forced to use an auxiliary landing field, not the
city airport
The landing strip was unpaved, and muddy, and unlighled.
(Commas should not be used here unless you wish to give special
emphasis to each adjective.)
The field was safe enough, wasn't
108 Punctuation
./22I
22 1 Use a comma to set off mild interjections and words
like yes and no.
Oh, I'll go if you insist.
Well, I did not think it was possible.
No, it proved to be quite simple.
22 1 Use commas to set off words in direct address and
to follow the salutation of a personal letter.
Mary, have you heard the latest story about Mrs. Towers?
Dear John,
It has been some time since I've heard from you . . .
22k Use commas to set off expressions like fie scr/rf, he
remarked, and fie replied used with quoted matter.
She said, "I am planning to give up Latin at the beginning of next
term."
"I am planning to give up Latin," she remarked, "at the beginning
of next term."
"It's all Greek to me," she replied.
Use commas to set off an absolute phrase.
An absolute phrase consists of a noun followed by a modifier.
It modifies the sentence as a whole, not any single element in it.
-+- Absolute phrase-**
Our journey over, we made camp for the night.
* - Absolute phrase - *
The fighter having returned to his corner, the referee began the
count.
The Comma 109
22m/,
22 TO Use commas to prevent misreading or to mark an
omission.
Notice how commas prevent misreading in the following
sentences:
After washing and grooming, the pup looked like a new dog.
When violently angry, elephants trumpet.
Beyond, the open fields sloped gently to the sea.
The comma in the following sentence marks the omission of
the word is.
To err is human; to forgive, divine.
EXERCISES A
Add necessary commas to the following sentences.
1. Pedro escaped to the New World with his friend Garcia and his
father and mother went to Italy.
2. Once he had begun it did not take him long to read the hook.
3. The children were noisy; the parents disgusted; the guests
amused.
4. After all the states get help from the federal government in
building highways.
5. As the motorcade rolled by the crowd cheered.
6. Although inexperienced workers may apply
7. Inside the house cats were romping and playing.
8. He turned suddenly to John Brown not having arrived yet and
began a story of how the fight started.
9. After saying that he left the room.
10. Since then he was paid we owe him nothing.
110 Punctuation
,/22m
B
Add necessary commas to the following passage.
"I'm not afraid of you!" exclaimed Catherine who could not hear the
latter part of his speech. She stepped close up her black eyes flashing
with passion and resolution. "Give me that key! I will have it!" she
said. "I wouldn't eat or drink here if I were starving."
Heathcliif had the key in his hand that remained on the table. He
looked up seized with a sort of surprise at her boldness or possibly re-
minded by her voice and glance of the person from whom she inherited
it. She snatched at the instrument and half succeeded in getting it out
of his loosened fingers but her action recalled him to the present; he
recovered it speedily.
"Now Catherine Linton" he said "stand off or I shall knock you
down and that will make Mrs. Dean mad."
Regardless of this warning she captured his closed hand and its
contents again. "We will go!" she repeated exerting her utmost efforts
to cause the iron muscles to relax; and finding that her nails made no
impression she applied her teeth pretty sharply. Heathcliff glanced
at me a glance that kept me from interfering a moment. Catherine
was too intent on his fingers to notice his face. He opened them sud-
denly and resigned the object of dispute; but ere she had well secured
it he seized her with the liberated hand; and pulling her on his knee
he administered with the other a shower of terrific slaps on the side
of the head each sufficient to have fulfilled his threat had she been able
to fall.
At this diabolical violence I rushed on him furiously. "You villain!"
I began to cry "You villain!" A touch on the chest silenced me: I am
The Comma HI
22m/,
stout and soon put out of breath; and what with that and the rage I
staggered dizzily back and felt ready to suffocate or to burst a blood
vessel. The scene was over in two minutes. Catherine released put her
two hands to her temples and she looked just as if she were not sure
whether her ears were off or on. She trembled like a reed poor thing
and leaned against the table perfectly bewildered
Adapted from Emily Bronte, Wulhermg Heights
C
Add necessarv commas to the following passage.
He lived with his father and mother in a large ill-planned somewhat
dilapidated house all by itself on the side of a wooded hill not far from
our hunting grounds. It was always crowded with children most of
whom nobody had ever seen before. I remember being startled to find
three of them once who spoke no English.
Charlie's family was considered mildly eccentric. His father an
electrician conducted experiments in the cellar which always ended in
the blowing out of every fuse in the box. He had plenty of spare fuses
but it seemed strange in an electrician.
His mother was a tall even-tempered woman fond of padding around
the house in her bare feet. She was afraid of thunderstorms (possibly
on account of her husband) and also of reptiles. She had all the old
ideas. She believed that all snakes were venomous and slimy to the
touch that they drank milk from cows swallowed their young in time
of danger and stung people with their tongues. Charlie had a lot of
trouble with her.
412 Punctuation
Her method of dealing with thunderstorms deserves mention. She
would take four glass tumblers put one under the end of each leg of a
chair and stand on the chair. There is a theory behind this of course.
Glass is an insulator. But for some reason never explained she alwa>s
had a lighted candle in her hand A majestic figure
It was our custom to liberate all the inmates of Charlie's cages in the
late autumn because snakes and frogs must hibernate in that climate
and they all would have died at the first heavy frost. Nevertheless we
kept collecting right up to the last minute.
One lovely afternoon in early October we were crossing an aban-
doned orchard on our way back to Charlie's house. There was a fallen
tree on which we often used to sit and rest when we were coming home
this way. We did not sit this time however because sunning its noble
self on the tree was a five-foot kingsnake black as death and dangerous.
A snake always looks bigger than it is roughly twice as big for some
reason. Forty-foot anacondas have often been reported.
But Charlie and I were not thinking in terms of feet and inches. We
were spellbound by the enormousness the almost indecent hugeness of
this thing.
The term kingsnake is used to designate various kinds of snake de-
pending on where they are found. They are all constrictors all cannibals
and all unbelievably strong.
Bearing these things in mind I suggested to Charlie that we proceed
on our way to his house.
But then the purity of Charlie's passion showed itself. He took a
step toward the monster reaching behind him as he did so to hand me
The Comma 113
22m/,
his little snake-stick a short length of broom-handle with a flattened
wire hook at one end.
"Don't you want this?" I asked appalled. He looked at me gloomily.
"What good would it do me?" he said. He was right. As well attack
a shark with a knitting needle.
The sun was just setting behind the hill which I hoped we would
soon be climbing casting its usual honey-colored under-waterish light.
It blazed from Charlie's bleached hair and gleamed along the snake's
tempered steel back glancing from every polished scale on the big
quiet muscles that bulged on each side of his backbone. I had a dim
feeling that I had seen it all before perhaps 20,000 years ago.
In times of crisis Charlie's face would lose all expression and his eyes
would become flat and opaque as if very lightly sprinkled with dust.
He looked at the snake and the snake looked back at him with equal
inscrutability. Charlie gently pushed his collecting bag around in
front of him and put out his hand to stroke the snake's head. There
was no objection and Charlie's hand slid further down stroking softly
and rhythmically. Slowly he raised the open collecting bag and at last
held it closely in front of the snake's head.
It must have looked murky and comfortable in there and it smelled
of other snakes which was appetizing. The snake made a sudden rush
into the bag nearly knocking Charlie down and immediately coiled
up and went to sleep. Charlie drew tight the string of the bag and that
was that.
Adapted from Eaton G. Davis, "Death of a King" 1
1 Adapted for this exercise from Harper's Magazine, January, 1954, by
permission.
H4 Punctuation
, 23b
Unnecessary Commas
Avoid overusing commas.
A comma at every possible pause within a sentence is not
necessary. Generally it is better to use too little punctuation
than too much.
23 Q Do not use a comma between a subject and its
verb, between a verb or verbal and its complement, or
between an adjective and the word it modifies unless there
are intervening elements which should be set off.
NOT The guard with the drooping mustache, snapped to attention.
The colonel said, that he had never seen such discipline.
Some students in the class, admitted, that they had not read,
"Kubla Khan."
Kay is a naive, mischievous, child.
BUT The guard, the one with a drooping mustache, snapped to atten-
tion. (Two commas are correct with an intervening element.)
23 D Do not use a comma between compound subjects,
verbs, complements, or predicates except for contrast or
emphasis.
UNNECESSARY John 9 and James stood, and talked with Joan 9 and
Jane.
He left the scene of the accident, and tried to forget
that it had happened.
For use of commas for contrast or emphasis, see 22h.
Unnecessary Commas 145
23c
2oC Do not use a comma before a coordinating con-
junction joining two dependent clauses except for contrast
or emphasis.
UNNECESSARY The contractor testified that the house was completed^
and that the work had been done properly.
For the use of the comma to separate independent clauses, see
22a.
23d Do not use a comma before fficrn in a comparison
or between compound conjunctions like as ... as, so ...
as, so ... that.
AVOID John Holland was more delighted with life on the Continent^
than he had thought he could be.
Mr. Holland was so pleased by his son's success in college, that
he gave him a trip to Europe.
23 6 Do not use a comma after like, such as, and
similar expressions.
A phrase introduced by such as is set off by commas only if it
is nonrestrictive. The comma comes before such as, not after.
COMMA HERE
Professor Tyndale knows ancient Germanic languages^ such
NOT HERE
as Gothic and Old Norse.
Do not use a comma with a question mark, an
exclamation point, or a dash. These marks stand by them-
selves.
AVOID "Did you get the job?" 9 her roommate asked.
"Look!", Minna exclaimed; "the letter came."
H6 Punctuation
, 23 j
23g A comma may be used after a parenthesis, but not
before.
NOT When he had finished reading The Pilgrim's Progress^ (the most
popular allegory in the language) he turned next to The House
of the Seven Gables.
BUT When he had finished reading The Pilgrim's Progress (the most
popular allegory in the language) , he turned next to The House
of the Seven Gables.
23 H A comma is not required after most short essential
introductory adverbial clauses or phrases.
NOT PREFERRED After he had slept, he felt more confident.
NOT PREFERRED During his English class, he tried to solve the proh-
lem in calculus.
For the use of the comma after a long introductory clause or
phrase, see 22d.
23 1 Do not use commas to set off restrictive clauses,
phrases, or appositives.
NOT People, who live in glass houses, should not throw stones.
NOT PRE- I have just finished reading the short story, "The Murders
FERRED in the Rue Morgue." (Commas are sometimes used in
this kind of construction, but not usually.)
Refer also to 22e*
23| Do not use a comma between adjectives which are
not coordinate.
FAULTY The tired, old, work horse
His new, Sunday suit
A feeble, little, old man
Refer also to 22c.
Unnecessary Commas H7
23j
EXERCISES A
Remove unnecessary commas from the following paragraph.
Boys read Huckleberry Finn as an adventure story, and fail to realize,
that Mark Twain was making a vicious attack on society Many
characters in this book, such as, the King and the Duke, the Granger-
fords, and Colonel Sherburn, exemplify man's depravity. The un-
sophisticated, simple, boy, Huck, and the ignorant, almost uncivilized,
Negro, Jim, are the best two characters in the novel, and the spokes-
men of the author. But, even Huck sometimes exemplifies Twain's
pessimism, and illustrates man's lack of sympathy for man. In Chapter
32, Huck tells Mrs. Phelps about an accident on a river boat, and she
exclaims, "Good gracious!, anybody hurt?" "No'ml", he replies
"Killed a nigger." Although children think this serious, American
novel is entirely humorous and adventurous, and as adults never re-
member the scathing attack on society and institutions, Mark Twain
was so bitter when he wrote Huckleberry Finn and his later works, that
several studies have been made of his pessimism.
B
Remove unnecessary commas from the following paragraphs.
It was not so much his great height, that marked him [Ethan Frome],
for the "natives," were easily singled out by their lank longitude from
the stockier, foreign, breed: it was the careless, powerful look, he had,
in spite of a lameness, checking each step like a jerk of a chain There
was something, bleak and unapproachable in his face, and he was so
stiffened and grizzled, that I took him for an old man, and was sur-
prised to hear, that he was not more, than fifty-two. I had this from
Hammon Gow, who had driven the stage from Bettsbridge to Stark-
field in pre-trolley days, and [who] knew the chronicle of all the families,
[who lived] on his line. . . .
118 Punctuation
i / 24a
Every one in Starkfield knew him, and gave him a greeting, tempered
to his own, grave, mien; but his taciturnity, was respected, and it was
only on rare occasions, that one of the older men of the place, detained
him for a word. When this happened, he would listen quietly, his blue
eyes on the speaker's face, and answer in so low a tone, that his words
never reached me; then, he would climb stiffly into his buggy, gather
up the reins in his left hand, and drive slowly away, in the direction of
his farm.
Adapted from Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome 2
The Semicolon / ;
The semicolon is used within the sentence, between coordi-
nate elements, as a stronger separator than the comma.
It is mainly used between closely related independent clauses
which balance or contrast with each other.
Failure to use a semicolon may result in a comma splice or a
fused sentence. See 2 and 3.
Z4Q Use a semicolon between two independent clauses
not connected by a coordinating conjunction (and, buf,
or, nor, for/ so/ yet).
A semicolon is used when the second independent clause is
introduced by a conjunctive adverb (however, therefore, moreover,
then, consequently) or by a sentence modifier (in fact, in the first
place, for example, on the other hand).
2 Adapted for this exercise by permission of the publishers, Charles
Scribner*s Sons.
The Semicolon 119
24b/;
WITH NO CONNECTIVE
For fifteen years the painting stood in the attic; even Mr. Kirk
forgot it.
"It needed cleaning, and the frame was cracked," he explained
later; "we just stored it away."
WITH A CONJUNCTIVE ADVERB
In 1955 a specialist from the museum arrived and asked to examine
it; then all the family became excited
WITH A SENTENCE MODIFIER
The painting was valuable; in fact, the museum offered live
thousand dollars for it.
24 D Use a semicolon between independent clauses for
emphasis or strong contrast.
The teacher continued lecturing; but the class rose to go
Autocratic power springs from the will of the ruler; but demo-
cratic power rises from the will of the people.
2.A-C Use a semicolon to separate independent clauses
which are complex in structure or which have internal
punctuation.
In many compound sentences either a semicolon or a comma
may be used.
COMMA OR Moby-Dick, by Melville, is an adventure story; [or 9 ] and
SEMICOLON it is also one of the world's great philosophical novels.
SEMICOLON Ishmael, the narrator, goes to sea, he says, "whenever it is
PREFERRED a damp, drizzly November" in his soul; and Ahab, the
captain of the ship, goes to sea because of his obsession
to hunt and kill the great albino whale, Moby-Dick.
iW Punctuation
/ 24e
24u Use semicolons in a series between items which
have internal punctuation.
When Robert was fifteen he had three problems: Jean, his younger
sister; Mary, who called him on the telephone incessantly; and
Angela, who didn't.
24 Do not use a semicolon between elements which
are not coordinate, such as an independent and a depend-
ent clause or a clause and a phrase.
FAULTY After he had signaled to his friend twice; he gave up and left
the library.
Bertha always dreaded thunderstorms; remembering that
time when lightning struck the big oak tree and set the barn
on fire.
EXERCISE
Remove unnecessary semicolons and commas from the following sen-
tences, and insert necessary ones. If a sentence is correct as it stands, label
itC.
1. "How sharper than a serpent's tooth/* King Lear exclaimed, "it
is to have a thankless child!"
2. First, understand what a sentence means then punctuate it care-
fully.
3. "Do not give your heart away," the old man advised the youth,
"keep your fancy free."
4. Because lyrical poetry deals with personal emotions; college
students often write verse but most of them give up the practice some-
time in their twenties.
5. After Casey, the best hitter on the home team had struck out;
hearts -were sad in Mudvilie.
The Semicolon 121
25 /
6. The dejected farmer thought about the crops he had produced
during the driest year of the depression: corn, fifty bushels at fifty cents
a bushel, peanuts, two tons at thirty dollars a ton, and cotton, two
five-hundred-pound bales at five cents a pound. Then, he mused, times
were hard, and it took a good farmer to make a living, but now with
prices high and a good season coming every year, even a lazy farmer can
do well.
7. He tried to stop smoking again; but again he could not.
8. The names of the winners were announced slowly and distinctly:
Davis, third place, Matthews, second place, Erlman, first place. That
was all; and Charlie rose to go.
9. The trainer watched for the horse to round the bend and come
splashing down the muddy track, still he did not come.
10. Mr. Norman, assistant manager of the store, apologized, but
Mrs. Newman, still disgruntled, was not appeased.
The Colon
The colon is used in expository sentences as a formal and
emphatic mark of introduction. It also has certain conventional
uses.
25 Q Use a colon before quotations, statements, and
series which are introduced formally.
Sock and Buskin announces the opening of the following plays:
King Lear, May 10; The Circle, June 14; and Death of a Salesman,
July 19.
122 Punctuation
: / 25c
The attorney foi Hhe defense made a brief speech: "Gentlemen,
you need no explanation of the case. The evidence has proved
my client's innocence."
As shown above, a quotation may be formally introduced
without a verb of saving (says, replies, remarks, etc.). In formal
writing the colon may also be used after these verbs, though a
comma is more usus 1-
Then Othello seuWt "Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will
rust them.' '
OR Then Othello sakli* ....
25 D Use a c:olon between two independent clauses
when the second explains or amplifies the first.
Music is more than something mechanicals it is an expression of
deep feeling and ethical values.
The results of thee hurricane were disastrous: the cottages were
completely swept from the beach, and even the shore line was
changed.
Use a colon before formal a p positives, including
those introduced by such expressions as namely/ e.g./
and that is.
Note that the coloon comes before namely and similar expres-
sions, not after.
Our conduct, Dooley said, would have one result: dismissal.
He gave us only a warning: namely, that we should not practice
hazing again,
It was possible Lo reach a different conclusion: e.g., that our offense
had been trivial.
The Colon 123
25d/-
25 U Use a colon between hours and minutes to indicate
time, after the salutation of a formal letter, and between
city and publisher in bibliographical entries.
12:15 P.M.
Dear Dr. Tyndale:
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company
(Sometimes a comma is used here.)
2v)6 Do not use a colon after a linking verb or a
preposition.
FAULTY My three chief diversions are: bridge, billiards, and chess.
His partner accused him of: talking too much during the
game and not remembering what had been played.
Colons serve no function in these sentences.
The Dash /
The dash is used to indicate interruptions, to introduce
summaries, and to set off parenthetical material.
2OQ Use the dash for sudden interruptions, quick
changes in thought, and breaks in construction.
There is no reason for but perhaps I should discuss another
topic now.
He replied, "I will consider the No, I won't either."
424 Punctuation
-/26d
2OD Use the dash for special and dramatic emphasis.
The dash is sometimes an informal equivalent for the colon:
Our conduct, Dooley said, would have only one result dismissal.
Or it may give more stress than commas or parentheses to
set off an element within a sentence:
His suit a sickly green was hardly appropriate to the occa-
sion.
The old house which, the boys assured me, was certainly
haunted stood in the gloom of towering pines.
2oC Use the dash before a summary of a preceding
series.
Elephants, donkeys, and trapeze artists all were performing at
the same time.
Attic fans, window fans, air conditioners nothing would cool
that room.
2OQ Use dashes sparingly.
Many immature writers use dashes indiscriminately instead
of other marks of punctuation. Dull writing or childish sentences
are not improved by a sprinkling of dashes.
The Dash 125
27 n
Parentheses ( /
Parentheses are used to enclose loosely related comment
or explanation within the sentence, to enclose figures number-
ing items in a series, and to enclose figures spelled out to
avoid misreading.
The oil well (the company had drilled it only as an experiment)
produced a thousand barrels a day
Although the company had not expected a significant yield from
the new oil well (they had drilled it only as an experiment), it
produced a thousand barrels a day. (Note that the comma
comes outside the closing parenthesis; the parenthetical expres-
sion is part of or associated with the dependent clause.)
John Nance Garner was Vice-President during Roosevelt's first
term of office (1933-1937). (Note that the end punctuation of
this sentence comes outside the closing parenthesis. When an
entire sentence is enclosed in parentheses, however, the end
punctuation is placed inside the closing parenthesis.)
The oil company refused to buy the land (1) because the owner had
no clear title to the property and (2) because it was too far
from the company's other wells.
I hereby agree to pay a sum of three thousand dollars ($3,000.00)
on receipt of title.
Brackets
Brackets are used to enclose material inserted within a
quotation to explain or correct it, or to enclose a parenthesis
within a parenthesis.
126 Punctuation
EH 28
"He [Mark Twain] was a newspaper reporter in Virginia City in
1862."
"Mark Twaine [sic] is the pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne
Clemens."
NOTE: Sic, Latin for "thus" or "so," bracketed within a
quotation indicates that an error just preceding has been re-
tained intentionally.
The school he attended (Fernbank High School [the newest one
in the county]) now has an enrollment too large for the plant.
Here are some useful RULES OF THUMB:
Loosely connected parenthetical material is best enclosed in
parentheses.
Closely connected parenthetical material is best set off by
commas.
Material to be dramatically emphasized is best set off by
dashes.
A formal appositive, list, or quotation at the end of a sentence
is best introduced by a colon.
EXERCISE
Insert colons, dashes, parentheses, and brackets where necessary in the
following sentences. If a sentence is correct as it stands, label it C.
1. The sonnet has three dominant forms Petrarchan, Shakespear-
ean, and Spenserian.
2. Scattered about the room lay books, notebooks, loose sheets of
paper, and two pairs of dirty shoes.
Brackets 127
29 /" /
3. As she flounced out of the room, she had but one thing to say to
me "No!"
4. An objectionable roommate has several disagreeable character-
istics punctuality, studiousness, and neatness.
5. The college he attended Deerfield one of our smaller institutions
is academically excellent.
6. You should this is important notify him to come to the meeting
at 920 A.M
7. An athlete a true athlete must be more than a mere expert he
must also pride himself on his sportsmanship, his spirit of competition,
and his calmness.
8. The last point it was that production has decreased slightly de-
served greater emphasis.
9. The critic stressed one main point that "the theme of this book
he was speaking of Moby- Dick is universal."
10. Captain Ahab had one all-consuming desire to destroy the giant
white whale.
Quotation Marks
/*/
Quotation marks are used mainly to enclose the exact
words of a speaker or writer and to set off some titles.
Most American publishers use double quotation marks
(". . .") except for internal quotations, which they set off by
single quotation marks ('. . .').
128 Punctuation
"/ 729k
29d Use quotation marks to enclose direct quotations
and dialogue.
DIRECT At a high point in the play, the Duke of Gloucester
QUOTATION says, ee As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods. They
kill us for their sport."
DIALOGUE f e My grandmother," she said, ee smokes a pipe."
* ? An imported brier^ 9 he asked.
f e No, an old corncob pipe with a cane stem."
There was an uncomfortable lull in their conversation.
Note that in dialogue a new paragraph marks each change of
speaker.
When a direct quotation is more than one paragraph long,
quotation marks are used at the beginning of each paragraph
but after only the last one.
In a famous short story Ernest Hemingway uses short paragraphs
to describe action:
"The old man stood up, slowly counted the saucers, took a leather
coin purse from his pocket and paid for the drinks, leaving half a
peseta tip.
"The waiter watched him go down the street, a very old man
walking unsteadily but with dignity."
In typescript, quotations (other than dialogue) which are ten
or more lines long should be set in block form, that is, indented
and single-spaced. Quotation marks are not used with blocked
quotations. (See page 379.)
29 D Use single quotation marks to enclose internal
quotations, that is, quotations within quotations.
Professor Jackson was a teetotaler, but he made this statement in
his lecture on Hemingway: "In Hemingway's writing even an
intoxicated octogenarian walks ^unsteadily but with dignity. 9 "
Quotation Marks 129
29c /" /*
2rC Use quotation marks to enclose titles of essays,
articles, short stories, short poems, chapters or other sub-
divisions of books or periodicals, paintings, and short musical
compositions.
Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is the story of a timid man
who daydreams on a heroic scale.
^The Raven 95 is Poe's most popular poem.
Chapter IV of the book Spots on the Cards is entitled f e The Jack
of Diamonds." (For the use of italics to distinguish titles of
books, see 32a.)
A cheap reproduction of Van Gogh's * f Sunflowers" hung on the
wall above her desk.
NOTE: Do not use quotation marks around the title of your
own theme in title position on your first page.
2zQ Words used as words are sometimes set off by
quotation marks (see also 32d). A word used in a special
sense may also be enclosed in quotation marks if it might
otherwise be misinterpreted.
Sic is a Latin word meaning * e thus" or w so."
Printers are instructed to avoid ^widows 9 * short lines ending
paragraphs at the tops of pages.
2. 7 6 Do not use quotation marks to enclose indirect
quotations or to defend or emphasize slang, colloquialisms,
or attempts at humor.
FAULTY Professor Ruggles asked ee Whether anyone had failed
to enjoy the story."
7 7 29f
ACCEPTABLE Professor Ruggles asked whether anyone had failed to
enjoy the story.
UNDESIRABLE Colonel Peters as a young man had been a ef gay
blade." (The quotation marks merely call attention
to the trite expression Find a more original phrase,
or at least avoid quoting.)
Follow established conventions in placing other
marks of punctuation with quotation marks.
In American usage, periods and commas are placed inside
quotation marks.
None of the students had read "The Raven."
"Well 9 " Professor Penny packer sighed, "you should always study
your lesson* 95
Semicolons and colons are always placed outside closing
quotation marks.
The customer wrote that he was "not yet ready to buy the first
edition"; it was too expensive.
Thomas Wolfe referred to three geographical areas as "Dark
Helenas the South, New England, and Germany.
A question mark or an exclamation point is placed inside
quotation marks only when the quotation itself is a direct
question or an exclamation. Otherwise, these marks are placed
outside.
He asked, "Am I shot?" (Only the quotation is a question.)
"Am I shot? 55 he asked. (Only the quotation is a question.)
Did he ask, "Am I shot? 59 (The quotation and the entire sentence
are questions.)
Did he say, "I am shot 55 ? (The entire sentence asks a question;
the quotation makes a statement.)
Quotation Marks 131
29f /' /"
She tried to scream, "Shot!" (Only the quotation is an exclama-
tion.)
Curse the man who whispers, "No"! (The entire statement is an
exclamation; the quotation is not.)
GENERAL EXERCISES
A
Supply or remove quotation marks where necessary in the following
sentences. If a sentence is correct as it stands, label it C.
1. It was a rare pleasure to hear the manager's secretary tell him
that "she was only human."
2. "Could someone kindly direct me," asked the "thug," to the
First National Bank?
3. She stated that she was delighted to accept his invitation.
4. By the time the speaker had finished, the audience felt that some
things were rotten in places other than Denmark.
5. Did Ward say, It is Cindy's fault?
6. Is it Cindy's fault? Ward asked.
7. Cindy's! I exclaimed.
8. I exclaimed, Cindy's!
9. Ward asked, Is it Cindy's fault?
10. Only infrequently can one hope to be "happy" or to avoid com-
pletely "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," as "Hamlet"
put it.
11. It will be bad weather tomorrow, our guide said, since the north-
east wind has started blowing.
i32 Punctuation
"/ M /29f
12. It will be bad weather tomorrow, our guide said; the northeast
wind has started blowing.
13. Do you prefer, the professor asked, the passage beginning with
Ah, love, let us be true or the one containing the words If Winter
comes, can Spring be far behind?
14. Old Hickory is reported to have said, Damn the man who knows
how to spell a word just one way.
15. Under pressure some people "keep cool," but othurs simply
"crack up."
B
Supply quotation marks as needed in the following passage, and indicate
new paragraphs where necessary by inserting the sign If.
When Hartley Hubbard went to interview Silas Lapham for the
Solid Men of Boston series, which he undertook to finish up in The
Events, after he replaced their original projector on that newspaper,
Lapham received him in his private office by previous appointment.
Walk right in! he called out to the journalist. He did not rise from the
desk at which he was writing, and he rolled his large head in the direc-
tion of a vacant chair. Sit down! I'll be with you in just half a minute.
Take your time, said Bartley. I'm in no hurry. There! Lapham
pounded with his great hairy fist on the envelope he had been address-
ing. William! he called out. Will you mail this letter right away? He
continued, Well, sir, so you want my life, death, and Christian suffer-
ings, do you, young man? That's what I'm after, said Bartley. Your
money or your life. I guess you wouldn't want my life without the
General Exercises 133
29f /" /'
money, said Lapham, as if he were willing to prolong these moments
of preparation.
The most significant part of the interview was that in which Silas
described how he had built his paint-manufacturing business.
I took hold of the paint and rushed it all I could, said Lapham.
But I found when I returned from the war that I had got back to
another world. The day of small things was past, and I don't suppose
it will ever come again in this country. My wife was at me all the time
to take a partner somebody with capital; but I couldn't seem to
bear the idea. That paint was like my own blood to me. I used to say,
Why didn't you take a partner yourself, Persis, while I was away?
And she'd say, Well, if you hadn't come back, I should, Si. Always
did like a joke about as well as any woman / ever saw. Well, I had to
come to it. I took a partner.
Adapted from William Dean Howells, The Rise of Silas Lapham
C
Punctuate the following passage, adding capitals where necessary.
Many failures in college happen because freshmen think that college
is a place in which to learn a trade or business having received high-
school credit for typing shorthand automobile driving band and what
not they are chagrined to learn that college is not like that Dean
Whiteman of Yale says that students often complain about courses
such as economics on the ground that these courses do not tell anyone
how to run a business they just teach theories in much the same way
every college of engineering has on its hands a number of freshmen who
134 Punctuation
7 7291
are misfits at the start because they are not working with their hands
but are exposed to English history and psychology a college course in
electricity is not for the embryo television-repair man who should go
to trade school not college
Those who have this mistaken idea often drop out of the technical
schools where mortality is high anyway in liberal-arts colleges students
more often than not can adjust themselves to the idea of a liberal
education but the adjustment is painful and often takes two or three
years
Colleges aim not to produce what Dr J W Graham of Carnegie Tech
calls the complete technician but instead a man whose education makes
him able to fit a problem into its historical frame or as a professor of
chemistry in a small liberal-arts college puts it in three or four years all
one can learn is that there are unsolved problems for research
There are two real reasons for college education and the two are
actually the same stated differently preparation for one of the profes-
sions and acquisition of an idea of culture together these two things
mean the beginning of the development of the adult mind Woodrow
Wilson once said the object of a university is intellect
Part of a circular given to each entering freshman at Columbia in
1953 reads as follows a liberal-arts education is one that aids the
youth to grow into a mature well-rounded individual who knows how
to think objectively to make the best use of his talents and to under-
stand his responsibilities in a democratic society
General Exercises i35
29f /' /"
A liberal-arts education means of course a general education in which
the humanities literature language fine arts the social sciences history
economics political science and the natural sciences chemistry biology
physics are about equally balanced
Adapted from Robert U. Jameson, "How to Stay in College" 3
Punctuate the following passage correctly. Add capitals Indicate
paragraphing in dialogue by inserting the sign fl.
Puppy biscuit said Walter Mitty. . a woman who was passing
laughed he said puppy biscuit she said to her companion that man said
puppy biscuit to himself Walter Mitty hurried on he went into an
A & P not the first one he came to but a smaller one farther up the
street I want some biscuit for small young dogs he said to the clerk
any special brand sir the greatest pistol shot in the world thought a
moment it says Puppies Bark for It on the box said Walter Mitty
His wife would be through at the hairdresser's in fifteen minutes
Mitty saw in looking at his watch unless they had trouble drying it
sometimes they had trouble drying it she didn't like to get to the hotel
first she would want him to be there waiting for her as usual he found a
big leather chair in the lobby facing a window and he put the overshoes
and the puppy biscuit on the floor beside it he picked up an old copy of
3 From The Saturday Evening Post, October 2, 1954 Adapted for this
exercise by permission of Mr Jameson
436 Punctuation
Liberty and sank down into the chair Can Germany Conquer the World
Through the Air Walter Mitty looked at the pictures of bombing planes
and of ruined streets
Adapted from James Thurber, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" 4
4 Adapted for this exercise from the short story by James Thurber, by
permission of the author
General Exercises i37
Manuscript Form
and. Mechanics
Certain well-established practices make a manuscript easy
and agreeable to read. Conventions of form and mechanics re-
quire legibility, neatness, and adherence to accepted ways of
handling italics, capitalization, hyphenated words, and other
things that contribute to the smooth and unobtrusive com-
munication of the written word.
Manuscript Form
Make your class papers neat and attractive by following
established practices and the requirements of your instructor.
The form and general appearance of a manuscript should re-
flect the writer's respect for his own work and his consideration
for the persons who will read it. Messy manuscripts, like
slovenly clothes, create a bad impression.
Use appropriate paper and ink.
Use white paper 8^ by 11 inches in size unless your instructor
specifies otherwise. Ruled paper is preferred for handwritten
4 38 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
SOd
papers and unruled paper for typescript. Do not use onionskin
paper or ragged-edged paper torn from a spiral notebook.
If you write in longhand, use blue, black, or blue-black ink
not red, green, brown, or violet*
If you type, double-space, and use a good ribbon.
30 D Place your writing neatly on the page.
If you are writing in longhand on ruled paper, center the title
on the first line. If you use a typewriter, center the title about
1 inches from the top of the page. Leave extra space between
the title and the text.
Leave ample and regular margins at the top and bottom of the
page, and at least an inch on each side.
Indent the first line of each paragraph uniformly about one
inch in longhand and five spaces in typescript.
Number all pages except the first with an Arabic number in
the upper right-hand corner: 2, not II. On the first page the
number should be omitted or centered at the bottom of the page.
30C Write or type on only one side of the sheet.
30d Write neatly and legibly.
Do not distract your reader's attention from the content of
your paper to messy, unreadable, or excessively fancy hand-
writing. Form each letter simply and distinctly.
Avoid ugly blotches or smears of ink.
Avoid erasures. Draw a straight line through material to be
canceled, and place the correction neatly above the line:
V*
Manuscript Form 139
30e
If more than two or three such changes occur on a page, copy it
over.
30e Follow the form prescribed by your instructor for
folding the paper and endorsing it with your name and
class, the date, and other details required.
3 Or Proofread your papers carefully.
Guard against careless errors, which reveal haste, indifference,
or even ignorance. Before submitting your paper, read it over
two or three times, at least once aloud for sound. If possible,
allow a period of time between readings. Writing is easier to
judge when it cools. Watch especially for careless misspellings,
typographical errors, and omissions made in revising or copying.
An example of correct typescript is shown on the opposite page.
Revision and Correction
For a paper written out of class, never turn in a first draft
as your final product.
All papers written out of class should be carefully revised and
if necessary rewritten before they are turned in. Revising and
correcting papers after they have been read and marked by
your instructor is sometimes required, and the practice is always
helpful. (See pp. xviii-xxi.)
140 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
The Bluff ton House Center
p Triple space
To me, Bluff ton Farm is synonymous with summertime, and its
me cuirrton nouse '
r Indent 5 spaces k Triple space
To me. Bluff ton Farm is synonymous with i
, Double
outstanding feature is our forty-year-old summer house. It sits space
2 spaces
back in a grove of pines and palmettos, looking like an ugly a ft er
periods
duckling between the modern, two- story brick houses of my aunt
and uncle. It is built of heart-of-pine lumber, which has no
paint--and never has had. A once-red roof covers the long struc-
ture ^ 2 hyphens and no spaces for a dash
A rusted screen porch, which runs the full length of the
house, is notable by itself. It is furnished with Army surplus
cots covered with khaki cloth, and it has eight bright green rock-
ing chairs with deerskin bottoms. The cots are lined up like
prone bodies under the windows of the bedrooms, and the rocking
chairs seem to keep watch over the river in front of the house.
The porch is a marvelous place for wet swimmers to lounge, and
the dirt which clings to bathing suits cannot hurt the furniture.
In the middle of the porch floor is a crack about two inches wide.
Dirt and sand are swept into this crack, and a pile of dirt under
the house is evidence of many years of living and sweeping.
Behind the porch is the dining room, a very utilitarian
place about thirty feet long with a homemade table about twenty
feet long. Layers and layers of oilcloth cover the table, and
during family reunions I have seen twenty people sit down there
1 -* Page number for first
page on bottom line
EXAMPLE OF CORRECT MANUSCRIPT FORM
32
Italic Type and Underlining
Italics are used mainly to set off some titles and occasionally
to emphasize words.
Italics (slanting type, like this) occur in printed matter. In
typescript or longhand, indicate italics by underlining.
In journalistic writing, quotation marks are frequently used
instead of italics.
32d Underline titles of books (except the Bible and its
divisions), periodicals, newspapers, motion pictures, musical
compositions, plays, and other separately published works.
Be precise: watch initial articles (A, An, The) and any
punctuation.
BOOKS Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea and Willa
Gather's O [not Oh] Pioneers!
PERIODICALS The Atlantic Monthly and the American Quarterly
NEWSPAPERS The New York Times
or
the New York Times
PLAYS Ah! Wilderness
MOTION
PICTURES The Birth of a Nation
MUSICAL Bizet's Carmen
COMPOSITIONS Beethoven's Mount of Olives
1 42 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
32e
32 D Underline names of ships and trains.
the Queen Mary the U.S.S Missouri the Silver Comet
32C Underline foreign words used in an English context,
except words which have become part of our language.
Consult a dictionary to determine whether a word is still con-
sidered foreign or has become Anglicized. See also 40 1.
Fried grasshoppers were the piece de resistance of the meal.
1899 1902 1902 1697 1880
BUT The chauffeur garaged the limousine with verve and elan.
(The dates show when these words [all from French] came into
English, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Long
accepted, they are not italicized.)
Underline words, letters, and figures referred to as
such.
The words gee and haw may disappear if the mule becomes
extinct. (See also 29d.)
The spy was not able to figure out what 5 and t stood for in the
coded message.
Don't forget to dot your Ts.
32e Use underlining for emphasis infrequently.
Weak writing is seldom improved by mechanical means.
Generally it is possible to gain emphasis by the choice and posi-
tion of words, not by sprinkling a page with exclamatory under-
linings or italics.
Italic Type and Underlining
33
EXERCISE
Supply quotation marks (see 29) and italics where necessary in the
following sentences. If a sentence is correct as it stands , label it C.
L Almost all the questions about the book When? were based upon
Chapter II, which was entitled Too Late Is Never.
2. Using the subject matter of the fairy tale The Robber Bride-
groom, published in the Grimm brothers' Children's and Domestic
Tales, Allen Tate has written a ballad-like poem called The Robber
Bridegroom, and Eudora Welty has written a short novel called The
Robber Bridegroom.
3. His a's often looked like o's, and the poor professor actually
thought that he had written bottle-scored veteran instead of battle-
scarred veteran.
4. The Quincy Times ran a blistering review of the motion picture
The Queen of Hearts, which was taken from a wonderful short story,
Last Call.
5. The word genuflection, which is derived from the Latin words
genu, or knee, and flexio, or bending, means the act of bending the knee.
6. Flounder en papillote was the most exotic entree on the menu
on the good ship Eldorado.
Spelling
Keep a record of the words you misspell and learn to spell
them correctly.
Spelling is troublesome in English because many words are
not spelled as they sound (laughter, slaughter); because some
144 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
33a
quite distinct pairs and triplets sound the same (capital, capital;
to, too, two; there, their) ; because many words are pronounced
with the ' 'neutral" vowel, "uh," which gives no clue to spelling
(sensible, capable, defiant, independent); and because many
words are habitually mispronounced.
Poor spelling gives a bad impression. A college student who
spells poorly may be particularly liable to harsh judgment.
A first step to improved spelling is to keep a list of the words
you misspell and consult that list every time you write a paper,
a letter, or anything else. College students seldom have trouble
with more than a handful of words, and it is no harder to learn
these than to learn a handful of college songs and cheers.
A second step is to pronounce words carefully and exactly.
Many misspellings are due to careless omissions of syllables
(accident-ly for acciden-tal-ly) ; careless addition of syllables
(disas-ter-ous for disas-trous) ; changing of syllables (prespiration
for perspiration). Listen to speakers who pronounce their words
carefully, and when in doubt check the pronunciation in your
dictionary. (See 40c.)
Valuable precautions are to look up all doubtful spellings when
preparing the final draft of a paper and to give the whole manu-
script a final reading before turning it in.
There are no infallible guides to spelling in English, but the
following are helpful.
33d i-e or e-i?
Use / before E
Except after C
Or when sounded as A
As in neighbor and weigh.
Spelling 145
33b
I E
believe, chief, field,
grief, piece
E I
After C
receive, receipt, ceiling, deceit, conceive
When sounded as A
freight, vein, reign
EXCEPTIONS TO MEMORIZE:
either, neither, leisure, seize, weird, height
33 D Drop final silent e?
DROP
When suffix begins
with a vowel
curse
. cursing
arrive
. arriving
come.
coming
pursue.
. pursuing
arrange
dine
. arranging
, dining
KEEP
When suffix begins with
a consonant
live . lively
nine .ninety
hope . . hopeful
love . loveless
arrange arrangement
COMMON, TYPICAL EXCEPTIONS
couraGEous
chanGEable
peaCEable
notiCEable
dyEing (compare dying)
singEing (compare singing)
awful
ninth
truly
argument
146 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
/^ 33d
33C Change/ to i?
CHANGE Do NOT CHANGE
When y is preceded by a consonant When y is preceded by a vowel
gully gullies valley valleys
try tried attorney. attorneys
fly . flies convey conveyed
apply . appliance, applied pay . pays
party parties deploy. .. deploying
When adding -hag
try. trying
fly flying
apply. applying
33d Double final consonant?
If the suffix begins with a consonant, do not double the final
consonant of the base word: man, manly.
If the suffix begins with a vowel
DOUBLE Do NOT DOUBLE
When final consonant is preceded When final consonant is preceded
by single vowel by two vowels
Monosyllables
pe*n ..penned despair despairing
blot blotted greet .. ..greeting
hop hopper leer . leering
hot hotter lead. . .leading
sit. .sitting
Spelling
33e
DOUBLE
Do NOT DOUBLE
When final consonant is preceded When final consonant is preceded
by single vowel by two vowels
Polysyllables accented on last
syllable
rebel . rebelled
defer . deferring
begin. . beginning
omit. . omitting
occur . . .occurring
338 Add s or es?
ADD S
For plurals of most nouns
girl . . girls
book . . . books
For nouns ending in o
preceded by a vowel
radio .... radios
cameo . . cameos
Words ending with two
consonants
jump .
dent
rest
work ..
attempt
jumping
denting
resting
working
attempting
Polysyllables not accented on last
syllable after addition of suffix
defer deference
prefer . . preference
develop developing
Idbor . labored
label. labeled
ADD ES
When the plural has an extra
syllable
church . churches
fox . foxes
thrush. . thrushes
Usually for nouns ending in o
preceded by a consonant (consult
your dictionary when in doubt)
potatoes
Negroes
BUT flamingos or flamingoes
Filipinos
Manuscript Form and Mechanics
33e
NOTE: The plurals of proper names are generally formed by
adding s or es: Darby, the Darby s; Delano, the Delanos; Jones, the
Joneses.
EXERCISES
A
Form the plural of each of the following nouns.
bird bamboo
brooch brook
buffalo calico
rodeo coo
birch blush
studio sex
B
To each of the following words, add the indicated suffixes.
drop + er abhor + ence
droop + ed confer + ed
reap + er confer + able
swim + er confer + ence
sprawl + ing confer + merit
concur + ing conduct + or
abhor + ed elope + ing
C
Fill in ike blanks in the following words with i-e or e-i.
perc _ ve gr _ vance
s _ zure w Id
n _ gh v 1
cone _ t s _ ge
ach _ ve d gn
Spelling MB
33e
Cross out any superfluous e's in the following words.
ridiculeing pronouncement
revengeing nineteen
revengeful useless
pronounceing useing
pronounceable duely
To each of the following words, add the indicated suffixes.
defy + ance convoy + s
defy + ed convoy }- ing
obey + s happy + er
ally + s modify + ing
alley + s modify + er
The following words are frequently misspelled. Study one column of
these words per day. Then spell all the words in the column to a friend or a
member of your family. Have him check each word you miss and then ask
you to spell it again on another day. If you wish to be a good speller, you
will learn to spell the words in this list correctly.
acquitted altogether
accept advice amateur
accidentally advise among
accommodate affect analysis
accumulate aggravate analyze
acknowledgment all right annual
acquaintance already apartment
150 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
apparatus
conscience
fascinate
apparent
conscientious
February
appearance
continuous
fiery
arctic
control
foreign
argument
criticize
formerly
arithmetic
deferred
forty
ascend
definite
fourth
athletic
description
frantically
a while (noun)
desperate
generally
awhile (adverb)
dictionary
government
attendance
dining
grammar
balance
disappearance
grandeur
battalion
disappoint
grievous
believe
disastrous
height
benefited
discipline
heroes
boundaries
dissatisfied
hindrance
Britain
dormitory
hoping
beginning
effect
humorous
business
eighth
hypocrite
calendar
eligible
hypocrisy
candidate
eliminate
immediately
capital
embarrass
incidentally
capitol
eminent
incredible
cemetery
encouraging
independence
changeable
environment
inevitable
changing
equipped
intellectual
choose
especially
intelligence
chose
exaggerate
interesting
commission
excellence
irresistible
committee
except
knowledge
comparative
exhilarate
laboratory
coming
existence
laid
compelled
experience
led
conceivable
explanation
lightning
conferred
familiar
loneliness
Spelling 451
33e
loose
preference
shining
lose
preferred
siege
maintenance
prejudice
similar
maneuver
preparation
sophomore
manufacture
principal
specifically
mathematics
principle
specimen
may be
privilege
stationary
maybe
professor
stationery
miniature
pronunciation
statue
mischievous
prophecy
truly
mysterious
prophesy
their
necessary
probably
there
Negroes
quantity
to
ninety
quiet
too
noticeable
quite
succeed
occasionally
quizzes
successful
occurred
recede
supersede
occurrence
receive
surprise
omitted
recognize
studying
opportunity
recommend
temperament al
optimistic
reference
tendency
parallel
referred
thorough
paralyze
repetition
tragedy
pastime
restaurant
tries
perform
rhythm
tyranny
permissible
ridiculous
unanimous
perseverance
sacrifice
undoubtedly
personnel
sacrilegious
until
perspiration
salary
usually
physical
schedule
village
picnicking
secretary
villain
possibility
seize
weather
practically
separate
weird
precede
sergeant
whether
precedence
severely
writing
152 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
-/34b
The Hyphen and Syllabication /
Use the hyphen to divide words of more than one syllable
at the end of a line and to join certain compound words.
Distinguish carefully between the hyphen (-) and the dash
( ). In longhand a dash should be about twice as long as a
hyphen. In typescript a dash is made with two hyphens (--).
34d Follow established conventions when hyphenating
a word at the end of a line.
When in doubt about syllabication, consult your dictionary.
Hyphenate only between syllables, and place the hyphen only
at the end of the first line, not at the beginning of the next one.
Do not divide monosyllables even if they are fairly long
(thought, laugh, cheese), and do not set off a single letter (a-bout,
might-y) . Prefixes and suffixes may be set off, though it is pref-
erable not to carry over a two-letter suffix (straight-ened, not
straighten-ed) . Compounds which normally are written with a
hyphen (self-satisfied) should not be divided in another place at
the end of a line (self-satis-fied).
34b Consult your dictionary to determine whether a
compound is written as one word, a hyphenated word, or
two words.
ONE WORD HYPHENATED TWO WORDS
droplight drop-kick (verb) drop leaf (noun)
whitewash white-hot white heat
watermelon water-cooled water system
The Hyphen and Syllabication 153
34c/-
34-C Hyphenate expressions of two or more words when
they are used as a single modifier before a noun.
HYPHEN NO HYPHEN AFTER THE NOUN
He is a well-known executive. The executive is well known.
It was a never-to-be-forgotten The experience was never to be
experience. forgotten.
A hyphen is not used when the first word of such a group is an
adverb ending in -ly*
HYPHEN NO HYPHEN
a well-written hook a poorly written book
a half-finished task a partly finished task
34d Hyphenate spelled-out compound numbers from
fwenfy-one through ninety-nine.
EXERCISES
A
Indicate whether each of the following words should be written solid,
with a hyphen, or as two words. Then check your answers in your dic-
tionary. (See40b.)
eastbound wellborn
eastsoutheast welldoer
Easteregg welloff
cowpea weekday
cowpony weekend
coworker weakkneed
1 54 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
735b
B
Indicate the points at which you might acceptably hyphenate the follow-
ing words at the end of a line. Then check your answers in your dictionary.
(See 40b.)
abridged learned (verb)
accessible learned (adjective)
amends mediocre
collaborationist previously
drought through
The Apostrophe j *
Use the apostrophe to Indicate possession, omission, or the
formation of some plurals.
Problems in the use of the apostrophe for possession are
closely related to problems of case. (See 13.)
Use 's to form the possessive of nouns not ending
in s.
SINGULAR child's, man's, deer's, lady's, mother-in-law's
PLURAL children's, men's, deer's
35 D Use 's for the possessive of singular nouns ending
in s.
Charles's, Watts's, Dickens's, waitress's, actress's
The Apostrophe 155
35c/'
NOTE: When 's added to a singular noun ending in s causes
an unpleasant sound, add only the apostrophe.
the actress* success, Dickens* stories
35c Use the f without $ for the possessive of plural nouns
already ending in s.
waitresses', nieces 9 , the Joneses 9 , the Tullys 9
35 Q Use '$ for the possessive of indefinite pronouns.
anybody's, everyone 9 s, somebody else's, neither's
NOTE: Do not use the apostrophe for the possessive case of
personal pronouns: his, theirs, ours, its (meaning of it). It's means
it is.
Use f s only with the last noun when two or more
nouns express joint possession.
Marge and Jack's bicycle (The two jointly own one bicycle.)
Marge's and Jack's bicycles (Each owns his own bicycle.)
35r Use the apostrophe for omissions or contractions.
the roaring '20's, o'clock, Jack-o'-lantern, we'll, don't, can't
Use f s to form the plural of numbers, letters, and
words referred to as words.
three 7's, four a's, six the 9 s
156 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
36d
Capitals
In genera I, beginning a word with a capital letter suggests
an individual or particular person, place, or thing; a small
letter suggests any member of a group.
OOQ Capitalize the first word of a sentence.
3Ou Capitalize the pronoun / and the interjection O.
How, ye gods, can I bear this misfortune?
3OC Capitalize first, last, and important words in titles
of books, poems, essays, works of art, etc.
Across the River and inio ihe Trees
"The Man Against the Sky"
Note that articles (a, an, the) and short prepositions and con-
junctions are not capitalized.
36d Capitalize the first word of a direct quotation and
words capitalized by the author of a quotation.
Carlyle said, "Meanwhile we will hate Anarchy as Death, which
it is "
Capitals 157
36e
oO6 Capitalize titles preceding a name, titles of high
rank, and titles used specifically as substitutes for particular
names.
President Johnson
The President is not expected to veto the measure.
Lieutenant Yo pleaded not guilty ; the Lieutenant was found guilty.
An ordinary title not followed by a name is usually not capital-
ized.
The stockholders took their seats, and the president called the
meeting to order.
Titles which are common nouns naming an office are not
capitalized.
A college president has more duties than privileges.
A lieutenant deserves a good living allowance.
Capitalize degrees and titles after a name.
Jeffrey E. Tyndale, Sr., Ph.D., J.D,
Abraham Lincoln, Attorney at Law
Bur: Do not capitalize names of occupations used as apposi-
tives or as descriptions.
Abraham Lincoln, a young lawyer in Springfield, took the case.
OOQ Capitalize words of family relationship not preceded
by a possessive.
The telegram said that Mother will arrive by sailboat.
BUT My mother prefers to travel by train.
1 58 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
3oh Capitalize proper nouns and their derivatives.
Plato, Platonic, Platonism
Canada, Canadian
Venice, Venetian blind
the West, Western civilization, a Westerner
the Republican Party
the Senior Class of Ivy College
Clifton Street
the Mississippi River
NOTE: Do not capitalize directions, proper nouns which have
become common, a word when it is not part of a proper noun.
He lives west of Denver.
a set of china
a bottle of cologne
a college, my college
a republican form of government
a member of the senior class
the street
the Mississippi and Ohio rivers
3OI Capitalize months/ days of the week, holidays.
April, Friday, the Fourth of July
NOTE: Do not capitalize seasons and numbers of days of the
month.
spring, the third of July
Capitals 159
36j
OOJ Capitalize movements, periods, events in history.
the Romantic Movement
the Civil War
NOTE: Do not capitalize the name of a century unless it is
thought of as a movement.
the twentieth century
3ok Capitalize B.C., A.D., words designating the Deity,
names of religious denominations, sacred books.
m 273 B.C.
the Messiah, our Maker, the Trinity, Allah, Buddha
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.
Catholic, Protestant, Presbyterian
the Bible, the Koran
the Old Testament
NOTE: Pronouns referring to the Deity may or may not be
capitalized.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
OOl Capitalize names of specific courses.
I registered for Sociology 101 and Chemistry 445.
NOTE: Do not capitalize studies (other than languages) which
are not specific courses.
I am taking English and sociology and chemistry.
160 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
361
EXERCISE
Add necessary capitals to the following passage.
it was a cold afternoon in late autumn, and the yellow smoke hung
low over memorial park as professor Jeffrey e. tyndale hurriedly walked
north two blocks until he arrived at 27 lullwater road, the home of his
wealthy friend's sister, a rather heated argument with a student over
the latter's paper on "the legal philosophy of the sage of monticello"
had made the professor an hour late for his afternoon tea. "but perhaps
it was worth it," he mused; "it simply would not do to let a graduate
of our law school loose upon society thinking that the great southerner
and third president of the united states, thomas Jefferson, was founder
of the present republican party! fortunately, the young man is only
a junior; there will be time to enlighten him a bit before he graduates
from ivy university, any course in law will probably help him; but
when he takes my law 291 next year, i shall see to it that he has a
better grasp of the legal and political thought in this country during
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.** he banged the knocker on
the front door somewhat vehemently.
"come in, professor," said mrs. taylor in her habitually gracious
Capitals l$l
361
manner, "you're somewhat later than usual, the group was just
wondering what had delayed you on such a wintry day/'
"the legal view from monticello, laura," smiled tyndale as he handed
his hat and coat to the butler and smoothed his thinning gray hair
"always abstruse with your humor," said mrs. taylor. she smiled
rather quizzically as the professor seated himself in his favorite chair
and slightly adjusted his tiepin.
the conversation of the group was varied and lively, it touched
rapidly upon such matters as the controversial railroad bill introduced
in congress by the new senator, the proposal to place a power dam
upon the Cumberland river rather than upon another river in the
southern part of the state, the advantages and disadvantages of the
fraternity system in college, weaknesses in the public high school, the
typical gentleman of the renaissance, sources of humor in as you like it,
the indecision of prince hamlet and the part of the fool in king lear, the
paintings of michelangelo, the pleasures of traveling.
professor tyndale held his delicate china cup and saucer in his left
hand while he stirred the contents with a highly polished teaspoon,
he was particularly aroused by the topic of traveling, "yes, i should
162 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
air 38
love to sail about the world listening to the song of the mermaid," he
said half whimsically, "sometimes i think it would be more delightful
than the legal view from monticello."
Contractions fiffVWl r
Avoid contractions in formal writing.
INAPPROPRIATE The President and Fellows of Rockhill College trust
that you II understand the spirit in which this, their
annual report, is submitted.
In formal writing, don't, I'll, you're, can't, and other such con-
tractions are out of place. Most student papers are less formal
than a college president's report; even so, every contraction
should be checked carefully for appropriateness to its context.
A few contractions are acceptable in all contexts. These are
words that have an established formal spelling which is a con-
traction, such as o'clock and jack-o'-lantern.
Abbreviations
air
Use only acceptable abbreviations in formal writing.
Abbreviations are short cuts. Some have proved so useful
that they are accepted in all kinds of writing. Some are in-
appropriate in student papers and contexts of comparable
formality.
Abbreviations 163
39
The following abbreviations are acceptable in all contexts.
BEFORE Mr., Mrs., Messrs., Mmes., Dr., St. or Ste (for Samte,
A NAME not Street), Mt., Rev. (but only with a first name: "the
Rev. Ernest Jones," not "Rev. Jones")
AFTER M.D. (and other degrees), Jr., ST., Esq., D.C. (District
A NAME of Columbia e.g., Washington, D.C.; but spell out
names of states)
OTHERS B.C. and A.D. (with dates expressed in numerals), A.M.
and P M. (with hours expressed in numerals)
FOOTNOTES^
AND BIBLI- > cf., pp., ibid., op. cit., and others
OGRAPHIES j
TECHNICAL cc., c., gr., B.t.u., and others
WRITING
Numbers
Numbers are commonly expressed in numerals in technical
writing and spelled out in more formal and literary writing.
Spell out round numbers which can be written in
one or two words (except in technical or statistical matter).
USE WORDS USE FIGURES
twenty-three 123
one thousand lyf
one thousand dollars $1,001 00
EXCEPTION: Never use figures for a number at the beginning
of a sentence. Either spell the number out or recast the sentence.
i 64 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
39 D Use figures for numbers in a series and for tabula-
tions and statistics.
One polar bear weighed 200 pounds, another weighed 526, and
the third 534.
One sold for $200, one for $275, and one for $325.
3VC Use figures for dates, street numbers, page refer-
ences, percentages, and hours of the day used with A.M.
or P.M.
The following forms are acceptable.
July 3, 1776 (not July 3rd, 1776)
the third of July or 3 July 1959 (the day preceding the month)
2 Park Street
Fifth Avenue
See page 50 of your textbook.
This book has only fifty pages.
The loan company charged 24 per cent interest.
The concert begins at 6 P.M. (or 6:00 P.M.)
The concert begins at six o'clock. (With o'clock, the number
should be spelled out.)
EXERCISE
Write the numbers in the following passage correctly. For the purpose
of this exercise t do not treat the passage as technical or statistical matter.
The annual meeting of the stockholders was held at 326 2d Avenue
on March 22d, 1965. The meeting began at 3 o'clock and lasted for
about 2 hours. Among other major matters of business was the presi-
dent's report that total sales of all lines of life insurance had amounted
Numbers 165
to $95,126,792.00 in 1964 compared with $75,256,597.00 in the preced-
ing year. $10,100,000.00 of this increase, he pointed out, had come from
the acquisition of another company a matter which had been ex-
plained in some detail on pages 2 to 5 of the last semiannual report. The
president also reported that during the year the company had bought
335 shares of common stock, 400 shares of preferred stock, and $20,-
000.00 worth of bonds all of excellent quality, yielding an average
of 4 per cent interest. He predicted that 1966 would be an even better
year. Some twenty-five stockholders expressed disapproval of what
they termed "so little progress," but the remaining 130 expressed satis-
faction. After some rather lengthy discussion on other matters, the
president announced that the next annual meeting would be held at
three P.M., March 25, 1966, in the small banquet room at 26 Second
Avenue. The meeting then adjourned.
166 Manuscript Form and Mechanics
Tlie Dictionary
A good dictionary is a treasure house of information about
individual words, language in general, and many other subjects.
Hence a reputable, up-to-date dictionary, designed for college
use, should become part of your standard equipment.
The dictionary you select should be recent and reasonably
complete. Except for spellings and pronunciations, most
"handy" or "pocket" dictionaries are likely to tell you little
you do not already know. Most high school dictionaries, while
more useful, will also give you less complete information than
you will usually need. Particularly useful at the college level
are these four desk dictionaries (listed in alphabetical order) :
The American College Dictionary, Random House, New
York, (abbreviated ACD)
Standard College Dictionary, Funk & Wagnalls Company,
Inc., New York. Text Edition: Harcourt, Brace &
World, Inc., New York. (SCD)
Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language,
The World Publishing Company, Cleveland. (NWD)
Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C.
Merriam Co., Springfield, Mass. (NCD)
Students who need information not found in one of these should
consult an unabridged dictionary. Of these the principal
The Dictionary 167
ones are Webster's Third New International Dictionary, the New
Standard Dictionary, the Dictionary of American English, and
the monumental Oxford English Dictionary. The last (in twelve
volumes plus supplement) is probably the most scholarly and
voluminous dictionary ever published. Its extensive examples
of usage in all ages of the English language are particularly
helpful in the study of the history of words.
To use a dictionary intelligently, one must first understand
that it is not an "authority*' which intends to tell you what you
ought to do. It is an authority only in that it records the cur-
rent and past usage of educated speakers and writers as nearly
as its editors can determine. Every good dictionary has a large
staff of editors, who are constantly observing and recording the
ways in which words are used. They note the appearance of
new words thus softball and beach wagon were first recorded
in an edition of a dictionary published in 1941. They list new
uses of old words thus plastic was first given as a noun de-
noting various synthetic substances in that same dictionary in
the same year. And they note great numbers of continuing
usages as well as obsolete words, that is, those no longer cur-
rent, such as dowsabel A dictionary is not a prescription but
a thermometer, and the more recent it is, the better a thermom-
eter it is likely to be. In minor matters dictionaries do not
always agree. Thus, of the four desk dictionaries listed above,
the NCD enters only cooperate; the SCD prefers cooperate but
also enters co-operate; the NWD prefers co-operate and enters
both cooperate and cooperate; and the ACD prefers cooperate
and enters both of the other forms.
Study the table of contents of your dictionary. Determine
what its separate parts are and how it classifies the information
which it gives. In addition to the main body of the dictionary
(the alphabetized entries of words), you will also find informa-
tion on a variety of other subjects: common signs and symbols,
1 68 The Dictionary
abbreviations, the pronunciation and meaning of given names,
biographical and geographical information, rhymes, rules of
spelling, grammar, and punctuation, printing and proofreading
terms and marks, a listing of colleges and universities, a guide
to effective letter writing, scholarly discussions of aspects of the
language, weights and measures, and the forms of address.
Next, study carefully the specimen entries for the word
cancel below. They provide examples of the kinds of informa-
tion that may be given in an entry. Then, if you will consci-
entiously work out the exercises given here, as they apply to
your dictionary, you will have learned how to use a dictionary
with speed, ease, and efficiency a skill which will be invaluable
to you for the rest of your life,
AMERICAN COLLEGE DICTIONARY
part of speech
pronunciation
vocabulary entry
\
^spellings of inflected forms
label -
synonym:
can-eel (k&n /sal), v , -celed, -celing or (esp. Brit)
-celled, -celling, n. v.t. 1. to cross out (writing, etc.)
by drawing a line or lines over, 2. to make void; annul.
3. to mark or perforate (a postage stamp, streetcar
transfer, etc ) to render it invalid for re-use 4. to
neutralize; counterbalance; compensate for. 5. Math, to
eliminate by striking out (a factor common to both terms
of a fraction, equivalent quantities on opposite sides of an
equation, etc ). 6. Print to omit, n 7. act of cancel-
ing. SirPnnt. omission. 9. Print., Bookbinding, an
^omitted part, or the replacement for it. [late ME, t. L:
m s. cancellare to make like a lattice, to strike out a writ-
ing] can'cel-er; esp Bnt , can/ceMer, n.^ J
Syn. 1, 3. CANCEL, DELETE, ERASE, OBLITERATE refer to in-
dicating that something is no longer to be considered usable
or in force. To CANCEL is to cross something out by stamping
a mark over it, drawing lines through it, and the like: to cancel
a stamp, a word. To DELETE is to omit something from writ-
ten matter or from matter to be printed, often in accordance
with a printer's symbol indicating this is to be done: to delete
part of a line To ERASE is to remove by scraping or rubbing:
to erase a capital letter. To OBLITERATE is to blot out entirely,
so as to remove all sign or trace of. to
obliterate a record, an inscription
2. countermand, revoke, rescind.
definitions
etymolo9y
run-on entry
Reprinted from The American College Dictionary by permission.
Copyright 1947, 1964 by Random House, Inc.
The Dictionary 169
STANDARD COLLEGE DICTIONARY
can- eel (kan'sal) v. canceled or celled, can*ceMng or -cel-
ling u.tf. 1. To mark out or off, as by drawing lines through;
strike out; obliterate. 2. To render null and void; annul.
3. To delete or withdraw, as from a schedule or program;
call off. 4. To mark or otherwise deface, as a postage stamp,
to show that it has been used. 5. To make up for; compen-
sate or neutralize. 6. Math. To eliminate (a common factor,
as a figure or quantity) from the numerator and denominator
of a fraction, or from both sides of an equation. 7. Printing
To omit; delete. v.i. 8. To cancel one another: with out,^
n. Printing 1. The striking out or omission of printed ^s.
matter. 2. The matter omitted, or the replacement for it. \
abbreviation^Abbr. cane. [< MF canceller < L cancellare to cross out<
cancelli, dim. pi. of cancer lattice] can'cel-er or can'cel-
ler w.
Syn. (verb) 1. Cancel, efface, erase, expunge, obliterate, and
delete mean to remove written or engraved characters from paper,
wax, stone, etc. To caned is to cross out by drawing lines through.
Incised characters are effaced by smoothing away the surface until
they disappear; written characters are erased by rubbing away the
ink. Expunge originally meant to punch or scratch out with a sharp
instrument; it now suggests the wiping away of what has been
written. To obliterate is to cover over or remove completely. Some-
thing canceled can still be read; that which is erased may still ap-
pear faintly; but that which is obliterated is gone forever. Delete is
used of material that is marked for removal or omission by a
printer. 2. See ANNUL. 6. Cancel and eliminate mean to remove
terms in mathematical expressions. Terms are canceled in multi-
plication and division, but eliminated in addition and subtraction.
By permission from Funk $ Wagnalls Standard College Dictionary.
Copyright 1963 by Funk & Wagnalls Company, Inc
WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD DICTIONARY
can-eel (kan'sl), v.t. [CANCELED or CANCELLED (-sld).
CANCELING or CANCELLING], [Fr. OMUzUer; L. canccUarc,
to make resemble a lattice, strike out writing by draw-
ing lines across < concetti, lattice, grating, pi. of am*
ccttus, dim. of cancer, crossed bars, lattice]. 1> to cross
out; strike out with lines or marks. 2. to annul; make
invalid. 3. to do away with; abolish. 4. to neutralize;
balance (often with out). 5. in mathematics, to strike
out (common factors) by drawing a Hne through them.
6. in printing to delete or omit. IM. to balance (with
out), n. 1, the deletion or omission of matter in
type or in print. 2. a) the matter deleted or omitted.
b) the replacement for this. Abbreviated cane.
From Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language,
College Edition Copyright 1964 by The World Publishing Com-
pany, Cleveland, Ohio.
170 The Dictionary
40
WEBSTER'S SEVENTH NEW COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY
reference to synonyms
entered under
another word
new entry for Q^^^"^
different part of speech
ican-cel \'kan(t)-ssl\ vb canceled or can.celled; cancel-rag or
can-cel-ling \-s(3-)hrj\ [ME cancellen, fr MF canceller, fr LL
cancellare, fr L, to make like a lattice, fr cancelli (pi ), dim of
cancer lattice, alter of career prison] vt 1 a : to mark or strike out
for deletion to : OMIT, DELETE 2 a : to destroy the force, effective-
ness, or validity of : ANNUL b : to bring to nothingness : DESTROY
C : to match in force or effect : OFFSET 3 a : to remove (a common
divisor) from numerator and denominator b : to remove (equiva-
lents) on opposite sides of an equation or account 4 : to deface (a
postage or revenue stamp) esp with a set of parallel lines so as to
invalidate for reuse ~ vi^? to neutralize each other's strength or
effect : COUNTERBALANCE Tgyn see ERASE can-cel-er or can-cel-
ler \-s(a-)lar\ n can* eel-la* tion \,kan(t)-sa-'la-sh3n\ n
r 2cancel n 1 : CANCELLATION 2 a : a deleted part or passage
b : a passage or page from which something has been deleted
C (1) : a leaf containing deleted matter (2) : a new leaf or slip sub-
stituted for matter already printed
By permission. From Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary,
copyright 1963 by G. & C. Merriam Co., Publishers of the
Merriam-Webster Dictionaries.
Using a Dictionary
Buy a good college dictionary, keep it handy, and learn to
use it regularly and easily.
Dictionaries follow somewhat different schemes in indicating
preferred spellings, syllabication, accent, pronunciation, and so
forth. Therefore, no exact rules covering the practices of all
dictionaries can be given. Each dictionary in its prefatory pages
explains its own system, and you should examine those pages
carefully to familiarize yourself with what they contain. The
following subsections indicate what information may be found
in college dictionaries.
Using a Dictionary 171
Preferred and Variant Spellings
The first entry of a word usually gives the preferred spell-
ing. Dictionaries indicate accepted variant spellings in dif-
ferent ways usually with a comma or with the words or or
also. To learn how your dictionary treats spellings, refer to:
American College Dictionary page xxviii (paragraph VII)
Standard College Dictionary page xxiv (paragraph 8)
Webster's New World Dictionary page ix (paragraph I-A)
Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary page 7a
For each of the following topics you will similarly need to
learn how your dictionary gives the pertinent information.
EXERCISE
Indicate the status of the following spellings (accepted or unaccepted) as
recorded in your dictionary.
1. alright, all right, allright
2. development, developement, development
3. fulfill, fulfil, fullfill, fullfil
4. jujutsu, jujitsiu, jiujutsu, jijitsu, jujitsu
5. caffein, caffeine, caffine
40 D Syllabication and Compound Words
Dictionaries indicate the division of words into syllables by
centered dots and accent marks (car-na'tion). 1 Compounds,
e, however, that the NCD system of word division also takes cur-
rent printers' usage into account. For example, ACD, SCD, and NWD
give apricot divided into syllabic units of pronunciation, a-pri-cot, whereas
NCD gives apri-cot since it is not permissible in writing or printing to
break a word after a single letter (see 34a).
172 The Dictionary
40c
whether hyphenated or written separately or as one word, are
shown in the accepted form or forms. See 34 for compound-
ing and syllabication.
EXERCISES
A
Indicate the syllabication of the following words.
committee
factual
kangaroo
semiphilosophical
B
Determine whether the following words are hyphenated, written solid as
one word, or written as two words.
goodbye nonconductor
homerun postmark
homework postoffice (noun)
inasmuchas schoolboard
insofaras schoolteacher
40C Accent and Pronunciation
Accent and pronunciation are given in parentheses just
after the boldface entry. Most dictionaries indicate accents by
a heavy accent mark (') for the primary accent and a light
mark for the secondary accent (') as in de-vd'op-men'tal.
In addition to marking accent, a dictionary also indicates
consonant and vowel qualities by boldface or italic type and
by marks or signs above, below, or through the letters (dia-
critical marks). None of the four college desk dictionaries we
Using a Dictionary 173
40c
have listed uses diacritical marks for unvoiced th in words like
thin, three, and truth. Methods of indicating voiced th in words
like then vary: ifien, l&en, ; fcben, then. Notice how your dic-
tionary indicates the sound of such vowels as a in alone, a in
tale, e in here, i in ice, o in orb, u in nature. A key to the marks or
symbols for these and other sounds is given at the bottom of
the page or inside the front or back cover of your dictionary.
Learn them; in many words they are more important than
accent. Should Devi (Hindu goddess), for example, be pro-
nounced day-vee or dee-vi? The diacritical marks will tell you.
In other cases, if you correctly accent the main syllable (as
the first syllable of lam'en-ta-ble), it is almost impossible to
go wrong on the qualities of the sounds.
EXERCISES
A
For each of the following words, copy from your dictionary the respelling
for pronunciation. Indicate changes in accent and pronunciation for
words which function in different parts of speech.
contest, invalid, minute, perfume, present, refuse
B
Copy the respellings for pronunciation of six of the words in the following
list. Be able to pronounce all the words in the list correctly.
abdomen drought mischievous
archetype exemplary precedence
cabala Golgotha sake (alcoholic beverage)
chantey ignoble Sault Sainte Marie
combatant interesting schism
comparable irrelevant sleazy
demesne irremediable syzygy
dictionary Mackinac vagary
174 The Dictionary
40d
40 Q Etymologies
Etymologies, or the derivations of words, are given just
before or just after the definitions. Knowing the etymologies
of words can improve your vocabulary, your spelling, your
grasp of meanings, your ability to interpret new words by re-
lating them to familiar ones, and your sense of the historical
development of the language. The dictionary tells you the
language from which a word came into modern English (Greek,
Latin, Old English, French, Middle English, and so forth),
the word or words of origin, their meanings, and subsequent
changes in meaning. Curfew, for example, is from Old French
cuevrefu or covrefeu, from covrir (to cover) and/eu (fire). Feu
in turn came from the Latin focus (hearth). Curfew, in the
Middle Ages, was the hour when fires had to be covered or
extinguished.
Dictionaries use many abbreviations in explaining etymol-
ogies. Each dictionary gives a key to the abbreviations it uses.
EXERCISE
Copy from your dictionary the etymologies of six of the following words.
Spell out all abbreviations.
banana croquet khaki shibboleth
biscuit dunce meander squawk
buxom fiend patsy tantalize
calaboose friend persimmon tobacco
carnival gorilla saxophone tulip
crimson hussy shebang ukulele
Using a Dictionary 175
40e
4-Oe Order of Definitions
Some dictionaries list definitions in historical order; others
begin with the most common current definition and list the
meanings in reverse historical order or in the order of frequency
of use. Learn what principle your dictionary follows in estab-
lishing the order in which definitions are given. Note also how
definitions are grouped by parts of speech and transitive-
intransitive condition of verbs.
EXERCISE
Briefly describe the over-all historical pattern of change in the meanings
of the following words. Style, for example, originally meant "an instru-
ment used in writing." Now it is either "a quality which gives distinctive
character to artistic expression' or "the status of being in vogue. 9 ' It has
moved from concrete to abstract and from particular to general. Have the
following words changed from a favorable to an unfavorable meaning, from
general to particular, from concrete to abstract, or in any other way?
awful, fond, girdle, gossip, nice
40f Parts of Speech
Dictionaries indicate the parts of speech by abbreviations:
n. for noun, adj. for adjective, etc. Some dictionaries number
definitions throughout each entry regardless of changes in part
of speech. Others renumber for each change in part of speech.
EXERCISE
List the parts of speech in which each of the following words is used.
as meet
fine since
like well
476 The Dictionary
Synonyms
Synonyms (words with similar meanings) are listed at the
end of the entry. Making sharp distinctions between words of
similar meaning will assist you in the precise expression of your
thought. Watch carefully for cross references to lists of syno-
nyms. Thus " Syn.3. See humor," at the end of the entry
for indulge in one dictionary, means that for the third meaning
listed under indulge, synonyms will be found under the entry
for humor.
EXERCISE
In the following passage underline the words or phrases which you think
were used by the author. Since the choices involve exactness in meaning
and level of diction, consult your dictionary about each problem. Be pre-
pared to defend your selections.
Almost every country has its medicinal springs (notorious, rumored,
famed) for their healing (goodness, virtues, traits). The Cheltenham
of Typeeis (embosomed, embraced, cherished) in the deepest (isolation,
solitude, seclusion), and but seldom receives a visitor. It is situated
(remote, aloof, foreign) from any dwelling, a little way up the moun-
tain, near the head of the valley; and you approach it by a pathway
shaded by the most beautiful (leaves, plants, foliage) and (embellished,
adorned, garnished) with a thousand (fragrant, smelly, perfumed)
plants.
The mineral waters of Arva Wai (ooze, leak, drip) forth from the
(fissures, crevices, rifts) of a rock, and gliding down its mossy side,
fall at last, in many (clustering, assembling, grouping) drops, into a
natural basin of stone fringed round with grass and dewy-looking little
violet-colored flowers, as (fresh, new, original) and beautiful as the
(perpetual, permanent, incessant) moisture they enjoy can make them.
The water is held in high (esteem, estimation, admiration) by the
islanders, some of whom (consider, account, reckon) it an agreeable as
Using a Dictionary 177
40h
well as a medicinal beverage; they bring it from the mountain in their
calabashes, and store it away beneath (lots of, stacks of, heaps of)
leaves in some shady (corner, angle, nook) near the house.
Herman Melville, Typee
40h
Labels
Words may be given usage labels (colloquial, slang, etc.),
subject labels (medicine, grammar, chemistry, etc.), and geo-
graphic labels (United States, Western, British, etc.). Labels
like these tell you that a word (in itself, or in some meanings)
is limited to the kind of context which the label describes.
EXERCISE
What is the total number of usage, subject, and geographic labels that
your dictionary attaches to all the various meanings of each of the following
words? (Do not count labels attached to idioms.)
beat sound
cone space
man strip
40 1 Inflectional Forms
Your dictionary lists important inflectional forms. For
nouns it lists irregular plurals (those not simply ending in -s or
-es) thus: man, men; goose, geese, and gooses (plural for a tailor's
iron) ; pea, peas, and the archaic pease. It also lists the principal
parts of irregular or unusual verbs dive, dived, dived (and dove
with various labels); and the comparative and superlative
degrees of troublesome adjectives and adverbs adjective,
little, less, least (and some other forms) ; adverb, well, better, best
178 The Dictionary
40j
EXERCISE
List all the inflectional forms given in your dictionary for two nouns,
two verbs, and two adjectives chosen from the following list. Where
differences in meaning and level of usage occur t make a note of them.
bad
dreadful
plump
bear
fly
quiz
benefit
gas
seraph
big
ill
sheep
boot
little
smite
church
metropolis
spell
cleave
mongoose
spoonful
daughter-in-law
Mrs.
travel
40j Idioms
Idioms are phrases with special meanings different from the
sum of the meanings of the words that make them up. (See
46.) Such expressions are given in boldface or italic type
either among or after the definitions of a word.
Compare:
LITERAL IDIOMATIC
run a race run a business
run up a hill run up a bill
run out of the house run out of money
run out on the terrace run out on your wife
EXERCISE
List the idioms which your dictionary gives in connection with three
of the following words.
back, go, lay, over, point, put, set
Using a Dictionary 179
40k Prefixes and Suffixes
Prefixes and suffixes are listed alphabetically along with the
entries for complete words. Con-, ex-, -able, and -ectomy appear
in proper position in the body of the dictionary.
EXERCISE
Identify the prefixes and suffixes in four of the following words; then
find the exact definition which your dictionary gives for each prefix and
suffix as it is used in this particular word.
anteater graciousness
antecedent intramural
antiseptic spinster
Germanophile tonsillectomy
401 Foreign Words
Dictionaries indicate foreign words (those not yet accepted
as Anglicized) by labels (e.g., Latin) or by a double dagger (J).
NCD makes no distinctions between those Anglicized and those
not.
EXERCISE
Determine whether the following are considered foreign or Anglicized.
ad hominem fiance in petto
amigo Fraulein piece de resistance
blitzkrieg hara-kiri sputnik
480 The Dictionary
40m
40m Proper Names
Mythical, Biblical, literary, geographical, and biographical
proper names may be listed in the body of your dictionary or
in special appendixes. Notice especially whether your dic-
tionary has a separate gazetteer (for geographical names) and
a separate section of biographical names.
EXERCISE
1. What is the population of the capital of Burma?
2. Who was Jason? Lilith? Sisyphus? Powhatan? Ahab?
3. When is Italic not capitalized? Afghan? Amazon?
4. When is center capitalized?
Using a Dictionary 181
Diction
Diction is choice of words, and good diction is as important
as good grammar. Your courses in college and your reading will
introduce you to a host of new terms, most of which you will
learn without thinking of them as "diction"; rather, they will
seem like "content" and will become part of your working
vocabulary. This process of learning and coming to use new
words will continue all your life, unless at some point you die
on the intellectual vine.
But there is more to good diction than acquiring new terms.
It is equally important to use with accuracy and good taste the
words you already know.
Standard and Substandard Usage
Standard English is the language of educated people
writers, educators, men and women in public affairs, business
and professional people, and those who aspire to these and
similar groups. Substandard English is, in the main, the
language of the uneducated and uncultivated. Standard and
Substandard overlap extensively. They have the same basic
sentence pattern of subject-verb-complement, modifiers, and
connectives; and they share large numbers of workaday words
in all parts of speech. But Substandard speech or writing is
182 Diction
characterized by words and word forms not used in Standard
English; by the use of words in the wrong part of speech, case,
or tense; by a limited vocabulary; and by simple or garbled
sentence patterns. Standard English, with its wider vocabulary
and its greater skill in handling sentence patterns, is capable of
a richer variety of expression. There is seldom any doubt about
which is which. The two following passages suggest many of
the chief differences between Standard and Substandard
English:
STANDARD Joe and I were sitting quietly on the steps. A man
suddenly appeared out of nowhere. We hardly had
time to see him before he rocketed across the lawn
and took a vicious swing at Joe. I was so angry that
I could have brained him, but the whole puzzling
thing happened so quickly that I couldn't move a
muscle.
SUBSTANDARD Him and me was just settin' there not doin' nothin*
when all of a sudden up comes this guy and takes a
poke at Joe. We couldn't figure out why he done it.
Was I mad! I could of brained him, but I just froze
up and set there.
Among the principal types of Substandard usage are the
following:
1. Expressions with errors in agreement, case, verb form.
SUBSTANDARD STANDARD
I seen I saw
we done we did
he don't he doesn't
him and I done he and I did
hjm and me went he and I went
could of could have
it's broke it's broken
Standard and Substandard English 183
41
2. Double negatives.
SUBSTANDARD STANDARD
ain't never have never, haven't ever
ain't got no have no, haven't any
never did nohow never did
3. Words or word forms not used in Standard English.
SUBSTANDARD STANDARD
youse you
drownded drowned
mouses mice
interpretate interpret
confliction conflict
Formal and Informal Language
Use language with a degree of formality appropriate to
the subject; the occasion, and the reader. Most college writing
assignments demand a reasonable degree of formality.
Within Standard English are all degrees from the very formal
and impersonal to the very informal, conversational, and
personal.
Ranging toward the extreme of formality is the language of
committee reports, official documents, instructions, most text-
books and college themes, scholarly and scientific writing, and
some other kinds of serious nonfictional prose. Here is an ex-
ample of the impersonal "committee" kind of writing:
184 Diction
41
It is strongly urged that all members of the association who by
Tuesday, September 30, have not yet done so, should at their
earliest convenience present their credentials to the commissioners
of elections. Balloting may under no circumstances be attempted
until this requirement has been met in full.
Such extremely formal English is impersonal; it uses / and
you sparingly. It avoids colloquial (conversational) expressions
and slang; its vocabulary is often learned and elevated; and it
uses long words. Its sentences are often long and fairly com-
plex in structure. All these things contribute to its tone, that
is, the tone of formality.
The following passage is formal, though it is free of the dry,
colorless "committee" style of the passage cited just above:
As the university tradition came to America, it was based on
four ultimate sources of strength: the cultivation of learning for its
own sake, the educational stream that makes possible the profes-
sions, the general educational stream of the liberal arts, and, lastly,
the never-failing river of student life carrying all the power that
comes from the gregarious impulses of human beings.
James Bryant Conant, Education in a Divided World 1
First notice the diction: university tradition . . . ultimate . . .
cultivation . . . professions . . . gregarious impulses. These words
are not from the language of daily chitchat, and they set the
tone. Note also that the diction is all of a piece, all serious,
though not solemn. Finally, notice the sentence structure: an
introductory statement followed by four parallel phrases.
In the following passage, also formal, note the contrast
between the adage quoted at the beginning and the formality
of the discussion which follows it:
1 Reprinted by permission of the Harvard University Press, publishers.
Formal and Informal Language 185
41
"Actions speak louder than words" may be an excellent maxim
from the pragmatic point of view but betrays little insight into
the nature of speech. The language habits of people are by no
means irrelevant as unconscious indicators of the more important
traits of their personalities, and the folk is psychologically wiser
than the adage in paying a great deal of attention willingly or not
to the psychological significance of a man's language.
Edward Sapir, "Language" 2
The diction here is even more learned than that in the selection
above, and again the sentences are very carefully constructed.
The following passage, which does not have so learned a
vocabulary as Sapir's, describes and illustrates the basic tone
of much modern writing:
What I think is going on at the present day is a return to speech
rhythms Does it not seem, then, that the modern prose-writer,
in returning to the rhythms of everyday speech, is trying to be
more honest with himself than if he used, as is too wreckingly easy,
the forms and terms already published as the expression of other
people's minds? ... It is the realization of this, a realization pos-
sibly new in our day, which impels authors to try to write as they
speak in ordinary life on ordinary physical matters, for it is only in
this way that one can achieve fidelity to one*s self. . . .
Bonamy Dobree, Modern Prose Style*
These sentences are not strikingly formal, and they contain
one informal touch, the phrase "What I think is going on."
The following passage is still more informal, especially in its
diction:
2 From The Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, IX, 160. Reprinted by
permission of The Macmillan Company, publishers.
3 0xford: Clarendon Press, 1935.
i86 Diction
41
What greater violence can be done to the poet's experience than
to drag it into an early morning classroom and to go after it as an
item on its way to a Final Examination?
John Ciardi, How Does a Poem Mean? 4
In structure, this sentence is not essentially informal, but note
the conversational tone of the diction: drag . . . go after it . . .
an item . . . on its way.
Highly informal diction, more often used in speaking than in
writing, is often termed colloquial. The distinction of collo-
quial language is the large number of words and phrases which
set a conversational tone and pattern for the whole. It seldom
uses the more formal connectives, such as nonetheless, whereas,
and notwithstanding. It employs contractions: don't, shan't,
it's, etc. ; it prefers the impersonal you to one or he ; it uses words
like enthuse, exam, lab, prof, get (for kill}, date, and hot dog
(for wiener). Here is an extreme example of colloquial writing:
When you take your jalopy to a garage to have it fixed, you'll
find that you have to hang around while some fellow takes his own
good time in getting around to looking at it. Then when he does
fix it, you're floored because his price is just too steep for your
pocketbook.
Although the language of this passage is appropriate to the sub-
ject and the diction is all of a piece, the language is not suitable
for college writing.
A skillful writer may deliberately use a colloquial style for a
special literary effect, such as mood or characterization:
Then she saw something she hadn't expected. Along the edge of
the sidewalk and in the dark street there was a bunch of neighbor-
hood kids. Pete and Sucker Wells and Baby and Spareribs the
whole gang that started at below Bubber's age and went on up to
4 Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1959.
Formal and Informal Language 187
41
over twelve. There were even kids she didn't know at all who had
somehow smelled a party and come to hang around. And there
were kids her age and older that she hadn't invited either because
they had done something mean to her or she had done something
mean to them.
Carson McCullers, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter 5
For students, perhaps the best advice is to avoid all extremes.
Stilted language is affected, pretentious, and, at its worst, un-.
intentionally funny. Colloquial expressions in themes always
run the risk of being offensive. The middle range is broad
enough for most college needs.
EXERCISES
In the story "Spotted Horses" William Faulkner has a backwoodsman
describe how a Texan rides a wild horse:
Then it was all dust again, and we couldn't see nothing but spotted
hide and mane, and that ere Texas man's bootheels like a couple
of walnuts on two strings, and after a while that two-gallon hat
come sailing out like a fat old hen crossing a fence. 6
Point out the Substandard words, phrases, and usages in this passage.
B
Later Mr. Faulkner revised this story and retold it himself in the novel
The Hamlet, in which he used a different kind of diction:
They were moving now a kaleidoscope of inextricable and in-
credible violence on the periphery of which the metal clasps of the
Texan's suspenders sun-glinted in ceaseless orbit, with terrific
6 From The Ballad of the Sad Cafe: The Novels and Stories of Carson
McCullers (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1951).
6 From the story originally published in Scribner's Magazine Reprinted
by permission of Random House, Inc.
188 Diction
At 42
slowness across the lot. Then the broad clay-colored hat soared
deliberately outward. . . 7
What range of diction is used in this passage? Point out the words which
most clearly indicate the range.
Slang
In college writing, avoid slang except to create a specific
verbal effect. Never be caught using it unintentionally.
Slang is a private language which is often vivid, vigorous,
and amusing. The writer Carl Sandburg described it as "lan-
guage that takes off its coat, spits on its hands, and gets to
work." 8 It has, however, three great weaknesses. First, much
slang may fail to communicate because it is not widely known.
Often it is the language of a special group of teen-agers, col-
lege students, soldiers, workers in a particular craft or trade.
To those not in the group, it may be incomprehensible. Second,
slang is often short-lived. It may quickly become stale, mean-
ingless, or old-fashioned. Third, it is too often an easy, popular
rubber-stamp which only approximates one's idea, a lazy way
of avoiding the effort to find an exact word or phrase.
Slang which is vivid and which conveys a new idea some-
times becomes standard. Skyscraper, bus, and mob were once
slang but are now appropriate at any level.
Looked at from different viewpoints, the following selection
may illustrate either the humor or the misunderstanding likely
to arise from the use of slang.
'Copyright, 1940, by Random House, Inc. Reprinted by permission.
8 Quoted in H. L. Mencken, The American Language, 4th ed. (New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1936), p. 556, n. 3
Slang 189
42 A/L
I DON'T DIG MY FOLKS 9
Art Zich
I think it's the least the way people aren't hip to the English language
these days. Ever since I blew in from college, I can't seem to make any-
one dig my sounds. Like for instance last night I was bombing down-
stairs on my way to the flick with a chick, and the folks hung me up in
the hall.
"I'm cutting out," I told them. "Gonna hit the pit, then stop for a
couple of looseners."
"You're what and then what and then what?" dad asked.
"Have to book the screens, daddio. Catch a few swinging shadows,
then we're gonna fall by a little session and pick up some sounds." Dad
looked bewildered. "Popperoony, you're flipping. Don't gas out. I'll
be cool."
"Maybe you'd better bring your overcoat," mom said nervously.
"No, mom, not cool. I mean cool. You know, mellow. Roonio.
Vout6. Don't worry, I won't come back smashed."
"You get so much as a dent in that car!" dad threatened.
"You don't dig, daddio," I laughed. "I mean that I won't get blasted.
Plowed. Stoned."
Mom was stirring her coffee with her fork. Dad lit the wrong end of
a filter-tip cigarette.
"For Pete's sake, tell us what you're trying to say," he choked, "and
don't call me daddio!"
"O.K., father bear, O.K. I gotta move now. Have to blow this old
cellar. I'll due you tomorrow."
"Are you dating Ellen tonight, dear?" mom asked. "She's going to
look simply stunning when she gets those braces off her teeth."
"Come on, mom," I said, "you're goofing the goof. She's a square.
She's a three-dimensional miracle you can see without glasses. I mean,
she's nowhere."
9 From The Saturday Evening Post, April 16, 1955. Reprinted with the
author's permission.
190 Diction
43
Dad was chewing up the end of the cigarette; his eyes were glazed.
"It's time I paid the check," I told them. "Catch your act in the
morning, folks. Got to put juice in the wheels and hit the submarine
races. I mean dig the whale fights. I mean check the blimps on the
boondoksl Gas!"
Dad jumped to his feet and picked mom up in his arms. "Come on,
flapper," he yelled, "let's drop over to the speak and sip a few orange
blossoms. We'll do the black bottom and then some necking. I'll bring
my uke. Hot diggetyl"
Sometimes I just don't dig my folks at all.
EXERCISE
Rewrite the first and fourth paragraphs of "I Don't Dig My Folks" in
the slang current on your campus.
Dialect
Except when attempting to give the flavor of local or re-
gional speech, avoid words and usages peculiar to one section
of the country and uncommon or unknown in others.
Words and usages restricted to a small geographical area are
dialect. The following are some examples of dialectal forms
and usages: An onion without a bulb, according to the dic-
tionaries, is a "scallion"; in parts of the Middle West it is a
"spring onion" or a "little green onion"; and in northern New
York state it is a "rare-ripe." The New Englander goes to a
"spa" to get a "tonic," but most Americans go to a "soda
fountain" or a "soft drink parlor" to get "pop" or "soda pop."
With it they may have a "dog," a "hot dog," a "frank," a
"weenie," or a "red hot." The New Englander asks for a
"frapp6" (pronounced /rap) when he wants a milk shake with
Dialect i9i
43
ice cream in it; and his mother buys a "fowl" instead of a
"stewing chicken" or an "old hen." The Southerner carries
water in a "bucket" while a Northerner prefers a "pail."
A Midwesteraer brings home groceries in a "sack," while a
Bostonian uses a "bag." Some Southerners eat "ground peas"
or "goobers" when others eat peanuts. The Westerner may ride
a "cayuse" (small horse) down the "coulee" (valley) after a
"dogie" (motherless calf). A great American pastime is sitting
on the "piazza" or the "porch," though to a Southerner it may
be the "gallery," to a New Yorker or Pennsylvanian the
"stoop," and to a Californian the "patio." An Englishman
generally sits on the "veranda."
There is no reason to erase all regional characteristics from
language. Many of them add richness, flavor, and variety
which it would be a pity to lose. But it is wise to avoid expres-
sions which are not widely understood or which seem naive or
out of place in reasonably formal speech or writing.
EXERCISES
A
Beside each of the capitalized words below are synonyms which are used
in various parts of the country. Point out the terms which you have used
or heard. Add others if you know any.
BALTIMORE ORIOLE firebird, hangbird, hangnest, English robin,
golden robin, golden oriole
SCHOOL ENDS lets out, gets out, turns out, leaves out, goes out,
closes, breaks, breaks up
DOUGHNUT olicook, cookie, fatcake, nutcake, friedcake,
ring, cruller
PEANUT goober, goober pea, ground pea, pinda, pinder
DRAGON FLY snake doctor, snake feeder, snake waiter, mos-
quito hawk, spindle, darning needle
192 Diction
B
List and define five dialectal words used by the people in the area where
you were reared or in some other area.
Archaic and Obsolete Words
Avoid words which are no longer part of the living language.
Archaisms are old-fashioned words and expressions often
encountered in dialect and in poetry. Oft, yon, and holp (past
tense of help) are examples. They are seldom appropriate in
modern speech or writing. Obsolete words, such as jump for
"exactly," ropery for "roguery," and shrewd in the sense of
"bad" or "evil," are not used in modern English.
Improprieties
Use words in their correct functions and meanings.
An impropriety is the use of a good word in the wrong part
of speech or with the wrong meaning. Check your dictionary
when in doubt.
A functional impropriety is the use of a word in one part
of speech when in Standard English it is used in a different
part of speech. Most nouns, for example, do not also serve as
adjectives or verbs. Thus it is not standard to write orchestra
selection for selection by the orchestra or orchestral selection. In
the statement "The reporter SATIRED the President's daughter,"
satired is an impropriety. Satire is a noun; the verb is satirize.
Improprieties 193
45
Other examples are region championship for regional champion-
ship, suicide used as a verb, and reminiscences for reminisces.
An impropriety in meaning is often ridiculous:
A few extractions from the book will prove my point. (The word
is extracts.)
Some of the stories my mother told me were quite exciting, al-
though as I look back now I suspect her of a little prefabrication.
(prevarication or fabrication)
As the sun beams down upon the swamp, no different varieties of
color are reflected, only the unreal grayish color of dead vege-
tarian. (vegetation)
Other examples are climatic for climactic, statue for stature (or
vice versa), incidences for incidents, and course for coarse.
Finally, non-words or approximations should not be used in
the mistaken belief that they are standard terms. Examples are
interpolate for interpret, and predominately for predominantly.
EXERCISES
Point out and correct the improprieties in the following sentences. If
a sentence is correct, label it C.
1. Occupation hazards frequently cause insurance rates to increase
significantly.
2. After chairing the visitor, the Prime Minister proceeded to sit
on the desk edge and smoke his immense cigar.
3. The management of a manufacture plant has to be alert to
possible hazards to the workers.
494 Diction
45
4. The library requests that students leave books on tables and
not shelf them.
5. Safariing through modern Africa makes it evident that big
gaming will soon be a sport of the past.
6. The countless herds of elephants and the seemingly endless
numbers of giraffes and lions are seldom seen as they once were.
7. The psychology approach in criticism of modern fiction domi-
nates character analysis.
8. A new guide to education institutions lists a surprising great
number of colleges in the United States.
9. Some of the private institutions are experiencing finance prob-
lems even though they are aided by the government.
10. Telephone talking has been greatly simplified; now it is possible
to speak direct to a person anywhere in the world without the long
wait periods that were once annoying.
B
Certain pairs of words are often misused because they are similar in
form or in meaning. Select the correct word in each of the sentences below.
1. While our graduating class was in Washington, we went through
the (capitol, capital) building.
2. My teacher yanked us both out of our seats and rushed us to
the (principle's, principal's) office.
3. The candidate did not say it openly, but he (inferred, implied)
that his opponent was a fool.
Improprieties 195
46
4. He threw the rock with all his might and it (scintillated, rico-
cheted) across the water.
5. We lived for a while in the poorer part of the city, and some of
our neighbors were not among the most (elect, select) people I have
ever met.
6. The beautiful coloring caused the critics to praise the (sensuous-;
s, sensualness) of the artist's work.
7. Naturally, the boys were not (adverse, averse) to having Marge
go with them to the dance.
8. Like a true (epicure, glutton), she daintily tasted each bite of
food with obvious pleasure.
9. The professor showed his class an (exotic, esoteric) flowering
plant which he had found on a trip to Brazil.
10. Self-gratification was his sole end, and he did nothing he did not
consider from an (eccentric, egocentric) point of view
Incorrect Idioms
Be alert to the idiomatic usages of English, particularly in
the use of prepositions.
A special type of Substandard usage results from unidio-
matic diction. Idioms, sometimes called "cast-iron expres-
sions," are essential to Standard English. Rigid word patterns
fixed by long usage, they are phrases which for the most part
do not mean what they literally say. (See 40j.) Such ex-
pressions as how do you do, a man in his shirt sleeves, with the
naked eye, step into a job, run for office, back down, back out,
down and out, and every other day are perfectly clear to all of us,
yet they could not be translated literally into a foreign language
and mean the same things. How, for example, would you ex-
plain every other day to an Italian, who expresses the same idea
196 Diction
in the words un giorno si un giorno no, which means literally
"one day yes, one day no"?
There are no rules for idioms. We learn them only by listen-
ing, reading, and consulting a dictionary. The most common
failure in idiom is use of an unaccepted preposition. An un-
abridged dictionary will give more help than a desk dictionary
on the idiomatic use of prepositions.
Study the following list of common idioms.
UN IDIOMATIC
all the farther
angry at a person
between all of us
cannot help but
comply to
different than
doubt if
ever now and then
identical to
in accordance to
incapable to do
in search for
intend on doing
in the year of 1956
kind of a
off of
on a whole
plan on
stay to home
superior than
try and see
type of a
IDIOMATIC
as far as
angry with a person
among all of us
cannot help
comply with
different from
doubt that, whether
every now and then
identical with
in accordance with
incapable of doing
in search of
intend to do
in the year 1956
kind of
off
on the whole
plan to
stay at home
superior to
try to see
type of
Incorrect Idioms 197
46
EXERCISE
Point oat and correct the unidiomatic expressions in the following.
Since I was the city boss, the leader of Ward 15 called me to the side
and made his position quite clear. He said that he had gone all the
farther he would go until the matter of Gallagher's candidacy was
clarified up. He doubted if Gallagher would be acceptable by the voters
of Ward 15. And until he knew who was to be in the charge of funds, he
did not intend on working any more for the money-raising project or
giving further thought of lining up votes. He also felt that we must
gain more insight to the kind of a program the opposition was likely to
put forward. He believed that if it was identical to the one they had
last year it might actually conform better than our own with the
general interests of his ward. He hated to admit that our opponents'
political acumen might be in any way equal with ours, and he would
try and say little as regards to these private opinions of his. But until
he had enough evidence that would clear off his doubts, he would re-
frain to take any further direct action. I could not help but conclude
that we would have to find another leader to Ward 15.
i98 Diction
47
Technical English
In writing on specialized subjects for the general reader,
use technical terms sparingly, and keep the language clear
and plain.
Every specialty, from cooking to chemistry, develops a
technical vocabulary. Some technical words come into gen-
eral use, but most remain unknown except to the specialist.
Thus everyone knows penicillin, but few are acquainted with
penicillium notatum, the mold from which the drug is made.
And we know the plastic Incite, but not its chemical name, the
acrylic resin polymeihyl methacrylate.
Trouble comes when the specialist either cannot or does not
see the need to express technical ideas in nontechnical language
for the general reader. We must assume that the following
passage, for instance, is addressed to a limited group, for it can
be understood only by the person who knows the technical
terms used:
Whenever an effector activity (R) is closely associated with a
stimulus afferent impulse or trace (s) and the conjunction is closely
associated with the rapid diminution in the motivational stimulus
(So or SG) there will result an increment (A) to a tendency for that
stimulus to evoke that response.
Clark L. Hull, A Behavior System 10
Contrast the foregoing passage with the following, in which
technical terms are held to a minimum and the needs of the
general reader are kept in mind:
10 A Behavior System: An Introduction to Behavior Theory Concerning the
Individual Organism (New Haven. Yale University Press, 1952). Re-
printed by permission.
Technical English i99
47
Investigators began to look more than 50 years ago for the
dreaded invader of the central nervous system now identified as
the polio virus. Once they had isolated the virus and learned to
work with it in the laboratory, they made an unexpected discovery.
The virus turns up much more often in the intestinal tract than it
does in the spinal cord and brain. In human beings the infection
usually goes unnoticed, causing no harm and conferring a lasting
immunity; only occasionally does it involve the nervous system
and bring on serious illness. The tracing of the polio virus to its
habitat in the gut has led more recently to the discovery that it is a
member of a large family of viruses. They all produce the same
sort of benign infection in the alimentary tract, and exhibit the
same tendency to invade other tissues, especially the nervous
system, with more serious consequences. The so-called entero-
viruses now number more than 50. Some have proved to be agents
of hitherto mysterious diseases. Although other members of the
family have not yet been incriminated, they remain under close
surveillance, for there are a number of diseases that have no known
cause, and the entero viruses have not been eliminated as suspects.
Joseph L. Melnick, "Enteroviruses" 11
Except for the terms polio and virus, generally well known, the
only technical term in the passage is enteroviruses (intestinal
viruses) , whose meaning can in part be deduced from the context.
Technical terminology, unless addressed to readers with spe-
cial knowledge, obscures meaning. Moreover, it tempts the
writer into the use of inflated and vague words instead of plain
ones a style known as gobbledygook or governmentese
(because it flourishes in bureaucratic writing). Thus A. P.
Herbert has suggested that Lord Nelson's famous Trafalgar
message ("England expects every man to do his duty*') would
be written in modern gobbledygook as follows: "England antici-
pates that as regards the current emergency personnel will face
11 From Scientific American, February 1959. Reprinted by permission.
200 Diction
47
up to the issues and exercise appropriately the functions allo-
cated to their respective occupation groups." 12
GENERAL EXERCISE
Many of the following expressions can be used at more than one level of
style or usage, depending on context. Select ten; supply contexts; and
identify each expression in context with an appropriate label or labels
Standard, Substandard, Formal, Informal or Colloquial, Slang, etc.
See 40h. (NoxE: There is no universally accepted system of labeling
levels of usage. Read the relevant preliminary pages in your dictionary,
and be sure you understand clearly its particular system. Combine use of
your dictionary with your own judgment.)
on the cuff a drag race
off the cuff Gimme a drag,
in any event work up a storm
in the pink to get pinned
in the red to become engaged
turn over to go steady
overturn a Chinese puzzle
capsize a Scotch mist
turn turtle an Irish pennant
indignant a German police dog
angry shipshape
mad College Boards
burned hour exam
I don't like it, not one bit. o.k.
the fourth dimension the human condition
It's me. the glim
idiomatic expressions sunglasses
five smackers a slice shades
a date in this case
a drag under the circumstances
12 Quoted in H. L. Mencken, The American Language, Supplement I
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), p. 413.
Technical English 201
47
in a state
a pretty state of affairs
in a fix
as stated above
as I said before
as we have said
as in the former case
recall that
it will be clear
don't forget
a pain in the neck
a pain in the arm
a headache
a bother
a severe annoyance
nausea
an upset stomach
a virus infection
the flu
laid up
temporarily indisposed
moving picture
movie
shoe
a flick
dead as a doornail
out to lunch
( = missed the point)
faux pas ( = mistake)
off the beam
Something is rotten in the state
of Denmark.
The sky's the limit.
Ontogeny recapitulates phy-
logeny.
peanuts
It ain't peanuts.
the day before yesterday
in former times
way back when
however
moreover
but
and so
as a matter of fact
indubitably
sure
believe me
without a doubt
incandescent bulb
electric light
He goofed.
He made a mistake.
neat
It's real gone.
get the picture
( = understand the situation)
understand
comprehend
missed the boat
out in left field
off the beaten path
off the track
fail to perceive
misinterpret
all at sea
confused
sadly mistaken
quote
quotation
loser
winner
202 Diction
j Triteness
Strive for fresh and original expression.
The language is filled with cliches, which are stock phrases
and figures of speech once strikingly original but now used so
often that they have lost their suggestive value. Thus a, bull in
a china shop was once vivid and funny, but it has been used so
many times that we no longer visualize the snorting bull and
the flying fragments of china. Examples of triteness are in-
numerable: flat as a flounder, pandemonium reigned, true blue,
apple of his eye, tired but happy, all in all, quick as lightning,
quick as a wink, quick as a flash, and so forth. Trite phrases,
like much slang, provide ready-made substitutes for original
thought and expression, and so rob one's language of freshness
and force.
EXERCISE
Point out and replace with more original phrasing the trite expressions
in the following passage.
Honest politicans in the campaign for the state legislature were as
scarce as hen's teeth. Every candidate was a snake in the grass who
pretended that he was as honest as the day is long but who was really
hoping to be elected so that he could make hay while the sun shone and
sell the people out lock, stock, and barrel. The oratory flowed like
water and smelled to high heaven. When election day rolled around,
Triteness 203
49
the people, who had not kept abreast of the times, made a beeline for
the polls and voted the straight ticket because they had swallowed the
poppycock hook, line, and sinker. AH in all, this state will be in a
bad way until the people come down to earth and quit voting for
politicians who use tactics that ought to be dead as a doornail.
Exactness
Choose words which state your meaning accurately.
Exactness covers many particular problems: synonymy
(pp. 204-205), connotation and denotation (pp. 231-235),
exact idiom (pp. 196-198), improprieties (pp. 193-196),
specific and concrete words (pp. 227-231).
One of the best ways to gain exactness in your writing is to
expand your vocabulary. Study the following suggestions for
improving your vocabulary.
1. Make yourself word-conscious. Watch for new words and
new meanings as you read; use your dictionary; listen to others,
especially to people with a vocabulary which is notably large,
varied, and effective. When possible, jot down for later study
words you do not understand.
2. Add words to your vocabulary. Determine the meanings
of new words from context. When in doubt consult a dictionary.
You will seldom. find it helpful merely to memorize new words.
A grasp of the ideas connected with a word helps to make it
yours.
204 Diction
49
3. Transfer words from your recognition vocabulary to your
active vocabulary. Words learned through reading and listening
are gradually transferred to the active vocabulary as they are
needed. Papers which deal with ideas and information encoun-
tered in reading, in lectures, and in conversation naturally
demand the use of many terms necessary to the discussion of
special subjects. It is hard, for instance, to go far in college
without hearing such words as referendum, osmosis, hard
money, due process, syllogism, existentialism, and new criticism.
As you learn the meanings of these and many other new words,
you will almost certainly introduce some of them into your
writing. When you do, you begin to transfer these words into
your active vocabulary.
GENERAL EXERCISES
VOCABULARY TEST IS
Printed below is a brief vocabulary test. It has been found that the average
major executive will make from two to four mistakes on this test; the average
college graduate, five or six; the average high-school graduate will get about
half of the answers right.
Read each sentence below and underline the one of the five words or word
groups following it which most nearly corresponds in meaning to the
italicized word in the sentence.
1. They play with abandon.
enthusiasm skill loss unrestraint listlessness
2. He was absolved.
acquitted bankrupt discovered anointed impressed
3. He accosted the officer.
reviled hated addressed liked deceived
lB The Inglis Tests of English Vocabulary, Form B, as reprinted in An
Outline for Dictionary Study (G. & C. Merriam Company); by permission
of Ginn and Company.
General Exercises 205
4. I am actuated by friendship.
encouraged aided impelled betrayed supported
5. He is in his adolescence.
old-age youth prime-of-]ife office apprenticeship
6. An agglomeration of roots.
examination fertilization exhibition loss mass
7. He alleges insanity.
suspects studies claims fears denies
8. Amenable to kindness
responsive opposed pledged disposed devoted
9. I ignored the animadversion.
interruption remark question criticism opposition
10. Apathetic listeners.
attentive courteous pitiful sympathetic unresponsive
11. He seems apprehensive.
angry guilty anxious generous arrested
12. Arson is a crime,
theft murder assault incendiarism perjury
13. It as_mages thirst.
sajQsfies arouses increases prevents prolongs
14. I attended an auction.
card-game town-meeting pjiblic-sale^>trial opera
15. We demanded an autopsy.
automobile-cover apology hearing refund ^.examination
16. That is a bagatelle.
suit-case trifle riddle sea-shell insult
17. A. batch of bread.
loaf sale quantity kind pan
18. He bestows favors.
receives requests collects despises confers
19. A blend of coffee.
brand shipment drink mixture imitation
20. A bosky path.
narrow bushy dangerous slippery precipitous
21. He is a bravo.
hero escaped-convict soldier villain conqueror
208 Diction
22. The buckram was sold.
carriage shield stag
l 1 'S5rd_of
hut celebration marriage plot
24. Do you like cameos?
shell-fish puns dry-etchings carved-gems
lost-his-nead ^rendere^ retreated attacked escaped
A good score on this test does not mean that there remains
no room for improvement. A poor score indicates the need for
redoubled efforts to improve your knowledge of words.
B
Reading of the right kind is one of the chief ways to build your vocabu-
lary. The context of words, their setting or "surroundings" in a particular
passage, can often help you to figure out their meanings. Test your ability
to define words through context in the following sentences. At the end of
each sentence is a list of four words or phrases. Indicate the one which
most nearly expresses the meaning of the italicized word.
1. He had tried hard, and we felt that he really did not deserve the
stricture, (watch, reprimand, compliment, penalty)
2. All the younger neighbors were delighted when she moved away,
for she had often maligned them to some of her older friends, (ignored,
slandered, praised, discussed)
3. The dealer sold Becky the table as a genuine antique, but it later
turned out to be spurious, (maple, counterfeit, authentic, damaged)
4. The apposite illustrations used by the speaker made his talk very
effective, (opposite, impertinent, vague, appropriate)
5. When transported to this new habitat, the little creatures died
before they were sufficiently acclimatized, (put in a cage, fed and
watered, adjusted, inoculated)
6. Before the robbery, the gangsters had made a thorough examina-
tion of the store through frequent visits to it with the ostensible purpose
of pricing diamond rings, (pretended, showy, frank, secret)
General Exercises 207
49
7. He always tried to guide the discussions and was forever offering
his services. He was, in fact, the most officious member of the com-
mittee, (diplomatic, meddlesome, official* tactful)
8. He used such an excessive number of synonyms, repetitions, and
round-about expressions that his style was copious and hence deadening,
(a copy of someone else's, succinct, bountiful, wordy)
9. Had he been less desultory in his reading and study, he would
have made better grades last term, (aimless, deliberate, intent, pro-
crastinating)
10. If the sergeant's voice had been somewhat less strident, he might
have got along better with the men. (mild, hoarse, harsh-sounding,
pleading)
C
Perhaps you need to express your ideas more briefly than you now do.
For the italicized wordy expressions in the following sentences substitute
one of the words or phrases listed at the end of the exercise. Notice how
many words you have saved. This principle should be applied to your own
writing strive for the exact word or phrase which expresses your thought.
1. The poor fellow didn't know how to read or write.
2. She wouldn't pay any attention to anything anybody told her.
3. Although she was a woman who had lived in a city all her life,
she quickly adjusted herself to small-town ways.
4. He is the kind of person who thinks of everything as it relates to
himself.
5. His father was always inclined to think things would end un-
happily.
6. He is the kind of student who always puts things off until tomorrow.
1. Getting to their engagements on time is a characteristic of but few
people.
208 Diction
49
8. This particular tribe spent its whole lime wandering about all over
the country.
9. After final examinations he felt as if it wouldn't do any good to
put out any further efforts.
10. He took something to put him to sleep.
of urban background a procrastinator
pessimistic was despondent
punctuality a soporific
was nomadic was illiterate
egocentric was intractable
In the following list, label words that are colloquial or informal, slang,
dialectal, poetic, archaic, or technical. (See 40h and your dictionary.}
blockhead
bunk (to occupy a bed)
bunk (nonsense)
clove (past part, of cleave, "split* 1 )
edifice
Erin
erstwhile (adv.)
fardel
feist
fresh (presumptuous)
gobbledygook
hen (a woman)
high-hat
hunky
hunky-dory
General Exercises W9
hussy (a small case for sewing
equipment)
kine
octane
rattle (to confuse)
set
sidle
steed
traumatic
y-clept
In each of the following passages select the words or phrases which
you think were used by the author. The problems or choices involve exact-
ness in meaning, idiom, triteness or originality, level of diction, and just
plain good taste. In some instances, more than one choice might be regarded
as acceptable or correct. Then you will have to base your decision on the
choice of words and phrases in the rest of the passage. Be prepared to de-
fend your selections.
1. Shakespeare, who thought (a lot, a great deal, a whole lot) about
the relations of fathers and children, makes this problem the subject
of several of his (best, fine) plays. He shows us a father who, with
(awful, beautiful, vast) dexterity and (push, ginger, vinegar, energy)
has won himself a (good job, great position). The (dad, forebear,
father) loves his (boy, progeny, son), and hopes that he will share the
(loot, rewards, prizes) and (privileges, responsibilities, love) of power.
The (kid, brat, son, boy) is (keen, talented, smart) and (cute, charming,
sweet), brave and (peppy, energetic, pushy). It would be (easy, a
push-over), one would think, and (fun, pleasant) for him to (throw in
with, amalgamate with, join) his (sire, old man, father). (There's,
There is) no compulsion. He can do (as he liketh, whatever he likes).
He may sit at home playing shove-ha'penny if he (selects, wants to,
chooses) ; or hunt all week during the season; or (diddle around, waste
210 Diction
time harmlessly) in other ways. But he chooses to become a (mobster,
gangster, crook). He is only an amateur, but he is on the fringe of the
(pro, professional) crooks. His best (chum, friend, pal) is a broken-down
old (villain, ruffian, codger) who has drunk (most, almost) all his gifts
(away, down, up) and is living (by, off, on) the (balance, remainder)
of his (head, mind, wits). He (sees far more of, runs around more with)
FalstafF than he does (of, with) his father, King Henry IV. He makes
Falstaff into a (sort of, sort of a) (substitute, second-string, sub) father,
(carrying on, laughing) with him as he (can't cannot) with his father,
tricking and (joshing, befooling) him as he would like to (belittle, run
down) his father. As the play goes on, it is (harder and harder, tougher
and tougher) to understand (what's, what is) wrong with Hal. Why
should he throw away his chances? Why does he want to hurt his
father? He says he is doing it (so, so that) he can get more praise for
reforming later; but that is not the real (answer, reason), and it never
comes up after his (reform, going straight) takes place. The real reason
(appears, shows up) when his father is in genuine danger and when Hal
himself is challenged by a rival of his own age. Then he rushes to help
the king's cause, and kills his challenger, Hotspur.
Gilbert Highet, The Art of Teaching 1 *
2. But all this higher present education is (bad, unfortunate). It
has led American women into having ideas which they can never realize
when they (grow up, come to maturity, get big). A (sheepskin, college
education, diploma) may, for instance, (inveigle, persuade) a girl to
become (hep to, interested in) biology, which may lead her into wanting
to become a (doctor, pill pusher, medic). And yet she will never have
the chance to become (a first-rate, an A-number-one) doctor, however
gifted she is by birth. People will not (let her, allow it) not only
men, but women will not allow it.
Pearl S. Buck, "America's Medieval Women" 15
14 Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., publishers.
15 From Harper's Magazine, August 1938. Copyright 1938 by Pearl
S. Buck. Used by permission of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated.
General Exercises 211
49
3. The need to conform was (real, particularly, specially) (irksome,
aggravating) (bince, because, as) other modes of (thought, cogitation)
and expression outside the canon of propriety and good taste (ran over,
cut across all, dissected) (group, high-class) lines and did (move,
instigate) people, (saint, cultivated) and (sinner, lowbrow, vulgar)
alike.
Oscar Handlin, The Americans 1 *
4. Even (teachers, professors, profs) of (lit, literature), (blushing,
hesitating, reluctant) to be (thought, taken as) either professorial or
literary, have (given up, stripped themselves of) their (allusions,
illusions) and use a prose as (single-gallused, dead as a mackerel) as that
of any (politico, congressman) up for re-election. We live in a (time,
day and age) in which men will take great pains (to conceal, at con-
cealing) their knowledge.
Clifton Fadiman, "In Praise of Quotation" 17
5. The provost of one of our (hugest, biggest, largest) and most
honored institutions told me not long ago that a questionnaire was
(passed out, distributed, given out) to his (future alumni, under-
graduates, undergrads) and that 40 per cent refused to (own up,
acknowledge, claim) (that, as how) they believed (cheating, dis-
honesty, cribbing) on (tests, examinations, exams) to be (sinful, repre-
hensible, evil).
Joseph Wood Krutch, "The New Immorality" 18
6. By comparison with the deep involvement of women in living,
men appear to be only superficially so. Compare the love of a male for a
female (to, against, with) the love of the female for the male. It is the
difference (of, between, among) a (rivulet, purling brook, stream) and
16 Copyright 1963 by Oscar Handlin. Used by permission of Atlantic-
Little, Brown and Company.
17 From Clifton Fadiman, Any Number Can Play. Used by permission
of World Publishing Company.
18 From the Saturday Review, July 30, 1960. Used by permission.
212 Diction
49
(a great deep ocean, the rolling ocean waves, the ocean blue). Women
love (the human race, the race of mankind) ; men are, on (a, the) whole,
(against, hostile to) it.
Ashley Montagu, The Natural Superiority of Women 19
7. It is characteristic (of, for, to) the human mind to speculate
(over, in regards to, about) the origin of the world we live in, and
practically all ancient religions contain, in some form or other, a story
of the creation of the world (by, with) an act of some divine power.
With the development (of, through) science, the problem of the origin
of the world, or, (to use, in using) a broader term, the problem of the
origin of the universe, received a sounder foundation, and we can now
approach it (to use, by using) the knowledge gamed (by, through) the
generations of geologists and astronomers who inquired (into, about, of)
the nature of the material world around us.
George Gamow, 'The Creation of the Universe" 20
8. The greatest hour in a man's day is the hour when he (sets his
face, makes his way, wends his way) toward (domesticity, his domestic
fireside, home). (Everyday, Every day, Ever day), through hours of
work, he is sustained by the same bright vision, which he derives (from,
through, of) romantic fiction, or from his own creative imagination.
He sees himself (joyfully, exuberantly) greeted by a household, no
member of which has anything else to do, or any other wish, (save, other
than) to make him (comfy, comfortable).
Ralph Barton Perry, "Domestic Superstitions*' 21
9. In many (a bull session, an intellectual conversation, a get-to-
gether) with our junior officers and GI's during the (war, recent con-
flagration, recent conflict), in camps and billets around half of (the
"Copyright 1952, 1953 by The Macmillan Company. Used by permis-
sion of The Macmillan Company and the Saturday Review.
20 From the Sewanee Review. Used by permission.
21 From The Atlantic Monthly, August, 1921. Used by permission.
General Exercises 213
49
world, this terrestrial ball, this old globe), I (put, threw out) this
question: Do American (men, gentlemen, boys) like (ladies, women,
girls)?
David L. Conn, "Do American Men Like Women?" 22
10. One of the reasons that country (folks, hicks, folk), with limited
experience, are nevertheless so much better (pals, companions, associ-
ates) for (an artist, a longhair, an artiste) or a (Ph.D., thinker, brain)
than city (slicks, people) of the same (class, category), is that the
former have always kept for themselves a little free time to sit still
and (breed, cogitate, brood), whittling wood around a winter fire, or
bent impassively over a fishing pole, watching the trout's (canny,
sharp, smart) (movements, flirtations, cavortings). The city worker
(maybe, may be) better read; but the countryman is more (intelligent,
intellectual, reflective): such experience as he has (experienced, en-
countered, met) he has (saved, salted down, preserved).
Lewis Mumford, Faith for Living
22 From The Atlantic Monthly, August, 1946. Used by permission.
23 Used by permission of Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., publishers.
214 Diction
Style
Style is the manner of writing, the way the writer expresses
his thoughts in language. Effective writing always involves
the choice of words and expressions, the arrangement of words
within sentences, and variety in the patterns of sentences.
Sentences which basically express the same idea may seem
vastly different, and much of the difference is usually due to
style. All of the following sentences are alike in content but
dissimilar in style:
Time flies.
Time is infinite movement without one moment of rest.
Tolstoy, War and Peace
Time, you old gipsy man,
Will you not stay,
Put up your caravan
Just for one day?
Ralph Hodgson 1
1 From Poems; copyright 1917 by The Macmillan Company, renewed
1945 by Ralph Hodgson. Reprinted by permission of The Macmillan
Company.
Style 215
Dost thou love Life? Then do not squander time, for that is the
stuff life is made of.
Poor Richard's Almanac
It continues ever true . . . that Saturn, or Chronos, or what we
call Time, devours all his Children: only by incessant Running, by
incessant Working, may you (for some threescore-and-ten years)
escape him; and you too he devours at last.
Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus
It was Grandfather's [watch] and when Father gave it to me he
said, Quentin, I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire; it's
rather excrutiating-ly apt that you will use it to gain the reducto
absurdum of all human experience which can fit your individual
needs no better than it fitted his or his father's. I give it to you not
that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now
and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to
conquer it.
William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury 2
Various kinds of writing may be characterized as dull, poetic,
terse, flippant, monotonous, pompous, and so on. You should
notice the effects achieved in the works of good writers and in
your own sentences. The pattern and rhythm of your sentences
should be varied, pleasing, and appropriate to your subject
matter and your own personality.
Begin your study of effectiveness by concentrating on such
basic problems in the use of words as wordiness and repetition.
In solving these problems, you may need to review the section
on "Diction" (pages 182-214).
2 Copyright, 1929, and renewed 1956, by William Faulkner. Reprinted
by permission of Random House, Inc.
216 Style
/or
SOb
Wordiness /J(T
Do not waste words.
Conciseness saves time and increases the forcefulness of your
writing. Although you should not omit words necessary to the
thought and the desired emotional effect, you should express
your ideas in as few words as possible.
OUQ Omit needless words and ideas.
Please repeat the sentence _
Please repeat the sentence. (4~vfords)
Drive a nail in the place where the two boards join together.
(12 words)
Drive a nail where the two boards join. (8 words)
You will like the new style and will be very much pleased with it.
(14 words)
You will be very much pleased with the new style. (10 words)
Accidents due to excessive speed often end fatally for those in-
volved. (11 words)
Accidents due to excessive speed often end fatally. (8 words)
You should not take out the sill, because that step in the pro-
cedure is unnecessary and the house might fall. (20 words)
You should not take out the sill, because the house might fall.
(12 words)
50 D Use one word for many.
(See Exercise C, pp. 208-209.)
She never did become a good dancer because she always had her
mind too much on what other people were thinking about her.
(23 words)
Wordiness 217
50 C /ur
She was always too self-conscious to become a good dancer. (10
words)
The love letter was written by somebody who did not sign his
name. (13 words)
The love letter was anonymous for, was not signed). (5 or 6
words)
5UC Use the active voice for conciseness. (See 9.)
The truck was overloaded by the workmen with watermelons and
cantaloupes. (11 words)
The workmen overloaded the truck with watermelons and canta-
loupes. (9 words)
50u Revise sentence structure for conciseness.
Another element which adds to the effectiveness of a speech is its
emotional content. (14 words)
Emotional content also makes a speech more effective. (8 words)
The fact that Carl was always inattentive caused the teacher to
send him to the dean. (16 words)
Carl's constant inattentiveness caused the teacher to send him to
the dean. (12 words)
The teacher sent Carl to the dean because he was constantly in-
attentive. (12 words)
A good home library is very useful It also affords its owner a
great deal of pleasure. (17 words)
A good home library is very useful and pleasurable (9 words)
Study your sentences carefully and make them concise by
using all the methods discussed above. The following sentences
illustrate wordiness and ways of correcting the error.
1. There were two reasons why he did not get there right on time.
(13 words)
218 Style
2. There were two reasons for his failure to arrive on time. (11
words)
3. There were two reasons for his late arrival. (8 words)
4. There were two reasons for his lateness. (7 words)
5. He was late for two reasons. (6 words)
1. He was the kind of person who always bowed and scraped be-
fore his superiors. (14 words)
2. He always bowed and scraped before his superiors. (8 words)
3. He was always obsequious. (4 words)
1. In order to become an outstanding tennis player, a person who
really loves tennis will master the four absolutely fundamental
strokes. These methods of hitting the ball are, first, the serve.
Next, there is the forehand. Third comes the backhand. And
finally we have the overhead smash. (47 words)
2. To become outstanding, a tennis player must master four
strokes: the serve, the forehand, the backhand, and the over-
head smash. (20 words)
In striving for conciseness and brevity, however, guard
against sacrificing concreteness and vividness.
CONCRETE At each end of the sunken gardens, worn granite steps,
AND VIVID flanked by large magnolia trees, lead to the formal
paths.
EXCESSIVELY ,_, , , A , . ,
The garden has steps at both ends.
CONCISE e *
EXERCISE
Express the following sentences succinctly. Do not omit important ideas.
1. For many years the country was under the totalitarian rule of a
dictator. The dictator was self-appointed*
Wordiness 219
SOd
2. It is very important for a speaker to have the gift of being able
to give his speech emotional content.
3. Although the Kentucky rifle played an important and significant
part in getting food for the frontiersmen who settled the American
West, its function as a means of protection was in no degree any less
significant hi their lives.
4. He wants a place for his vacation where he can be quiet. It must
also be inexpensive. And there must be plenty of fishing.
5. The distant explosion was audible to the ear.
6. The journey to California was made by two of us in an English-
built Ford.
7. My father first saw the light of day hi the year of 1910.
8. He tried without any success to bring the other students around
to thinking that Ms decision was correct.
9. In modern warfare every nation which is engaged in the war
broadcasts over the radio information which is intended to convince the
people in the enemy country that their cause is wrong.
10. It is not true that he is guilty.
220 Style
51 a
Repetition
Avoid careless repetition of words, phrases, and sounds.
Repeat only for emphasis or clarity.
51 Q Avoid ineffective repetition.
An unskillful writer often repeats a word unintentionally, or
he may not see that an idea can be expressed without repeating
a word. Avoid repetition by (1) using synonyms, (2) using
pronouns, and (3) condensing sentences and omitting words.
Study the following repetitious sentences and the ways of
improving them:
REPETITIOUS
CORRECTION BY
CONDENSATION
CORRECTION BY
USE OF PRONOUN
REPETITIOUS
CORRECTION BY
CONDENSATION
AND SYNONYM
Most campus politicians campaign with home-
made posters and signs. These signs and posters
are usually quite large and conspicuous.
Most campus politicans campaign with large, con-
spicuous, home-made posters and signs.
Most campus politicians campaign with home-
made posters and signs which are large and
conspicuous.
My first job, that is, my first full-time job, was a
somewhat unusual job. It was unusual both as a
first job and as a 706 for a fourteen-year-old boy.
My new 706 was in a sandwich bar in an army
post exchange.
My first full-time job was somewhat unusual em-
ployment for a fourteen-year-old boy. I worked
in a sandwich bar in an army post exchange.
Repetition
51 c
REPETITIOUS The following statements advise the agent what
procedure to follow.
CORRECTION BY The following statements advise the agent about
OMISSION procedure.
REPETITIOUS Consideration of others is really the main quality
of a gentleman. This quality comes from within
the man himself.
CORRECTION BY
CONDENSATION Consideration of others, which is really the main
AND USE OF quality of a gentleman, comes from the heart.
PRONOUN
51 U Do not use vague or awkward synonyms to avoid
repetition.
When several synonyms are used within a few sentences, the
passage usually needs condensation.
EXCESSIVE SYNONYMS Consideration of others is really the main quality
of a gentleman. A man who has this trait is
sincere.
CORRECTION BY Sincere consideration of others is really the
CONDENSATION main quality of a gentleman.
1C Avoid unpleasant repetition of sounds.
Devices like rhyme, meter, and repetition of consonants and
vowel sounds are a vital part of poetry and of some kinds of
creative prose, but they are generally to be avoided in exposi-
tory writing.
RHYME The biologist again checked his charts to determine
the effect of the poison on the insect.
222 Style
51 d
CORRECTION The biologist again studied his charts to determine
the effect of the poison on the moth.
METER The calls of birds and cries of beasts foretold calam- -
v u v
ities in olden times.
CORRECTION In the old days the call of a bird or the cry of a beast
foretold calamities.
REPETITION OF The desperate depression of that decade doomed
CONSONANTS many men.
CORRECTION The great depression of the thirties ruined many men.
REPETITION OF The renotoned countess floanced out of the room after
VOWEL SOUNDS the announcement.
CORRECTION The famous countess stalked out of the room after the
announcement.
51 u Repeat a word or a phrase for emphasis or for
clarity.
A writer striving for a special effect often gains emphasis by
repeating a word or a phrase. In the following passage, the
italicized words show how Melville uses repetition to create a
gloomy atmosphere.
The morning was one peculiar to that coast. Everything was mute
and calm; everything gray. The sea, though undulated into long
roods of swells, seemed fixed, and was sleeked at the surface like
waved lead that has cooled and set in the smelter's mould. The
sky seemed a gray surtout. Flights of troubled gray fowl, kith and kin
with flights of troubled gray vapors among which they were mixed,
skimmed low and fitfully over the waters, as swallows over
meadows before storms. Shadows present, foreshadowing deeper
shadows to come.
Herman Melville, "Benito Cereno"
Repetition 223
51d
EXERCISES
A
Rewrite the following sentences to avoid unpleasant repetition.
I. On the whole, athletic programs in high schools build character;
yet those same programs occasionally destroy character. A good ex-
ample is the character who makes an eighty-yard run in high school
and who never can forget it.
2. Over the years old folks have always scolded the young because
they talk overboldly to their elders.
3. A senior planning to enter a graduate school should study gradu-
ate school catalogues in exactly the same way that he studied college
catalogues when he was a high school senior planning to enter college.
4. Many biographies show how a great man is significantly affected
by a great book; usually the man reads the book early in his childhood,
but all his life he remembers the book's significance in his life.
5. A relativist believes that moral principles change and that one
should determine how they change to fit changing events and changing
times.
554 Style
51 d
6. Highways should be built so that they can handle present traffic,
and they should also be built so that they can handle the greater traffic
loads of the future.
7. It was the most beautiful scene I had ever seen.
8. The quality of a painting is not only determined by considering
the subject of the painting, but is also determined by considering the
techniques used to represent the subject.
9. The truck contained peaches. They were large, ripe Elberta
peaches, and they filled the truck completely.
10. The saucer-shaped spaceship spun crazily as the pilot sought to
shake off his pursuers.
B
Rewrite the following passage. Avoid wordiness and undesirable repeti-
tion.
The collector of insects needs only a small amount of equipment to
begin an insect collection. He can begin by finding many apparently
useless articles around his house and converting them into efficient
Repetition 225
5i : :
i ^'
3 'wi
equipment for collecting. A light net, made of cheese cloth, is sufficient
for terrestrial collecting. For aquatic collecting he should have a heavy-
duty net or a net especially designed for use in collecting in the water.
Before he begins to collect insects, the good amateur entomologist
inspects his net and corrects all defects.
Learning the use of these nets is easy. The air net is used by simply
sweeping the net over the grass and over high weeds and bushes. It is
also used by simply sweeping the net through the air to catch insects
which the collector sees in flight. When using the water net in still
water, the collector places it on the surface of the water and moves it
back and forth over the weeds and grass which are growing in the water.
The net may also be used by placing it in a swiftly flowing stream, and
thus when one moves a rock upstream from the net, the insects which
live in the stream are frightened into the net.
The good amateur entomologist carries with him a jar in which to
kill the insects after he has caught them. He can easily find an old fruit
jar or a similar kind of jar lying around the house. The jar should have
a tightly fitting cap. After placing the insect in the jar, the collector
also places in the jar a small piece of cotton with a few drops of carbon
tetrachloride on it. The insects are now collected, and the collector is
ready to take his insects home and mount them in his collection.
226 Style
"
Specific and Concrete Words /\fZUL*
Q
Choose words that are specific enough to convey the in-
tended meaning and no other.
Consider the following sentence:
Most persons entering school are not well educated.
It could mean
Most first graders cannot read and write.
Many college freshmen have studied little or no poetry.
Few people entering dental school know how to prepare a porce-
lain filling.
or any number of things.
Any statement which can have many different meanings
needs to be made more specific. If your roommate struggles
out of bed, stretches, and says, "Gee, I feel awful this morn-
ing," he is being specific enough for the occasion. But if, later
in the day, the college doctor asks him whether he has a head-
ache or a pain in the back and all he can say is "Gee, I feel
awful," it may be hard to tell whether he needs glasses or has
a slipped spinal disc. The doctor, however, can examine and
diagnose his patient; few readers and listeners have a similar
opportunity.
A prime cause of vagueness is the use of words which are
too abstract to convey the specific meaning intended. To
understand this fact, it is necessary to know something about
the mental process of abstraction. To abstract means "to
draw from," in particular, to draw general concepts from spe-
cific instances. The following is a simple illustration:
Specific and Concrete Words 227
52
<J
CONCRETE
pork
beef ^-red meat
lamb-
INCREASINGLY ABSTRACT
.
v-r
^
chicken
duck
turkey
-poultry
meat -
angel cake
cherry pie
shortcake
pastry .
y- dessert -
Ufood-
> pudding *
tapioca \ I ^-sustenance
custard
junket -
drink ^
In this diagram each step to the right represents a further
abstraction. At the level of "food," the word "drink" repre-
sents a parallel range of abstracting, and both lead to the still
broader concept "sustenance."
Without the power to abstract, we would be bound to the
immediate object or experience. We could never talk about
"a meal," but only "roast beef and a baked potato." Increas-
ingly abstract concepts like meat, food, meal, and sustenance
allow us to group large numbers of objects and experiences
and to combine abstractions in order to discover still more
relationships in short, to think.
But we do not independently arrive at all the abstractions
we use. Rather, we borrow most of them ready-made. Con-
sider a few high-level abstractions like integrity, morality, free-
dom, goodness, love, justice, democracy. Abstractions like food,
drink, and sustenance derive from concrete experience common
to all. But democracy means something very different in Russia
228 Style
52
and in the United States; love means something a little different
to almost everyone who uses the word. Many abstractions are
not simple sums of concrete facts; instead, they are built on
such a complex of other abstractions that it is hard to say
without thought just what they mean. Because high-level
abstractions are hard to define and because they may mean all
things to all men, they should be used with great care.
Notice how the following passage improves as it becomes
more specific and concrete.
GENERAL
Mankind needs to recognize the geographical limitations of com-
munities and the advantages of changes in environment. This is a
principle which is evident in the movements and migrations of the
creatures of nature.
MORE SPECIFIC
For the improvement of one's health, a change of environment is
advisable. It is fortunate that no one place encompasses the world.
The vegetation and birds of one place do not exist in another. Mi-
gratory birds are more cosmopolitan than man; they eat their meals
each day in a different part of the country. Even some animals follow
the seasons.
VERY SPECIFIC
To the sick the doctors wisely recommend a change of air and
scenery. Thank Heaven, here is not all the world. The buckeye does
not grow in New England, and the mockingbird is rarely heard here.
The wild goose is more of a cosmopolite than we; he breaks his fast
in Canada, takes a luncheon in the Ohio, and plumes himself for the
night in a southern bayou. Even the bison, to some extent, keeps
pace with the seasons, cropping the pastures of the Colorado only till
a greener and sweeter grass awaits him by the Yellowstone.
Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Specific and Concrete Words 229
52
EXERCISES
Rank each of the following groups of words by listing the most concrete
first and proceeding to the most abstract.
theft, robbing a bank, offense, crime
bracelet, adornment, jewel, opal
men's clothing, coat, clothing, topcoat
alderman, government, democracy, agency
humor, joke, pun, a comedy
literature, poem, epic, Paradise Lost
Indian, animal, man, vertebrate
B
TT Yite a paragraph of about 150-200 words in which you make the
following general and abstract passage more specific
The view from a tall building in a large city is interesting. The
perspective is strange The activities and noises of the streets seem
remote.
Change words and details in the following sentences so that they be-
come exact, concrete, specific.
1. He consumed the food.
2. She went across the street.
3. The sunset was colorful.
4. The vegetation was thick.
5. The furniture was damaged.
230 Styk
Using concrete examples, define one of the following abstract terms in
a paragraph of 200 words.
virtue courage imagination humor
Connotation
Choose words with connotations appropriate to the tone you
wish to establish.
In addition to dictionary or denotative meanings, many
words also carry special associations or suggestions, known as
connotative meanings. The denotation of a word is its
precise, literal, scientific, factual meaning. It is the exact
definition given in a dictionary, and it is factually related to
the object, thing, or idea for which the word stands. Denota-
tively, a dog is a four-legged carnivorous domesticated mam-
mal. Coldly and literally viewed, in its denotative meaning,
the word dog arouses no emotional response of any kind, no
hatred, no affection.
When emotional responses are added and considered, we
arrive at a connotation. What dog suggests to the reader or
writer, what it is in addition to being a four-legged carnivorous
animal, is its connotation. This may vary from reader to reader
and be pleasant or unpleasant. When a dog is mentioned to a
boy, he may think connotatively of "man's best friend." But
to his little sister, who has been bitten by a dog, the word may
connote pain and fright.
A good writer must be aware of connotations, and often he
evokes certain ones by deliberately using particular words to
arouse a predetermined emotional reaction. If he wishes to
Connotation 231
53
suggest the sophisticated, he may mention a lap dog ; if he wishes
to evoke the amusing or the rural, he may use a hound dog. If
he wishes to connote a social distinction, he may use a more
derogatory term, cur. Even this word may have different con-
notations: a social worker may react sympathetically to cur;
a snob, contemptuously. Most dictionary terms for dogs have
definitions which indicate that connotations have even become
denotations. Notice, for example, the associations aroused as
you think of canine, pooch, mutt, mongrel, puppy, and watchdog.
Even names of breeds of dogs may arouse different kinds of
responses: bloodhound, shepherd, SL Bernard, and poodle.
In the following pairs of sentences, the italicized word is
mainly denotative in the first sentence and connotative in the
second.
The dog is a domesticated animal.
Lord Chesterfield has often been considered a gay dog.
The general sat his horse well.
The general was a horse.
Words that denotatively are synonyms may have different
connotative overtones. Consider, for example, the following:
body corpse remains; woman lady female; janitor
custodian building superintendent; drummer salesman
field representative; slip petticoat underskirt; underwear
lingerie; bedroom boudoir; slender thin skinny; res-
olute strong-willed stubborn
The careful writer chooses words with connotations appropri-
ate to the tone he wishes to establish. It is often tactful to
avoid a word with unpleasant associations and to choose in-
stead a synonym which connotes greater dignity, propriety,
respectability, or formality. On the other hand, false elegance
can create equally unpleasant connotations.
232 Style
fffVL-
53
Scientific, factual writing usually avoids connotations; its aim
is objectivity. It is almost entirely denotative, as in the follow-
ing description taken from the Encyclopaedia Britannica:
DAFFODIL, the common name of a group of plants of the genus
Narcissus, of the family Amaryllidaceae (see Narcissus). The
common daffodil, N. pseudo-narcissus, is frequent in woods and
thickets in most parts of northern Europe, but is rare in Scotland.
It is sparingly naturalized in the eastern United States as an
escape from cultivation. Its leaves are five or six in number, are
about a foot in length and an inch in breadth, and have a blunt
keel and flat edges. The flower stalk is about 18 in. long, the
spathe single-flowered
The poet, on the contrary, wishes to communicate and arouse
emotion, not to furnish information. Note the emotional
quality, the connotations, centered in the daffodil in the follow-
ing stanzas from Wordsworth's famous poem:
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
Advertising makes liberal use of words with pleasant conno-
tations. Note the use of connotation in the following descrip-
tion taken from a Sears, Roebuck catalogue:
Connotation 233
53
Florentine Bowl
and
4 ^Narcissus Bulbs
A gift suggestion of special appeal and loveliness. An offering of
spring flowers long before their natural season. The delicate odor
and gay greenery of these beautiful paper white narcissus add
charm and grace to any room. Four bulbs in a handsome pottery
bowl richly embossed in bold relief Diameter of bowl, 7 in.
Packed complete in attractive gift box.
Be sure that the words you choose give the suggestions or
connotations you wish to convey. One word with the wrong
connotation can easily spoil a paragraph :
I have always admired old Professor Wilson. He is kind, witty,
thoughtful, and learned. In fact, he is a grand egghead.
EXERCISES
For each of the following words, list three synonyms with pleasant
connotations and three with unpleasant connotations. Compare and
discuss your lists with those of your fellow students; notice especially
any disagreements about the pleasantness or unpleasantness of words.
house, liquid, garment, speech, landscape, book, stream
B
Comment on the connotations pleasant or unpleasant, comic or
poetic, etc. of the words in each of the following groups.
stomach, belly, abdomen, middle
sip, swill, drink, imbibe
pony, horse, steed, nag
common, lowbrow, vulgar, democratic
stream, brook, creek, branch
234 Style
Head the following paragraph carefully, and comment on {he connota-
tions of the italicized words. Notice especially whether the context may
suggest connotations that would not occur to you if you saw the words by
themselves.
Clanbel grew up in Tennessee, an orphan under the roof of an aunt
and uncle who fought like cats and dogs. We need not dwell on these
unhappy years except to say that Claribel at twenty came to New
York, began somehow her bookshop, was admired all up and
down Park Avenue, seemed wistful to authors, and strove earnestly to
forget her entire beginnings, which I suppose was natural.
Of late years, however, she has had a great number of rich friends
who are buying plantations in South Carolina and Virginia, or living
like lords (on the Riviera) in Florida, and they have often invited her
down to these splendid demonstrations of estates and one-generation
patriarchy. Furthermore she has heard of much biography, of fiction
and of other matters in travel magazines, all dealing with the Southern
material (every early fan window in Massachusetts having already
been photographed). Going South has become very smart. How et
cetera, et cetera, it all is! And how cheap it is! Restore the plantation
great houses! C , of the well-known soups, has opened up Belle
Chasse, in the tidewater country. Claribel hears this at dinner parties.
"I'm all for the South," she has begun to say.
Stark Young, "Encaustics for Southerners** 3
Figurative Language
to-
Give life and color to your writing through the use of
figurative language.
Everyone thinks and speaks figuratively the politician, the
sports writer, the writer of advertisements, the student. Slang
3 From The Virginia Quarterly Review, Spring 1935. Reprinted by per-
mission of the author.
Figurative Language 235
54a
and dialect and conversation are often vividly figurative. In
\vriting formal English, however, many of us simply forget or
neglect the figurative language which we might use in conver-
sation. Do not mistakenly assume (1) that formal English is
always drab or solemn or (2) that to be figurative you must use
slang or trite comparisons.
54d Use figurative comparisons.
Most figures of speech are based on comparisons; the more
thoughtful, apt, and illuminating the comparison, the more
telling the figure. A mastery of the following principles will
enable you to develop figurativeness in your writing.
Use personifications. When thinking of human qualities
helps you to describe a thing, characterize it in human terms.
He was a historian who never listened to the voice of history.
He stepped from the doorway into the welcoming, embracing fog.
Suddenly the sun burst in with a cheerful invitation to get started.
Use stated comparisons, which are most often expressed
with as or like. Probably you will begin by making such an
easy comparison as the following: "The kitten felt soft and
fluffy, like cotton." Or you may say, "Rita's feet are like boats."
Or, "He climbed the tree as nimbly as a squirrel." But with a
little thought, you can begin to write more unusual compari-
sons. To what, for example, would you compare a woman's
voice? long brocaded drapes? a man in a tweed overcoat? a fat
woman's manner of walking? Miss Eudora Welty, in her story
"Old Mr. Marblehall," 4 describes a character whose voice
"dizzies other ladies like an organ note, and amuses men like a
halloo down the well." The drapes are "as tall as the wicked
4 In A Curtain of Green (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company,
Inc., 1941).
236 Style
queens in Italian tales"; the man in the overcoat is "as gratified
as an animal in its own tingling fur"; the woman "rolls back
into the house as if she had been on a little wheel all this time."
Use implied comparisons. In this kind of figure, as, like,
and other words which state the comparisons are omitted, and
one thing is said to be something else. You may say that the
kitten "is a tiny ball of cotton," or that Rita's feet "are boats."
Alfred Noyes calls a moonlit road "a ribbon of moonlight"
and the moon "a ghostly galleon." In Stephen Crane's sen-
tence, "Their eyes glanced level, and were fastened upon the
waves that swept toward them," the word fastened is figurative,
because eyes cannot be literally attached to waves. Even the
common expression to smother with attention is a figure; the per-
son who receives the attention is not literally smothered. The
phrases hard light, the cold facts, prickly speech, naked moon,
airy gems all contain figurative modifiers.
Do not force figures of speech, but be alert to use good ones
which come to you naturally, particularly when they help you
describe or characterize something in a vivid word or two.
And remember that freshness and originality without strain
are essential in the successful use of figurative language ; avoid
the stock figures that have long since worn out their communi-
cative force (see 48).
O4D Avoid mixed and inappropriate figures of speech.
A mixed figure is usually incongruous or absurd. You may
correct this error by avoiding the figure or by making it
consistent.
STRAINED A bottle of ink had been tipped over, and dark liquid was
dripping with a steady thump like the footsteps of a
giant in the distance.
IMPROVED A bottle of ink had been tipped over, and a dark liquid
was dripping like water from a leaking faucet.
Figurative Language 237
54b
ABSURD The United States is following in the same steps that the
Roman Empire took toward its downfall. These steps
are eating away at the very heart of our society the
younger generation.
IMPROVED The United States is following the same road that the
Roman Empire took toward its downfall. This road will
lead to the ruin of our younger generation.
CONFUSED When put to the acid test, his principles were found to be
as crazy as a loon.
IMPROVED When put to the acid test, his principles dissolved.
Xot only does a good writer avoid mixed and incongruous
figures, but he also is constantly aware of the appropriateness
of figures, of the times when they should be used and when
avoided. In descriptive writing there may be many figures.
In accounts of fast and exciting action, however, figurative
language may get in the way of the reader intent on finding
out what happens. And in factual and scientific writing, figur-
ative language is seldom appropriate, because it is likely to
distract attention from the content.
In describing the construction of a modern skyscraper, for
example, a writer who seeks to entertain as well as to inform
might use many figures of speech, as in the following:
The foundations were finished and the first thin steel columns
stretched upward. In a day they multiplied. A hundred black
shoots pierced the soil; a hundred sprouting shoots, in even rows,
like a well-planted garden. In ordered plan the crossbeams fell
into their places, and the great lattice of the substructure shaped
itself. Then, above the uproar and vibration of the street, rose the
angry clatter of the pneumatic riveters, steel against steel in a
shattering reverberation.
Joseph Husband, America at Work?
5 Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1915.
238 Style
In a factual progress report about the building of a sky-
scraper, on the other hand, an engineer would be unlikely to
express himself in figurative language:
The framework of thirteen floors of the Warren Building has
been erected at a cost to this date of 8300,000. The construction
proceeds on schedule. It is estimated that all the framework and
the exterior will be completed by March 13.
EXERCISES
The phrases and sentences in Exercises A, B, and C are taken from
the work of professional writers who have used figurative language effec-
tively. 6 Try your hand at original, humorous figurative speech in these
same contexts. Then discuss the relative merits of your choices and those
of your classmates.
A
Complete each of the following comparisons by a figure of speech.
1. A voice as thin as
2. A voice almost as low as
3. Earrings like (They are very large.)
4. As informal as
5. To dance with Lena was like (Lena was ponderous.)
B
Use figurative verbs in the following blanks.
1. She like a string of firecrackers.
2. He was so bashful that his voice when he used it.
6 Many of these figures were quoted in the columns of the Readers Digest.
Figurative Language 239
54b
3. Time, the careless laundryman, _ many of our ideals.
4. At twelve-thirty a quartette of excited young things burst in,
babbling madly. All of them had their evening wraps with them;
all talked at once. One of them, a Dresden-china girl with a heart-
shaped face, was the center of attention. Around her the rest _ like
monstrous butterflies. . . .
5, He _ over his premise and sprawled on his conclusion.
C
Supply figurative terms in the blanks below.
1. He was not made for _ the tree of knowledge.
2. Her iron will is _ with the acid of the years.
3. He was _ with habit. (Suggest his being covered all over.)
4. A perfect _ of a woman, looking for whom she might sink.
5. Lakes _ with sunset.
6. She held up her end of the conversation until it was practi-
cally --
7. Away she _ , over the lawn, up the path, up the steps, across
the veranda, and into the porch. (A light-hearted young girl in a big
hurry is your subject here.)
8. Every autumn some thousands of freshmen come thronging
through the academic gates and are helplessly _ into the vortex of
an elective curriculum.
9. The fog comes _____ (Suggest that it ap-
proaches quietly, stealthily.)
10. A face as cairn as __
240 Style
55
List five figures of speech taken from slang.
List five figures of speech found in your reading (from newspapers,
magazines, novels, textbooks, etc.).
Fine Writing
Avoid language that is excessively figurative or flowery.
Sincerity, naturalness, and simplicity achieve more than
fine writing ornate, would-be-poetic language. Blown-up
phrases are pompous and artificial. These United States rather
than the United States and in the year of 1941 rather than in
1941, for example, seem to have more the ring of affectation
than of truth. The green lawn is more natural than the verdant
sward. Spade and shovel are more meaningful terms than a
simple instrument for delving in Mother Earth.
FINE WRITING The competitor in the pigskin sport suffered from a
poignant affliction.
NATURAL The football player had a sprained ankle.
FINE WRITING As a young lad I delighted in laving my feet in the
purling and babbling stream which flowed behind
our domicile.
NATURAL As a boy I enjoyed wading in the creek which flowed
behind our house.
FINE WRITING He stretched his nether limbs on the downy couch
just as Old Sol first shone in all his glory through
the leafy foliage.
Fine Writing %tt
56
NATURAL He lay down on the couch at dawn.
FINE WRITING From the auspicious moment when he came into this
world, he had an unbounding affection for Old
Glory, the glorious flag of his motherland.
NATURAL Ah 1 his life he has been patriotic.
Sentence Variety
Vary your sentences in structure, length, pattern, and order.
Lack of variation in these respects makes writing dull and
repetitious. Variety in thought and feeling should be reflected
by variety in sentences.
Vary your sentences in structure.
Use simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex
sentences. Avoid excessive repetition of any one kind of sen-
tence structure.
56b
Vary your sentences in length.
Write long, short, and medium-length sentences. Consistently
short, choppy sentences or series of long involved sentences
create monotony and difficulty. (See 4.) Make the sentence
length appropriate to the content.
OOC Vary the pattern of your sentences.
Write loose, balanced, and periodic sentences. A passage in
which all sentences are loose usually lacks emphasis. On the
242 Style
other hand, a passage consisting solely of balanced or periodic
sentences seems artificial and contrived.
A periodic sentence is one in which the main idea is with-
held until the end. A loose sentence is one in which the main
idea is given before the end. Most sentences are loose, and you
should not hesitate to write this kind of sentence when it is
effective. When you wish especial emphasis, however, you
should sometimes write a periodic sentence.
LOOSE The slanders of the pen pierce to the heart, while the mere
contests of the sword are temporary, their wounds being
but in the flesh.
PERIODIC The mere contests of the sword are temporary, their wounds
being but in the flesh, but the slanders of the pen pierce
to the heart.
Adapted from Washington Irving, The Sketchbook
LOOSE The true place for a just man is a prison when he is under a
government which imprisons any unjustly.
PERIODIC Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true
place for a just man is also a prison.
Henry David Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience 1 *
A balanced sentence has parts which are similar in struc-
ture and length. There is, of course, a close relationship be-
tween balance and parallelism, since balance is simply refined
and extended parallelism (see 17). Notice the perfect sym-
metry in the following sentence by Dr. Samuel Johnson;
"Marriage has many pains, but celibacy has no pleasures."
Marriage but celibacy
has has
I 1
many no
pains pleasures
Sentence Variety 243
56d
A sentence is also termed balanced if only parts of it are
symmetrical, as in this sentence by Thomas Babington
Maeaulay: "Thus the Puritan was made up of two different
men, the one all self-abasement, penitence, gratitude, passion;
the other proud, calm, inflexible, sagacious."
Thus
the Puritan
was made up
of two different men,
the one the other
all self-abasement proud
penitence calm
gratitude inflexible
passion sagacious
56d
Vary the order of words within your sentences.
If all your sentences follow the normal order of subject-
verb-complement, the effect is monotonous. Invert the order
occasionally. The inexperienced writer often tacks all de-
pendent clauses and long phrases onto the ends of his sentences.
Remember that the most emphatic positions are the beginning
and the end. You should therefore place important elements
at these two places. Study the variations in the following
sentences.
NORMAL ORDER
SUBJECT VERB OBJECT MODIFIERS
She attributed these defects in her son's character to the general
weaknesses of mankind.
SENTENCE BEGINNING WITH DIRECT OBJECT
These defects in her son's character she attributed to the general
weaknesses of mankind.
244 Style
56d
SENTENCE BEGINNING WITH PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
To the general weaknesses of mankind she attributed the defects
in her son's character.
SENTENCE BEGINNING WITH ADVERB
Slowly she rose to dance.
INVERTED SENTENCE BEGINNING WITH CLAUSE USED AS OBJECT
That the engineer tried to avert the catastrophe, none of them would
deny.
SENTENCE BEGINNING WITH DEPENDENT ADVERBIAL CLAUSE
"If you wish to create a college, therefore, and are wise, you will seek
to create a life/* (Woodrow Wilson)
SENTENCE BEGINNING WITH PARTICIPIAL PHRASE
Flying low over the water for hours, the plane searched for survivors.
To improve your style, experiment with the order of sentence
elements as illustrated above. Remember, however, that too
much experimentation and too many sentences in unusual
order can give an impression of strain and distract the reader.
In climactic order, the elements of a series are arranged in
the order of increasing importance. The order of decreasing
importance may result in anticlimax, loss of emphasis, and often
humor, intentional or unintentional.
UNEMPHATIC The hurricane left thousands of people homeless, ruined
the crops, and interrupted transportation.
CLIMACTIC The hurricane interrupted transportation, ruined the
ORDER crops, and left thousands of people homeless.
ANTICLIMAX Death clgdmed ^fa her h usband an d her poodle.
FOR HUMOR
Sentence Variety 265
56d
EXERCISES
A
Rewrite the follow ing sentences and make them periodic. If you consider
a sentence already periodic, indicate this by a check mark.
L A desire to learn should be the chief motivation of any student in
college.
2. The frontier, according to many historians, has been the most im-
portant single element in the formation of American character.
3. Nonconformity was the center of Percival's every thought and the
reason for all his actions.
4. Mr. Cobb at last decided that resignation was the only solution
to his many problems.
5. The idea of total depravity was a central point of Calvinistic
and Puritan theology.
B
Rewrite the following sentences to give them balanced constructions.
1. The man of action often devotes his time to manual labor, sports,
and physical activity; but reading, contemplation, and mental activity
are the chief interests of the thinking man.
2. Intellectuals on the frontier tried to establish an American cul-
ture, but Europe was the place to which those of the East looked for
cultural patterns.
Style
3. The coach maintains that athletic scholarships enable young men
to get an education, but many athletes on scholarships are too tired to
study and learn, in the dean's opinion.
4. The elder child, said the lecturer, is responsible, but dependence
upon others was in his opinion a characteristic of younger children.
5. Although a college student emphasizes the monetary value of an
education, his instructor believes that an education should teach the
student how to live.
Rewrite the following sentences according to the principles of climactic
order. If a sentence is correct, mark it C.
1. Persecution, abuse, and scorn must be endured by those who re-
fuse to conform.
2 Ignatius decided to marry Clementine because of her intelligence,
beauty, and agreeableness.
3. The letter stated that the applicant lacked character, a sense of
humor, and ambition.
4. The fire destroyed an apartment house, a hospital, and a hot-dog
stand.
5. Benjamin Franklin, one of the most versatile Americans, helped
to write the Constitution, established the American postal system, and
invented the lightning rod.
Sentence Variety 247
56d
D
Shaw how variety is achieved in the following paragraph.
Satan, we are told, finds work for idle hands to do. There is no mis-
taking the accuracy of this proverb. Millions of men have heaped up
riches and made a conquest of idleness so as to discover what it is that
Satan puts them up to. Not one has failed to find out. But never
before has a great nation of brave and dreaming men absent-mindedly
created a huge class of idle, middle-aged women. Satan himself has
been taxed to dig up enterprises enough for them. But the field is so
rich, so profligate, so perfectly to his taste, that his first effort, obviously,
has been to make it self-enlarging and self-perpetuating. This he has
done by whispering into the ears of girls that the only way they can
cushion the shock destined to follow the rude disillusionment over the
fact that they are not really Cinderella is to institute momworship.
Since he had already infested both male and female with the love of
worldly goods, a single step accomplished the entire triumph: he taught
the gals to teach their men that dowry went the other way, that it was
a weekly contribution, and that any male worthy of a Cinderella
248 Styk
56d
would have to work like a piston after getting one, so as to be worthy,
also, of all the moms in the world.
Philip Wylie, Generation of Vipers 7
E
Rewrite the following passage so that it is more varied in style.
Army ants abound in the tropical rain forests of Hispanic America,
Africa and Asia. Army ants are classified taxonomically into more
than 200 species. They are distinguished as a group chiefly by their
peculiar mode of operation. They are organized in colonies 100,000 to
150,000 strong. They live off their environment by systematic plunder
and pillage. They are true nomads. They have no fixed abode. Then-
nest is a seething cylindrical cluster of themselves. Ant is hooked to
ant. Queen and brood are sequestered in a labyrinth of corridors and
chambers within the ant mass. They stream forth from these bivouacs
at dawn. They move in tightly organized columns and swarms to raid
the surrounding terrain. Their columns often advance as much as
35 meters an hour. They may finally reach out 300 meters or more in
7 Reprinted by permission of Rinehart & Company, Inc., publishers.
Sentence Variety 249
56d
an unbroken stream. They may keep their bivouacs fixed for days at a
time in a hollow tree. They often stay in some other equally pro-
tected shelter. They then for a restless period move on with every
dusk. They swarm forth in a solemn, plodding procession. Each ant
holds to its place in line. Its forward-directed antennae beat a hyp-
notic rhythm. Throngs of larvae-carriers come at the rear. The big,
wingless queen is at the very last. She is buried under a melee of
frenzied workers. They hang their new bivouac under a low branch
or vine late at night.
Adapted from T. C. Schneirla and Gerard Piel, "The Army Ant" 8
GENERAL EXERCISES
In the following passages point out repetition of words and sounds,
periodic and balanced sentences, parallelism, climactic order, devices used
to achieve variety in sentence structure, and figures of speech. (As an aid
in analyzing these passages, read each of them aloud at least once.}
Write a brief description of the style of each passage.
And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death He
had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the rev-
elers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the
despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went
8 From Scientific American, June 1948. Adapted by permission.
250 Style
56d
out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods
expired And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable
dominion over all.
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Masque of the Red Death"
B
The county courthouse was, in short, America the wilderness
America, the sprawling, huge, chaotic, criminal America. It was
murderous America soaked with murdered blood, tortured and pur-
poseless America, savage, blind, and mad America, exploding through
its puny laws, its pitiful pretense. It was America with all its almost
hopeless hopes, its almost faithless faiths America with the huge
blight on her of her own error, the broken promise of her lost dream
and her unachieved desire; and it was America as well with her un-
spoken prophecies, her unfound language, her unuttered song. And
just for all these reasons it was for us all our own America with all
her horror, beauty, tenderness, and terror with all we know of her
that never has been proved, that has never yet been uttered the
only one we know, the only one there is.
Thomas Wolfe, The Hills Beyond 9
The theory of books is noble. The scholar of the first age received
into him the world around, brooded thereon; gave it the new arrange-
ment of his own mind, and uttered it again. It came into him life; it
went out from him truth. It came to him short-lived actions; it went
out from him immortal thoughts. It came to him business; it went
from him poetry. It was dead fact; now, it is quick thought. It can
stand, and it can go. It now endures, it now flies, it now inspires.
Precisely in proportion to the depth of mind from which it issued, so
high does it soar, so long does it sing.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 'The American Scholar"
''Reprinted by permission of Harper & Brothers, publishers.
General Exercises 251
56d
Once in camp I put a log on top of the fire and it was full of ants.
As it commenced to burn, the ants swarmed out and went first toward
the center where the fire was; then turned back and ran toward the
end. When there were enough on the end they fell off into the fire.
Some got out, their bodies burnt and flattened, and went off not
knowing where they were going. But most of them went toward the
fire and then back toward the end and swarmed on the cool end and
finally fell off into the fire. I remember thinking at the time that it
was the end of the world and a splendid chance to be a messiah and
lift the log off the fire and throw it out where the ants could get off
onto the ground.
Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous
States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the
odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on
to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and
oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength
in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we
shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we
shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment
believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving,
then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British
Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the
New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue
and the liberation of the old.
Winston Churchill, Blood, Sweat, and Tears 11
10 Reprinted by permission of Charles Scribner's Sons, publishers.
"Copyright 1941 by Winston S. Churchill. Used by permission of
G. P. Putnam's Sons, publishers.
252 Style
56d
I love comedians, the highest and the lowest. I love cartoons, too.
My allergy to comics, however, is complete, utter, absolute. I know
there are bad comics, and I presume there are good comics. I have
read a few of both under protest. But I regret them both. I deplore
them. And, to continue the understatement, I abhor them. So far
as I am concerned, they might just as well be written in a foreign
language for which no dictionary was ever published. I wish they
had been.
John Mason Brown, u The Case Against the Comics" 12
We have divided men into Red-bloods and Mollycoddles. "A Red-
blood man" is a phrase which explains itself, "Mollycoddle" is its
opposite. We have adopted it from a famous speech of Mr, Roosevelt,
and redeemed it perverted it, if you will to other uses. A few
examples will make the notion clear. Shakspere's Henry V is a typical
Red-blood man; so was Bismarck; so was Palmerston; so is almost any
business man. On the other hand, typical Mollycoddles were Socrates,
Voltaire, and Shelley. The terms, you will observe, are comprehensive,
and the types very broad. Generally speaking, men of action are
Red-bloods. Not but what the Mollycoddle may act, and act ef-
ficiently. But, if so, he acts from principle, not from the instinct of
action. The Red-blood, on the other hand, acts as the stone falls, and
does indiscriminately anything that comes to hand. It is thus he that
carries on the business of the world. He steps without reflection into
the first place offered him and goes to work like a machine. The ideals
and standards of his family, his class, his city, his country, and his
age, he swallows as naturally as he swallows food and drink. He is
therefore always "in the swim'*; and he is bound to "arrive," because
he has set before himself the attainable. You will find him everywhere,
in all the prominent positions. In a military age he is a soldier, in a
l2 From the Saturday Review of Literature, March 20, 1948. Reprinted by
permission.
General Exercises 253
commercial age a business man. He hates his enemies, and he may
love his friends; but he does not require friends to love. A wife and
children he does require, for the instinct to propagate the race is as
strong in him as all other instincts. His domestic life, however, is not
always happy; for he can seldom understand his wife. This is part of
his general incapacity to understand any point of view but his own
He is incapable of an idea and contemptuous of a principle. He is the
Samson, the blind force, dearest to Nature of her children He neither
looks back nor looks ahead. He lives in present action. And when he
can no longer act, he loses his reason for existence. The Red-blood is
happiest if he dies in the prime of life; otherwise, he may easily end
with suicide. For he has no inner life; and when the outer life fails,
he can only fail with it. The instinct that animated him being dead,
he dies, too. Nature, who has blown through him, blows elsewhere.
His stops are dumb; he is dead wood on the shore.
G. Lowes Dickinson, Appearances 1 *
13 Reprinted by permission of George Allen & Unwin Ltd., publishers.
Style
Tlie Paragraph
The typical paragraph in modern writing is a group of three
to ten sentences which develop one central purpose or idea.
Good paragraphs are essential to good writing. For the writer,
careful paragraphing is an aspect of clear and logical organiza-
tion. For the reader, the paragraph helps comprehension by
marking thought units and giving a sense of separation and
progression. The indentation at the beginning of a paragraph
thus indicates more than a break or a pause: it indicates a
division of thought. In handwriting, the indentation should be
about one-half inch ; in typescript, usually five spaces.
$& '^"/'-.KL
Writing Good Paragraphs 7]
Master the principles of effective paragraphing: adequate
and orderly development of a clear central purpose or idea
which is usually expressed in a topic sentence.
In general, a paragraph is adequate if it has a clear central or
controlling idea which is suitably limited and developed with
facts, examples, reasons, or other kinds of details that support
or explain the controlling idea. The paragraph will be effective
Writing Good Paragraphs 255
57a
if these details are presented in a reasonable and understandable
order and if the thoughts and sentences are linked by smooth
and clear transitions. The following subsections discuss the
principal qualities of paragraphing.
57 Q Be sure a paragraph has a definite central purpose
or idea which is expressly stated in a topic sentence or is
clearly implied.
For every paragraph you write, you should be able to put the
central purpose or idea into words. In most expository (ex-
planatory) and argumentative writing, this purpose or idea will
be expressly stated in a topic sentence, and it may also be
restated in somewhat different form in a concluding sentence.
In some paragraphs the thought and the material are clear
enough so that a sentence which explicitly states the topic is
not needed. But even in narrative and descriptive writing,
which deals less with ideas than with events, moods, and
emotional effects, every paragraph should have a clearly under-
stood purpose even if not an explicitly stated central idea.
The topic sentence is often the first sentence in the para-
graph. When it is, the writer first states his thesis or main idea
and then uses the rest of the paragraph for proof, discussion, or
other kinds of amplification. Sometimes he does the opposite
and gives his details, facts, and examples at the beginning and
then concludes by stating the main idea.
Study the italicized sentences in the four following paragraphs.
The standard Horatio Alger hero was a fatherless boy of fifteen or
thereabouts who had to earn his way, usually in New York City
Sometimes he had to help support a widowed mother with his
bootblacking or peddling; sometimes his parentage was unknown
and he lived with an aged and eccentric miser, or with a strange
hermit who claimed to be his uncle. It might even be that his
father was living, but was having trouble with the mortgage on
256 The Paragraph
the old farm. Always, however, the boy had to stand on his own feet
and face the practical problem of getting on.
This problem was set before the reader in exact financial detail.
On the very first page of Do and Dare, for example, it was disclosed
that the young hero's mother, as postmistress at Wayneboro, had
made during the preceding year just $398.50. Whenever "our
hero" had to deal with a mortgage, the reader was told the precise
amount, the rate of interest, and all other details. When our hero
took a job, the reader could figure for himself exactly how much
progress he was making by getting $5 a week in wages at the
jewelry store and another $5 a week tutoring Mrs. Mason's son
in Latin. Our hero was always a good boy, honest, abstemious
(in fact, sometimes unduly disposed to preach to drinkers and
smokers), prudent, well mannered (except perhaps for the preach-
ing), and frugal. The excitement of each book lay in his progress
toward wealth.
Always there were villains who stood in his way crooks who
would rob him of his earnings, sharpers who would prey upon his
supposed innocence. His battles with these villains furnished plenty
of melodrama. They tried to sell him worthless gold watches on
railroad trains, held him up as he was buggy-driving home with
his employer's funds, kidnaped him and held him a prisoner in a
New York hide-out, chloroformed him in a Philadelphia hotel
room, slugged him in a Chicago alley-tenement. But always he
overcame them with the aid of their invariable cowardice. (There
must be many men now living who remember the shock of out-
raged surprise with which they discovered that the village bully
did not, as in the Alger books, invariably run whimpering away
at the first show of manly opposition, but sometimes packed a
nasty right,) The end of the book found our hero well on his way
toward wealth: a fortune which might reach to more than a
hundred thousand dollars, which, to the average boy reader of the
seventies and eighties, was an astronomical sum. . . .
Sometimes this capital was inherited: the supposed orphan,
ragged though he was, proved to be the son of a man whose sup-
posedly worthless mining stock was good for $100,000. Sometimes
the capital was a gift: rich Mr. Vanderpool was so impressed with
Writing Good Paragraphs 257
57b
the boy's pluck that he made over to him the $50,000 that the boy
had helped him to save from the robbers. Or the boy was out in
Tacoma, buying lots as a real-estate agent (on his boss's inside
information that the Northern Pacific was to be extended to the
Coast), and in a Tacoma hotel he befriended an invalid gentleman,
who out of gratitude gave him a part interest in some lots that
promptly soared in value and put him on Easy Street. The method
varied; but when the time came for oar hero to get into the money,
it was a transaction in capital which won the day for him.
Frederick Lewis Allen, k The Road to Riches" 1
The first of these paragraphs opens with a topic statement
which the next two sentences develop in detail, and it closes with
a sentence which returns to the topic the definition of "the
standard Horatio Alger hero" but also adds a new quality
to this definition. The second paragraph again begins with a
topic statement, which pinpoints the new topic, "the practical
problem of getting on," introduced at the end of the paragraph
before. Again the second paragraph ends with a summary and
a new thought, this time the hero's "progress toward wealth"
which leads neatly into the topic sentence that opens the third
paragraph. Notice that this third paragraph has a second
summary sentence halfway through. The final paragraph has
its topic sentence at the end, to sum up the details which
precede it.
O/fo Enrich your paragraphs with enough details to
support your ideas and keep your reader interested.
A common flaw of student paragraphs is that they sketch
only the bare outlines of a topic and fail to develop it. The
following paragraph does not go beyond dull generalities:
the Saturday Review of Literature, September 17, 1938 Reprinted
by permission.
258 The Paragraph
Wit is individual and sometimes malicious, whereas humor be-
longs to a group and is usually peaceful. Wit is fashionable, but
humor is homely. Usually there is a victim of wit, but not of
humor. Also, humor provokes laughter but wit is the product of
study. This is a sad workaday world, and the humorous are better
company than the witty.
In the following, Charles S. Brooks develops the same idea
fully and effectively by the use of concrete, vivid descriptive
details.
Wit is a lean creature with sharp inquiring nose, whereas
humor has a kindly eye and comfortable girth. Wit, if it be
necessary, uses malice to score a point like a cat it is quick to
jump but humor keeps the peace in an easy chair. Wit has a
better voice in a solo, but humor comes into the chorus best.
Wit is as sharp as a stroke of lightning, whereas humor is diffuse
like sunlight. Wit keeps the season's fashions and is precise in
the phrases and judgments of the day, but humor is concerned
with homely eternal things. Wit wears silk, but humor in home-
spun endures the wind. Wit sets a snare, whereas humor goes
off whistling without a victim in its mind. Wit is sharper company
at table, but humor serves better in mischance and in the rail,.
When it tumbles, wit is sour, but humor goes uncomplaining
without its dinner. Humor laughs at another's jest and holds its
sides, while wit sits wrapped in study for a lively answer. But it
is a workaday world in which we live, where we get mud upon
our boots and come weary to the twilight it is a world that
grieves and suffers from many wounds in these years of war: and
therefore as I think of my acquaintance, it is those who are
humorous in its best and truest meaning rather than those who
are witty who give the more profitable companionship.
Charles S. Brooks, "On the Difference Between Wit and Humor" 2
2 From Chimney-Pot Papers, by Charles S. Brooks. Reprinted by permis-
sion of Yale University Press.
Writing Good Paragraphs 259
57c
The detail in this paragraph is drawn from a series of con-
trasting descriptions of two abstractions, wit and humor, as
voices, kinds of light, fashions, clothing, and types of people.
Detail of this kind comes from the writer's memory and personal
experience. Other kinds of detail may be facts, figures, cases,
examples, and so on. The detail in Frederick Lewis Allen's
paragraphs quoted on pages 256-258 is drawn mainly from
facts about Alger's books. Study the nature of the detail in
the various specimen paragraphs in this chapter.
NOTE: The generalized version of the Brooks paragraph
totals 60 words, the detailed version 244 words four times
as long. The best way to write papers long enough to meet the
assignment is to include enough detail to develop the topic.
57 C Be sure your paragraphs are unified that every-
thing in them has a clear relation to the central topic or idea.
A paragraph is unified when everything in it has a clear
connection with the central thought or purpose. To achieve
unity, be sure you can explain the connection of every thought
and every detail you use. Guard carefully against wandering
from your point. The following paragraph starts with the idea
that advertising falsely implies that Americans never work,
but shifts to another point half way through :
Advertisements in magazines and on television suggest that
Americans spend all their time playing. The men who recommend
cigarettes are pursuing a hobby, playing baseball, or fishing in a
cool and shady lake. Apparently cigarette smokers desire only
recreation: they never work. Children watch television advertise-
ments and decide that they should never work around the home.
The boy next door never works. He refuses even to take out the
garbage. But his problem is that his parents never talk to him or
discipline him. The lack of proper discipline is a major cause of
260 The Paragraph
fl 57c
juvenile delinquency. A problem of modern life is the altitudes of
parents toward their children.
This could be described as a red-herring paragraph, one in
which the writer is enticed off the trail by a topic other than the
one he started to pursue.
The following paragraph, on the other hand, centers every
detail on the controlling idea: that Toscanini talked little
during rehearsals.
Withal, Toscanini is the least "talking" of any conductor with
whom I have ever played. Off stage he is most friendly and even
garrulous. On the stand he tends to be severely formal, intent only
on the work at hand. During a rehearsal there is little of the
pedantic "explaining" or "teaching" type of procedure, usually
the bane of an orchestra's existence. The orchestra does more
playing than listening to "how" it should play. So much is ex-
pressed by eye, by stick, gesticulation, called-out suggestions,
that little is left for words.
Samuel Antek, "Playing with the Maestro" 3
A paragraph can move from one phase of an idea to another,
as long as both phases are clearly linked and the relation be-
tween the two is part of the central theme. The third para-
graph in the passage by Frederick Lewis Allen (page 257)
illustrates this structure. The following paragraph presents a
contrast which begins with the third sentence, the two parts
being necessary to the completion of one idea: Bret Harte only
seems to be a realist actually he isn't.
Bret Harte seems to be a realist. Many of his characters are
gamblers, bearded miners, hardened prostitutes, and habitual
drunkards a motley crew of rinraff and wild Western bad men.
Their appearances, however, do not reveal then* true characters.
3 From the Saturday Review of Literature. Reprinted by permission.
Writing Good Paragraphs 261
In crises, their rough and dirty exteriors are proved to conceal
hearts of true gold. For instance, old Mother Shipton, who has
been a frontier courtesan for many years, starves herself to death
while she is snowbound so that she may leave food for the young
and innocent.
EXERCISES
The topic sentences have been here omitted from the following para-
graphs (A-D). Read each paragraph carefully, determine the central
unity of thought, and then write a good topic sentence which will make
this thought immediately apparent.
Many signs suggest it. Books dealing with frankly religious themes
appear high on the best-seller lists. Movies on biblical and religious
subjects are popular box-office attractions. Gospel songs sung by
crooners and swing quartets can frequently be heard on radio and
television. Popular mass-circulation magazines seem to include ar-
ticles on religion more frequently than they used to. Bishop Sheen,
Billy Graham, and Norman Vincent Peale each number their ad-
herents and admirers in the thousands if not the millions.
Harry C. Meserve, "The New Piety" 4
B
Some Indian maharajas, like the Nizam of Hyderabad who has a
garage of fifty Rolls-Royces of various vintage and design, run to
4 From No Peace of Mind, 1955, 1958, by Harry C Meserve. Reprinted
by permission of Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc.
262 The Paragraph
57
c
leopard-skin upholstery and built-in wine coolers. The Maharaja
of Patiala has a weakness for gold-plated instrument panels with
diamond-mounted blocks by Cartier and, for some vague reason, his
Rolls-Royce carries a medicine chest under the rear floor boards.
Englishmen of stately dimensions have the bodywork extra high to
accommodate a silk or non-Gibus-type top hat. Hollywood playboys
affect silverplated bonnets and concealed bars. A New York architect
a few years ago had his town-car Rolls designed with a glass panel in
the roof, like a sight-seeing bus, so that he could admire the sky-
scrapers he had designed. A recent and venerated English monarch,
who shall here be nameless in the interest of international good feeling,
had a chamber pot concealed in her royal limousine. Petit-point
upholstery, costly fur lap robes, gold vanities and such trifles are
commonplace.
Lucius Beebe, 'The Regal Rolls-Royce" 5
Not simply the past dug out of history books, tracked down in
obscure libraries, ferreted out of the cracked pages of old letters,
diaries and ships* logs, but the more personal past the past remem-
bered. No writer at least no writer such as myself ever quite
escapes his own childhood. He returns to it again and again, with
affection and with longing and with increasing accuracy of recollection
and detail, for this is personal history that has been experienced. And
this is the stuff that stories and books are made of. Nor does it much
matter where or what that past was. I know this, because I was
brought up in the wrong part of London, the dull part where nothing
ever happened. Yet I have gone back to that part of London again
and again in my books for events, for people, for stories, for tiny
details, for settings and houses and furniture and for me, this
London can never be dull.
C. S. Forester, "Hornblower's London" 6
5 Reprinted from Esquire, June 1955
6 From Holiday, August 1955. Copyright 1955 by The Curtis Publishing
Co. Reprinted by permission of Harold Matson Co.
Writing Good Paragraphs 263
57d <H
Actually, a shortsighted legislative policy has forbidden young
people to engage in many pursuits which once afforded opportunities
for wholesome employment. I have seen prosecutions under the Child
Labor Law which did more harm than good. I have in mind par-
ticularly the owner of a cleansing and dyeing shop whose fifteen-year-
old brother helped him after school and who was brought into my
court for violating the Child Labor Law. If a young man is not as
anxious to work as he might be, let us remember that laws like that
have helped estrange him from habits of industry.
Judge Elijah Adlow, "Teen-Age Criminals" 7
5/ U Develop your paragraphs by the method most ap-
propriate to explain or describe the central topic or idea.
In general, the nature of the topic and the material with
which you plan to develop it determine the method of develop-
ment. Thus if your purpose and material are primarily de-
scriptive or narrative, one method may seem most appropriate;
if primarily explanatory or argumentative, another. Sometimes
a subject will present a choice between methods, or a combina-
tion of several. Become familiar with the following methods
of developing and presenting material in a paragraph.
1. Chronological. Perhaps the easiest way to present ma-
terial is by chronology, taking things up in the order in which
they happened. Personal experiences lend themselves to this
treatment, as do narratives of process, ranging from a simple
procedure like tying a bow knot to building a hydroelectric
dam. Paragraphs developed chronologically often use such
words as first, next, then, and so on, indicating time sequence.
7 From The Atlantic Monthly, July 1955. Reprinted by permission of
Judge Adlow.
264 The Paragraph
57d
2. Spatial. Visual descriptions often follow a spatial order.
A room, a building, or a view may be described by progressing
from one side to another, from top to bottom, from distant to
near, or from near to far.
3. Climactic. To build interest or to create a strong final
effect, it is sometimes good to begin with the least interesting or
striking details or facts and to save the strongest for the end.
The following is an example of climactic order:
A dismal drizzle of rain was falling as the dawn came to Wash-
ington after a night of terror. In the streets men stood in groups
discussing the tragic drama on which the curtain had not yet
fallen. The city was "in a blaze of excitement and rage." Then,
at seven-thirty, the tolling of all the church bells in the town, and
a hush in the streets. Lincoln was dead.
Claude G. Bowers, The Tragic Era*
4. General to particular or particular to general. Para-
graphs with a topic sentence at the beginning may move from
general to particular, as illustrated in the following:
As man proceeds toward his announced goal of the conquest of
nature, he has written a depressing record of destruction, directed
not only against the earth he inhabits but against the life that
shares it with him. The history of the recent centuries has its
black passages the slaughter of the buffalo on the western
plains, the massacre of the shorebirds by the market gunners, the
near-extermination of the egrets for their plumage. Now, to these
and others like them, we are adding a new chapter and a new kind
of havoc the direct killing of birds, mammals, fishes, and in-
deed practically every form of wildlife by chemical insecticides
indiscriminately sprayed on the land.
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring 9
8 Copyright, 1929 and 1957, by Claude G. Bowers. Reprinted by permis-
sion of Houghton Mifflin Company.
9 Copyright 1962 by Rachel L. Carson Reprinted by permission of
Houghton Mifflin Company.
Writing Good Paragraphs 265
When the topic sentence comes at the end, the movement may
be from particular to general:
Selective spraying was developed by Dr. Frank Egler during a
period of years at the American Museum of Natural History as
director of a Committee for Brush Control Recommendations for
Rights-of-Way. It took advantage of the inherent stability of
nature, building on the fact that most communities of shrubs are
strongly resistant to invasion by trees. By comparison, grass-
lands are easily invaded by tree seedlings. The object of selective
spraying is not to produce grass on roadsides and rights-of-way
but to eliminate the tall woody plants by direct treatment and to
preserve all other vegetation. One treatment may be sufficient,
with a possible follow-up for extremely resistant species; there-
after the shrubs assert control and the trees do not return. The
best and cheapest controls for vegetation are not chemicals but
other plants.
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
5. Familiar to unfamiliar. Closely allied to both the
order of climax and the particular-to-general order is a pro-
gression from the familiar to the unfamiliar, either to gain
interest or to move from easy to difficult. In the following
paragraph, T. H. Huxley uses this method of development to
explain what a scientific hypothesis is:
I want to put the case clearly before you, and I will therefore
show you what I mean by another familiar example. I will suppose
that one of you, on coming down in the morning to the parlor of
your house, finds that a teapot and some spoons which had been
left in the room on the previous evening are gone the window
is open, and you observe the mark of a dirty hand on the window-
frame, and perhaps, in addition to that, you notice the impress
of a hob-nailed shoe on the gravel outside. All these phenomena
10 Copyright 1962 by Rachel L Carson Reprinted by permission of
Houghton Mifflin Company.
266 The Paragraph
57d
have struck your attention instantly, and before two seconds have
passed you say, "Oh, somebody has broken open the window,
entered the room, and run off with the spoons and the teapot!"
That speech is out of your mouth in a moment. And you will
probably add, "I know there has; I am quite sure of it!" You
mean to say exactly what you know; but in reality you are giving
expression to what is, in all essential particulars, an hypothesis.
You do not know it at all; it is nothing but an hypothesis rapidly
framed in your own mind. And it is an hypothesis founded on a
long train of inductions and deductions.
T. H. Huxley, "We Are All Scientists"
6. Comparison and contrast. The easy way to compare
or contrast two things is to say everything about one, then
everything about the other, as in the following outline for a
paragraph on large versus small cars:
A. Large cars
1. Appearance
2. Cost
3. Relative ease in handling
B. Small cars
1. Appearance
2. Cost
3. Relative ease in handling
But this method of ordering the material leaves much of the
actual comparing and contrasting up to the reader. In a sus-
tained and intricate comparison, therefore, it is often better
to take up similarities and differences point by point, as follows :
A. Appearance
1. Large cars
2. Small cars
B. Cost
1. Large cars
2. Small cars
Writing Good Paragraphs 267
57d
C. Relative ease in handling
1. Large cars
2. Small cars
The Brooks paragraph contrasting wit and humor (page 259)
employs the second of these methods.
7. Classification. Some topics can be developed in orderly
fashion by classification: a whole is separated into broad
groups or aspects, which are enumerated and discussed. This
method of development is often combined with climactic order
(the most significant class coming last) and with comparison
and contrast. The following paragraph illustrates all these
methods.
The early visions of an American Empire embody two different
if often mingled conceptions. There is on the one hand the notion
of empire as command of the sea, and on the other hand the notion
of empire as a populous future society occupying the interior of
the American continent. If these two kinds of empire are not
mutually exclusive for we can readily concede that patriots
would want to claim every separate glory for their country
they nevertheless rest on different economic bases and imply
different policies. Engrossing the trade of the world is an ambition
evidently taken over from the British mercantilist ideal. On
the other hand, creating new states in the dreary solitudes of the
West is an enterprise that depends upon the increase of population
resulting from agricultural expansion into an empty, fertile
continent. This second version of the American Empire, based on
agrarian assumptions, more nearly corresponds to the actual course
of events during the nineteenth century.
Henry Nash Smith, Virgin Land 11
8. Logical order. In some paragraphs the order of material
makes little difference. In others, particularly those presenting
a closely reasoned line of thought involving causes and effects,
"Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1950.
268 The Paragraph
57d
order is all-important. In the following, the details which
develop the introductory (topic) sentence could be given in
almost any order:
The road leading into Toluca became thickly dotted with
Indians. Some rode on burros; some led burros laden with produce
in baskets. Some drove goats and turkeys before them. Some
bore sacks on their backs or trays on their heads. Women, wrapped
about the head with pigeon-blue rebozos, bore babies on their
backs, held toddlers by one hand, and used the other to carry
foodstuff or some handicraft work.
Hudson Strode, Now in Mexico 12
But here is a paragraph in which the sentences must come in
the order given, because each depends on the preceding line
of thought:
There can be no question that the improvement in the condition
of the average man, with its increase in earnings, has contributed
radically to the change in attitude of parents. Most of them over-
look the part which strict discipline, scanty allowances, and hard
work played in their moral and physical upbringing. Instead they
are determined to give to their children what was denied to them.
They buy them better clothes, provide them with larger allow-
ances, enable them to participate hi sports, to attend movies, to
enjoy summer vacations, and to do all those things calculated to
make life agreeable. They not only relieve them of the little
tasks or chores which once were a part of a boy's life, but they
even frown on the performance of any manual labor, particularly
for hire. The industry that was once encouraged in youth as a
virtue is now regarded as an interference with the right to enjoy
life.
Judge Elijah Adlow, *Teen-Age Criminals" 13
12 Reprinted by permission of Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc ,
publishers.
I3 From The Atlantic Monthly, July 1955. Reprinted by permission of
Judge Adlow.
Writing Good Paragraphs 269
EXERCISES
A
The sentences in each of the following groups have been placed in faulty
order. Rearrange each group so that it becomes a clear, coherent paragraph
in logical order.
PARAGRAPH ONE
Thus everyone wanted a coonskin cap.
When, for example, Walt Disney presented a story about Davy
Crockett on television in 1955, the adult thought the boom in the
mythical Crockett's popularity was a new trend in history.
Often an adult is amazed by the trends in children's games and
heroes.
Some adults even charged that, as the population and the number of
children increased, the mass mind began to run in the same channel.
PARAGRAPH TWO
In short, all fads like these are similar.
The child in the jungle suit was followed by one who put on Super-
man's wings before he retrogressed to the coonskin cap.
His contemporaries admired Jesse James before they made Buffalo
Bill or Tarzan their hero of the hour.
If children in earlier times did not buy coonskin caps, they made a
jungle suit of their own or broke their arms swinging through trees
like Tarzan.
The truth is that this puzzled adult has forgotten how he followed
fads in his childhood.
PARAGRAPH THREE
These examples prove that every age follows fads.
They are a leading characteristic of American life.
He endures a do-it-yourself craze and watches the new television
program which his neighbors have recommended.
Yesterday's Jesse James now fishes or watches baseball in the
summer, cheers his alma mater's football team in the fall, and has a
special activity for each time of the year.
270 The Paragraph
His wife may follow Dior's fashions, trim her hair short like her
friends', or play the current game that has replaced canasta or scrabble.
Childhood is not the only time for fads.
B
Write a topic sentence for a paragraph designed to discuss three major
reasons why students go to college Lei your sentence give the three reasons
in the order in which you would develop them. What method or combina-
tion of methods would you use?
(In the light of these requirements, discuss the following topic sentence:
"Students go to college for several major reasons.")
Write three good topic sentences, all on different subjects and each
permitting a different method of paragraph development. Bring them to
class, and be prepared to develop any one of them into a paragraph of
approximately two hundred words.
5/6 Provide clear transitions to show the relationships
between sentences within paragraphs and between one
paragraph and another.
Essentially, a paragraph is unified when all its parts are
related to its central idea. But unless the parts are clearly
related to each other in a smooth flow of thought, the reader
will have trouble grasping the paragraph as a unit. The cement
of transitional devices is needed to hold together the sentences
within the paragraphs and the paragraphs within the whole
composition. Let your reader see how and why you progress
from one sentence to the next, from one idea to another.
Three common means of transition are indicated below :
1. Transitional words and expressions. The easiest
kinds of transitions are connective words and expressions like
but, and, however, moreover, furthermore, on the other hand,
Writing Good Paragraphs 271
57e
nevertheless, for example, indeed, in fact, meanwhile, afterward,
then, so, still, after all, likewise, consequently, first, second, next,
in brief, to summarize, to conclude, and so on. A skillful use of
these mates evident the relationship between different thoughts.
2. Pronouns and demonstrative adjectives. Used effec-
tively where the reference is unmistakable demonstratives
(this, that, these, those) and some pronouns (many, each, some,
either, such) can quickly and easily connect sentences and ideas.
Notice, for example, the use of some in the paragraph describing
the road to Toluca (page 269).
3. Use of key words and phrases. Key words and phrases
convey the primary subject matter or main ideas of sentences
and paragraphs. By repeating these, or restating them in
easily recognized synonyms, a writer sets up signposts to guide
the reader. The following illustrates the repetition of key
words (here italicized) as a transitional device within a para-
graph:
A professor may present his subject by one Topic sentence
of three different methods: the seminar, the
lecture, or a combination of these two. The Lead-in sentence for
seminar or discussion method is excellent be- first major division of
cause it allows students to participate as in- paragraph
dividuals and brings them into close personal
relationship with the teacher. . . . The lecture
method, being more suitable for large classes, Lead-in sentence for
is less expensive for the university and is second part of
therefore more frequently used. . . . The paragraph
seminar-lecture method is an effort to recog- Lead-in sentence for
nize the individual student without prohibi- final part
tive expense to the university. . . .
Notice that the key words, repeated or restated from the topic
sentence, occur in sentences which move the thought of the
paragraph from one major point to another and that they are
572 The Paragraph
57e
placed first in those sentences for the reader's immediate
attention. Delaying the key word weakens the transition.
Thus, for the second lead-in sentence it would be possible but
less effective to write, "Since it is more suitable for large
classes and hence less expensive for the university, the lecture
method is more frequently used." This version uses the key
words, but it hides them from the reader.
In long paragraphs key words are often used in combination
with such transitional words as first, second, finally, next, last,
and the like.
The same means used to link sentences can provide transi-
tions between paragraphs. As the following paragraphs show,
transitional words and repeated key words (here italicized) in
topic sentences contribute materially to the clarity, coherence,
and movement of the discussion. Notice also how repeated
words throughout the passage (movement, socialism, capitalism,
and others) keep the lines of thought clear without becoming
stylistically monotonous.
The realities behind the idea of socialism were often vague and
contradictory. Nevertheless, in the word was a symbol of some-
thing which capitalism never achieved in its own name: a drive
for social justice, an often crudely formulated but passionately
felt movement toward the dismantling of economic privilege, and
an ideological concern for the needs of the least favored and most
numerous members of society. To the European lower classes
and to their powerful representatives among the intellectuals
socialism was a movement freighted with great destinies for the
future, while capitalism was a system weighted with the irrepa-
rable injustices of the past. It was this ideological orientation,
combined with the mechanisms of planning neutral or even
conservative in themselves which provided the anti-capitalist
* momentum of European economic evolution.
There are signs, (however^) that the socialist inspiration for re-
form is today somewhat on the wane; in most European countries
Writing Good Paragraphs 273
the aims and purposes of the socialist parties are confused and
unsure. The frightening totalitarianism of Russia, the dis-
appointments of nationalization in Great Britain, have taken
much of the wind out of socialist sails. And the revelation that
nationalization is no cure for the grinding realities, the dull tasks,
the necessary hierarchies of the industrial process has made it
clear that if socialism is to offer nothing more than nationalization
fit is scarcely to be preferred to a well-managed capitalism.
QHence)the socialist movement in Europe is conservative. For the
moment it contents itself with pressing in the direction of "wel-
fare" toward greater income equality, the extension of social
services, and the diminution of social privilege. None of this is
in any sense "revolutionary." More important yet, the sponsor-
ship of reform is more and more ceasing to be the exclusive
property of the Left, with the result that even the intellectual
core of the socialist movement has increasing difficulty in de-
fining how its program differs from that of at least the more
{enlightened conservative parties.
CBut)it is much too early to say that the socialist movement in
Europe has spent its force. Its waning in recent years has cor-
responded with a period of unprecedented boom; given a serious
recession, a reactivation of the socialist ideological drive is by no
means unlikely. Totally unlike the situation in America, capital-
ism in Europe is on trial. There is no guarantee, however, that
should it fail it would be replaced by the socialism of an earlier
vintage. As Hitler's National Socialism has unforgettably shown,
the forces of the extreme Right may also wear the brassards of
[the Left.
(In summit would seem that the Western European nations are
at halfway stations along an historic road. . . .
Robert L. Heilbroner, The Future as History 1 *
Sometimes a paragraph itself is transitional. The following
example is from a chapter entitled u What About Grammar?"
14 Harper & Brothers, 1960. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row,
publishers.
274 The Paragraph
Notice how it sums up what the writer has already discussed
in the chapter and forecasts what he intends to take up next.
Notice also how the transition pivots on the words here italicized.
What, then, have we established so far? That we should teach
grammar in the secondary schools. That we should teach both
usage and theory. That all students do not profit from theory
only those who can understand it sufficiently to apply it. Now
we turn to another question: what theoretical grammar should we
teach? . . . 15
A transitional paragraph is a useful device when passing from
one large segment to another in a long paper.
EXERCISE
In the following paragraph the author s original transitions have been
omitted between sentences 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 3 and 4, 4 and 5, 7 and 8,
9 and 10, 10 and 11. Supply these or accurate substitutes.
1. Our life is influenced in a large measure by commercial advertis-
ing. 2. Publicity is undertaken only in the interest of the advertisers
and not of the consumers. 3. The public has been made to believe
that white bread is better than brown. 4. Flour has been bolted more
and more thoroughly and thus deprived of its most useful components.
5. Treatment permits its preservation for longer periods and facilitates
the making of bread. 6. The millers and the bakers earn more money.
7. The consumers eat an inferior product, believing it to be a superior
one. 8. In the countries where bread is the principal food, the popula-
15 From Essays on the Teaching of English, ed E. J Gordon and E S.
Noyes. Copyright 1960, National Council of Teachers of English. Re-
printed by permission of Appleton-Century-Crofts, publishers.
Writing Good Paragraphs 275
57f
tion degenerates. 9. Enormous amounts of money are spent for
publicity. 10. Large quantities of alimentary and pharmaceutical
products, at the least useless, and often harmful, have become a
necessity for civilized men. 11. The greediness of individuals, suffi-
ciently shrewd to create a popular demand for the goods that they
have for sale, plays a leading part in the modern world. 16
5/1 Avoid choppy paragraphs and excessively long
paragraphs.
Paragraphs vary in length from a page or more to a single
word, depending on the subject matter and the kind of writing.
Short paragraphs allow a reader to grasp facts quickly and
easily. But in more complex material, many short paragraphs
tend either to separate closely related ideas or to dismiss ideas
before they are properly developed.
Short paragraphs are often useful; in certain kinds of writing
they are even standard. Paragraphs in news items in the daily
papers, for example, are generally short, often no more than a
single sentence. Dialogue demands a new paragraph for each
change in speaker, even though the paragraph may be only a
"Yes" or "No." Dramatic, exciting action is sometimes
narrated in short, vibrant paragraphs. Again, a short para-
graph may be used to emphasize an important point or to
make a transition; a concise paragraph between longer ones is
particularly effective. Finally, introductory and concluding
paragraphs tend to be shorter than most other paragraphs in
16 Adapted from Alexis Carrel, Man, The Unknown. By permission of
Harper & Brothers.
276 The Paragraph
57f
themes and research papers. It is especially true that an over-
long introduction can alienate a reader. (For introductory
and concluding paragraphs in themes, see 58j.)
Unless you are using the short paragraph in one of the ways
described above, you should examine carefully any series of
short paragraphs in your writing. They are apt to be "choppy" ;
that is, they may consist of a series of undeveloped ideas ex-
pressed in two or three brief sentences apiece. If these so-called
paragraphs are closely related in thought, they should be
combined into a single paragraph bound together with a good
topic sentence. If they are not closely related, each should be
expanded with pertinent and sufficient content to make a true
paragraph.
The length of a paragraph will probably be decided by the
importance and complexity of the central idea, the richness of
detail needed to develop the idea, and even the number of
words allowed in an assignment* Paragraphs in a theme of
300 words will generally be shorter and more uniform in length
than those in a theme of 700 words, and certainly shorter than
those in a term paper of 1500 to 2000 words. Thought should
never be divided into paragraphs at regular or mechanical in-
tervals. In all writing, some ideas simply belong together in one
paragraph and others belong together in another paragraph.
Such logical grouping of ideas is but a matter of common sense.
The inexperienced writer often uses too many paragraphs.
Consequently, the reader may become so distracted by the
paragraphing that he cannot focus on logical relationships and
the development of the thought. The following selection is
chopped up excessively, and its divisions are not logical.
The adult forgets the troubles of his youth. Comparing the
remembered carefree past with his immediate problems, the
mature man thinks that troubles belong only to the present.
The child, the adult thinks, does not quarrel with a wife.
Writing Good Paragraphs 277
57? <H
Making the monthly check cover all the bills is only a problem of
maturity. The twelve-year-old does not worry about salary or
professional advancement, whether the union will succeed in
getting him a raise, whether the appointment to a vice-presidency
will come to him in turn.
When the roof leaks, only the parent worries about what con-
tractor to employ or about how he will repair it himself The
child eats, but is not forced to cook the meal.
To the adult, then, childhood is a time of freedom. The child,
however, wishes always to be a man. He finds freedom in the
future.
The small boy quarrels with his sister and looks forward to per-
fect marital bliss with a wife who never nags. To him, adulthood
is a time of wealth, and his father never needs to worry about
saving to buy a bicycle. Childhood is a time of study ; the mature
never have to go to school and worry about report cards and
grades on conduct. "When I get big," he thinks, "Mother won't
tell me what to eat."
Happiness is too seldom found in the present. All too often it
is remembered as a thing of the past or looked forward to as a
part of the future.
If several of these choppy paragraphs are combined, the
continuity is improved and the logic of the thought progression
becomes clearer.
The adult forgets the troubles of his youth. Comparing the
remembered carefree past with his immediate problems, the ma-
ture man thinks that troubles belong only to the present. The
child, the adult thinks, does not quarrel with a wife. Making the
monthly check cover all the bills is only a problem of maturity.
The twelve-year-old does not worry about salary or professional
advancement, whether the union will succeed in getting him a
raise, whether the appointment to a vice-presidency will come to
him in turn. When the roof leaks, only the parent worries about
what contractor to employ or about how he will repair it himself.
The child eats, but is not forced to cook the meal. To the adult,
then, childhood is a time of freedom.
278 The Paragraph
The child, however, wishes always to be a man. He finds free-
dom in the future. The small boy quarrels with his sister and
looks forward to perfect marital bliss with a wife who never nags.
To him, adulthood is a time of wealth, and his father never needs
to worry about saving to buy a bicycle. Childhood is a time of
study; the mature never have to go to school and worry about
report cards and grades on conduct. "When I get big," he thinks,
"Mother won't tell me what to eat."
Happiness is too seldom found in the present. All too often it
is remembered as a thing of the past or looked forward to as a
part of the future.
Excessively long paragraphs should also be avoided. They
are often hard to read ; that is, the length may make it difficult
for the reader to grasp the writer's purpose and emphasis.
Overlong paragraphs may be overdeveloped, wordy, disorgan-
ized, lacking in unity. To reduce excessive length it may be
necessary to reduce the scope of the controlling idea of the
paragraph to limit the purpose. Sometimes, however, the
fault is in the development, and the paragraph can be trimmed
down simply by discarding a few details. Ten examples may
not be necessary to support a topic statement*^ four or five
representative ones might do just as well.
GENERAL EXERCISES
The writer of the following brief theme was successful in placing his
ideas in a logical sequence, but his paragraphs are too short. He has not
grouped his ideas well. Rewrite this theme, keeping every sentence in its
present place. Supply topic sentences when they are needed, and group
the sentences into more effective paragraphs.
Grandfather was fond of sitting with his back to an open fire and
looking out on woods, orchards, and broad fields that slanted away
General Exercises 279
57f fl
from a tall hill to a distant valley. For this reason my grandfather
built his house so that the den faced the woods and the distant meadow
which was just visible over the trees growing on the slopes of the hill
Two large paneled windows enabled him to look out over the whole
countryside.
Grandfather framed the windows with a dark green cornice board,
which blended with the color of the pine paneling. Just below the
broad window he placed his bookshelves. Nearby, on a reading stand,
he kept his leather-bound and brass-studded family Bible.
Across the room from the windows he built a rugged granite fire-
place witlx.a mantel carved from a slab of pink marble, which he him-
self chose from the quarry. The smooth pink stone, in contrast with
the rugged granite, was a choice that reflected the gentleness and
strength of my grandfather.
He placed two large leather chairs by the fireplace and across from
the windows. Over the mantel he hung his rifle.
From the first he made this room his own, and it seemed never to
belong to anyone else.
Now the chairs still have an inviting, comfortable look. The shiny,
worn arms and cushions indicate how children and grandchildren have
played on them. The rifle is somewhat rusty, but it has the look of
metal which was for years oiled after every hunt.
280 The Paragraph
57f
The classics in the bookshelves were torn by children and then
grandchildren before they began gathering dust. The pages of the
Bible are brown and worn, and some of the print is faded.
Family portraits, now as out-of-date as the intricately carved
wooden frames that hold them, still hang on the wall. A wooden pipe
rack which holds all Grandfather's pipes, an Indian peace pipe, and a
humidor carved from a cypress root are the only articles left on the
top of the desk.
The very desk seems to guard its contents from eyes or hands, and
the swivel chair, with its tattered cushion, denies comfort to any
occupant. Since Grandfather died the room has been locked most of
the time, and it remains almost as it was years ago.
B
Divide the following selection into paragraphs. Underline once the
main transitional devices that enable the reader to see connections be-
tween sentences. Underline twice those that enable him to see the
connections between paragraphs. The original passage contained four
paragraphs.
"At 5 P.M.," a psychologist recently told assembled colleagues,
"the American family goes to pot." He meant, in older cliches, that
in the late afternoon the fabric of home life splits its seams, the simmer-
ing kettle of domesticity boils over, mother, father and offsprings
jump their trolleys. Discord reigns. Because he is a professor at a
General Exercises 281
57f
university in Texas, a man of standing, his words, however lightly
spoken, bear weight. The impression is likely to get around that the
American family does "go to pot" with regularity. This pernicious
view is bound to multiply an already existing oversupply of complexes
unless some expert and experienced testimony can be brought into
counterbalance. All the more so since the professor blames the trouble
on literal lack of sweetness. The key to his theory is a condition known
medically as hypoglycemia low blood sugar content. It leads to
irritability, snappishness and a proportionate drop in sweetness of
temperament. The psychologist's reasoning was based on the fact
that since dinner is further away from lunch than lunch from break-
fast, blood sugar content is lowest before the evening meal. After
dinner, the theory claims, gentleness returns to the hearth at about
the rate of digestion. The only alternative to this perpetual cycle of
crisis would be a nation of paunches an appalling theory. For-
tunately, it isn't so. Piled one atop the other, the mountain of theories
on what is wrong with the American family would reach the heights
of the ridiculous. That, in any case, is the considered opinion of
experts here.
Flora Lewis 17
17 From The New York Times Magazine, August 7, 1955 Reprinted by
permission.
282 The Paragraph
fl 57f
Follow the instructions for Exercise B. Also, put parentheses around
the topic sentences. The following selection was originally divided into
six paragraphs.
We have no direct proof that any planets exist beyond our solar
system. Although we have deduced the presence of a few dark bodies
that revolve around certain bright stars, because they eclipse a portion
of the light at periodic intervals, we cannot decide whether these
bodies are planets or simply small, relatively cool stars. A planet
must be at least cold enough not to shine by its own light. The ques-
tion whether other worlds exist is one of the most fascinating topics
in astronomy as well as one of the most difficult to discuss. It is
dangerous to give free play to our imaginations; and yet, if we are to
come up with any sort of answer at all, we have to resort to indirect
reasoning. To approach the problem about the likelihood of other
planets, we may inquire into the manner of their birth. If it is as
natural for a sun to have planets as it is for a cat to have kittens, the
majority of stars may possess planetary families. If, on the other
hand, planets come into being only as a result of some unusual cosmic
event, like the collision of two stars, planets may be extremely rare.
Under such circumstances, our solar system might then be unique in
the entire universe. Someone recently remarked that theories of the
origin of the solar system are practically as numerous as astronomers.
General Exercises 283
57f
The fact that some astronomers hold no views at all on this subject is
more than offset by the fact that others have proposed a number of
theories. We can divide theories of creation into two broad classes:
the unitary theories and the binary theories. In the unitary theory
the planets appear as the result of purely natural processes during the
life of a single star. The planets, after their birth, repeat the process
on a smaller scale, to form the satellites. Everything necessary for
the entire solar system was contained in the original matter that
eventually formed the sun and planets. On the binary hypothesis,
however, we start off with a sun that has no planetary retinue. The
star acquires its family by capture, adoption, or catastrophe. These
processes require the action of either another star or a large volume
containing meteoric material and cosmic dust. The great majority of
modern theories are of the binary variety. These were forced upon us
because the unitary hypothesis ran into seemingly insurmountable
difficulties.
Donald H. Menzel, "Other Worlds than Ours" 18
D
Read the following paragraph carefully and answer the questions below.
(1) A survey of almost any college campus will reveal that the male
students fall into three groups according to the way they dress. (2)
18 From The Atlantic Monthly, November 1955. Reprinted by permission
of the author.
284 The Paragraph
57f
The first group contains those students who dress only to suit them-
selves. (3) They are either ignorant of the current fashions or they
just do not care. (4) Their clothes are an extension of their personal-
ities, and their individualness is accented by their departure from the
usual attire. (5) In this category are the students who arrive for class
dressed in blue jeans and leather jackets, hunting clothes, or Bermuda
shorts and shower shoes. (6) The second group conform in every re-
spect to the current fashions. (7) They know the correct label for
each item. (8) And they are going to wear only what is correct.
(9) These students possess no originality, and they believe that the
more they wear of the correct clothes, the more properly dressed they
will be. (10) Men in this group wear every thing at the same time,
and they wear it all the time. (11) No matter what the occasion, they
attempt to look as though they have just stepped out of an Esquire
advertisement. (12) The important thing here, however, is that these
students dress only according to labels and not according to their
personal wishes. (13) This group always tends to look alike. (14)
The final group of college male students is composed of those who
combine the main qualities of the first two groups. (15) They are
aware of the fashions, but maintain their individuality by adapting
the current trend to their own personalities. (16) They know what is
correct and use this knowledge, but they also take into consideration
General Exercises 285
57f
their personal tastes. (17) They wear what they like, what looks
good on them, and what is appropriate for the occasion. (18) These
students are the ones who are really well dressed.
1. Outline this paragraph by placing A and B and C just before the
sentences where major divisions begin after the topic sentence.
2. Does the topic sentence establish the order (the sequence) of
these major divisions? Do you feel that the present order is satis-
factory? Would it be logically possible to reverse A and B? Would it
be logically possible to reverse B and C? Explain.
3. Transition between sentences in this paragraph depends heavily
on the use of pronouns and pronominal adjectives. Underline these
once.
4. Transition between the larger divisions of the paragraph (A and
B and C) depends on the use of formal transitional words and the
repetition of a key word. Underline transitional words twice and
repeated key words three times.
5. In sentence 14 what words reiterate the general subject of the
entire paragraph?
6. Would sentence 14 be as good if it simply stated, "The final
group is composed of the students who combine these main qualities"?
Explain.
7. This paragraph has no true concluding sentence, one which
looks back at the entire content of the paragraph. Do you feel that
one is necessary? Advisable? Explain.
8. What method of development does this paragraph exemplify?
286 The Paragraph
The Theme
A theme requires thought and planning. It draws on the
writer's knowledge, memory, and imagination. It requires a
sense of order and a feeling for what will interest a reader.
Through practice and persistence, you can develop the skills
necessary for the writing of a good theme.
Writing a Theme
Break down the process of writing into well-defined stages:
choosing and limiting your subject; determining purpose, treat-
ment, and tone; planning, organizing, and outlining; develop-
ing the subject through use of details; and putting the paper
into final shape.
The following step-by-step suggestions, which cover the suc-
cessive stages listed above, are designed to help you move in a
constructive, orderly way from idea to finished product.
5oQ Choose a subject that interests you.
A bored writer bores his reader. The first rule of effective
theme writing, then, is to choose a subject that interests you.
Writing a Theme Z87
58a
Even an assigned topic can usually be related to something
that is significant to you and that you in turn can make signifi-
cant to a reader. Suppose, for example, that your instructor
tells the class to write on clocks or watches or time. At first
the subject may seem remote; but by drawing on your experi-
ence, memory, imagination, and knowledge, you can make it
vividly and concretely your own. The papers produced by the
class for this assignment might have some range of titles such
as the following:
Some Clocks I Know
Clocks Have Personalities
Watch Repairing as a Profession
How Not to Repair a Clock
Early American Clocks
Seth Thomas, Clockmaker
Grandfather's Grandfather Clock
Cuckoo!
The Courthouse Clock
Big Ben
Luminous Dials
Luxury Watches
The Watch as a Status Symbol
Clocks Without Hands
How Street Activities Indicate the Time of Day
Animal Clocks on the Farm
The Rewards of Promptness
The Frustrations of the Prompt
Late Again
How I Learned to Be on Time
Punching a Time Clock
America's Punch-Clock Life
Man Is the Slave of Time
The Sound of a Clock at Night
Getting Up Early
In Urgent Need of a Clock
288 The Theme
58a
My Girl Needs a Clock
Children Have No Sense of Time
A Child's First Watch
The Clock Shop
A Village Jeweler
A Time Schedule for College
One student might not think of all these possibilities, but he
could think of some of them. What may at first seem to be a
dull assignment can lead to a variety of topics and plenty to
write about.
But suppose the instructor leaves the topic entirely up to you.
Instead of worrying and fretting over the problem of choice,
let your mind flow thoughtfully back over the past. Ideas for
possible theme topics will come floating to the top; make a
list of them. Over a period of time you might accumulate a
list something like this:
Building a Fire
Cutting Wood
Outdoor Cooking
Arranging a Closet (or Disarranging . . .)
Washing Dishes
The Use of Statistics (or Misuse . . .)
The Dialect of a Minority Group
Getting Home from a Trip
Color Schemes
Appliances: Servants or Masters
Rules, Morals, and No Referee
Modern Superstitions
Childhood Superstitions
Thrift
Spendthrift
Return of a Prodigal
Bread Cast on the Waters
A Time for Sowing
Writing a Theme 289
That Which You Sew You Shall Also Rip
A Time for Harvest
Exploring a Cave
Mining
Potted Plants
The Emergency Ward
Life with a Tape Recorder
Home Movies
Costume Jewelry
A Summer Migrant
Insecticides
Diet
Home Remedies
Night Patrol
Landscaping the Lot for a New Home
Rock Garden
Apartment-House Living
County Fair
The Subway at Night
Urban Renewal
Keeping Up with the Joneses" Children
Sales Tax
Oral Examinations
The Latest Fad in Jokes
Recent Slang
Learning to Drive
An Antique Automobile
Newspaper Boy
Theater Outdoors
Amateur Theatricals
Dreams of Life as a Tramp
Trip Downriver
Human Nature on Camping Trips
The Life of a Hobo
Changes in Styles (women's dress, automobiles, furniture)
Puns
290 The Theme
A Sense of Humor (a teacher's, a comedian's, a fellow student's)
Watching the Spectators (of a parade, a ball game, a circus, a
wrestling match)
Ghost Town
A Deserted House
A Country Church
Spring in the Air
Day in Autumn
First Snow
When the Crops Failed
Daily Chores
Choosing a Career
Discarded Ambitions
Hymns
Folk Songs
A Description of a Painting
The best writers have learned that good subjects may come
to mind at unexpected moments. You may think of one while
your thoughts are wandering in class or while you are taking your
clothes to the laundry. Never let a possible subject escape you.
Reserve a page or two in your notebook for all the topics and
titles which occur to you. To a list of topics drawn from past
experience you can add other ideas from daily events, activities,
and observations in the bus, at the corner grill, in the dor-
mitory, on a date, at sports events, while working, while reading,
and so on. Enter even the less promising possibilities in your
notebook; they may evolve into good subjects. When a theme
must be written, it is better to have an excess of ideas rather
than only a blank sheet of paper staring up from the desk. A
student without a starting point is likely to plunge headlong
into one fruitless attempt after another, writing and tearing up,
hoping through trial and error to hit on a satisfactory subject.
You can avoid false starts and lost time by examining your list
of possibilities and settling on one good topic at the outset.
Writing a Theme 291
58b
58 D Limit your subject appropriately.
Choose a topic suited to the length of the assignment. Do
not undertake a broad subject and merely skim the surface.
It is better to select a limited subject and develop it fully
through discussion, analysis, illustration, and vivid detail. On
the other hand, your topic should give you enough scope to
meet the minimum requirements of length without padding.
Naturally, a 250-word paper will call for a more limited treat-
ment than will a 500-word or a 1000-word paper; it may even
demand a different subject. Generalized treatments of large
subjects can be successful if they are handled with intelligence,
breadth of perspective, and insight; many good editorials are
written on just such topics. But the best themes usually treat
topics limited enough to allow room for substantiation of points,
telling detail, and sufficient explanation.
To illustrate the process of limitation, let us suppose that we
are permitted a glimpse into the mental processes of a student
who starts with the idea of writing a theme on "some physical
activity." The evolution of the subject is shown in the column
at the left below; the student's train of thought is suggested at
the right.
SUBJECT THOUGHTS ABOUT SUBJECT
Some physical activity Too broad . . .
Athletics Too broad . . . not much interested
... no inspiration . . .
Work Again too broad . . . but might have
something here . . . push the sub-
ject around a little . . .
The unpleasantness of some kind Sounds unpleasant . . . unattrac-
of hard labor tive topic equals unattractive
theme? . . .
292 The Theme
58b
Hard labor can be enjoyable But do I really believe this? Could
I convince a reader? . . .
Labor connected with a hobby We don't mind hard work, even get
fun out of it, if it ties up with
something we enjoy . . .
Making a raft But just making it isn't much
fun . . .
Using a raft Getting close . . .
Downriver on a Raft Subject at last!
The mind plays curious tricks. Through association of ideas
physical activity, athletics, work, recreation involving hard
work this student has arrived at a suitably limited subject,
and it is a good subject because it evidently derives from an
experience of real significance to him. Letting the mind drift
and range through subject areas in this way is a technique that
you will find useful in limiting a subject through relating it to
live interests of your own.
Even after the topic is apparently limited, however, you can-
not know that it is appropriate to the required length until you
have (1) considered the subdivisions of the topic and (2) actually
written the theme. Sometimes a subject of seemingly ample
scope will be exhausted before the required number of words is
reached. When this happens, if you cannot develop it more
fully without padding, you can only begin anew with another
topic. Again, a subject which seems adequately limited at the
outset may open up into greater complexity in the writing and
run far beyond the assigned length. In this case, you have the
choice of turning to another subject perhaps some still more
limited aspect of this one or of reducing the length, usually
by cutting out whole sections. These are not pleasant alterna-
tives. An expanded theme is generally both wordy and skimpy ;
lengthier treatment cannot compensate for slightness of sub-
Writing a Theme 293
ject. On the other hand, a theme which has been cut in length
is often confused, jerky, or badly proportioned because of
omissions and condensations. But if you make a fresh start
with a new topic, you pay a high price in lost time.
It is, of course, much better to write a theme of the proper
length in the first place, and with experience and intelligent
planning you can learn to do this. Before you write, jot down
specific aspects of the subject and points to be developed. Sup-
pose your general topic is "Qualities of a Good Teacher." By
noting down various qualities as they flash through your mind
(with no regard at this stage for selection, order, or grouping of
ideas), you might produce a list like this:
humane qualities
ability to explain
knowledge of subject
ability to inspire
impartiality and sense of fair play
appearance, manner, and voice
sense of humor
patience
love of subject and job
ability to get along with people
seriousness of purpose
interest in students
general culture
quickness of mind
common sense
mental honesty
ability to maintain discipline
devotion to pursuit of knowledge
Now you have a gauge for adjusting the topic to the required
length that is, for limiting the topic appropriately. If, for
example, the assignment permits only 500 words, perhaps three
294 The Theme
or four items from this list are all that should be considered.
Which items you select and which ones you discard will depend
on your controlling idea or purpose.
OuC State your controlling purpose early in the paper.
Just as the central idea of a paragraph is usually stated in a
topic sentence (see 57a), so the central idea of a theme is
usually expressed in a thesis statement. Most themes (ex-
cept perhaps narratives) make or imply a thesis statement in
the first paragraph and explain or prove the point in the body
of the paper. Or a theme may begin with significant facts, lead
up to a thesis statement early in the paper (possibly in the
second paragraph), and then develop it in the remainder of the
paper. In any case, the reader will look for some kind of state-
ment indicating the purpose and direction of what he is reading.
He wants to know where the writer stands in relation to the
subject.
A good thesis statement is specific and concise. It defines the
scope of the paper and the writer's approach to his subject. It
should bring the subject into focus through a single, definite,
controlling idea: for example, "Good teaching is more a matter
of character and personality than of intellect" or "Good teach-
ing is more a matter of mind than of character and personality."
In contrast, the statement that "A good teacher has many
qualities" would be unsatisfactory as a thesis; it is too vague
to give form or direction to the writing. A well-thought-out
purpose, clearly formulated, gives the writer firm control over
the choice of points to be developed and helps him relate every
paragraph and every sentence to the thesis.
Writing a Theme 295
58d
58 U Select a mode of treatment appropriate to your
topic.
Prose is commonly classified as expository, argumentative,
narrative, and descriptive. Like all classifications, this one is of
limited usefulness, for most good writing uses these kinds of
discourse in combination rather than in isolation. Nevertheless,
an understanding of these different modes of treatment can
help you approach your subject with greater confidence.
Exposition explains. It provides information, facts, and
objective analysis. A theme of opinion is expository to the
extent that it uses explanation and facts to support the views
expressed.
Argument attempts to persuade the reader to accept the
writer's views. It is most successful when it attempts to con-
vince through reasoning supported by facts rather than through
emotional appeals and generalizations.
Narration tells of a succession of happenings arranged
usually in chronological order. Personal experiences lend
themselves to narrative treatment even if you discuss only
what you have observed and do not write autobiographically
of your participation in events.
Description gives the reader a word picture of a scene or a
person. Sharp details, imagery, and words that convey color,
shape, sound, and smell are the lifeblood of good description.
All writing makes some use of description, from the factual
description of informative writing to the evocative use of de-
scriptive words in narrative and personal accounts.
Consider which kind of treatment is most suitable for your
subject and purpose. You should not feel, however, that you
are bound by a classification. For instance, a character sketch
combines expository, descriptive, and even narrative techniques
to portray a person in terms of his most significant physical,
296 The Theme
58f
psychological, and moral traits. A short theme, however, is likely
to be more successful if the writer will establish a prevailing
mode of treatment and stick to it.
58e Select a single tone (or mood) appropriate to the
topic.
Formal, informal, humorous, satirical, serious, nostalgic
the tone of a piece of writing is the quality through which the
writer invites the reader to share his attitude and viewpoint.
Some titles suggest a formal organization, a logical progression,
and a serious approach ("Is a Small Town More Democratic
than a City?" "Responsibilities of Citizenship")- Others sug-
gest informality and allow for a freer play of imagination and
humor ("New Easter Hats," "Dreams," "The Call of the
Wild"). Whatever tone you employ, be consistent. An effective
theme does not skip back and forth from earnestness to humor.
In general, avoid flippancy and sarcasm. Flippancy in writing
is often the mark of immaturity. Sarcasm is difficult to bring
off effectively.
5 Ol Plan and organize your theme carefully.
A good theme requires both planning and extemporizing.
Detailed planning can yield effective results. Yet some of the
best material, the most successful management of the large
parts in the outline, and the finest introductions and conclu-
sions may come from ideas which flash through your mind dur-
ing the writing process.
Begin with careful planning. If your next theme is to be
500 words on the subject of competition, you might start plan-
ning your paper by jotting down the miscellaneous ideas which
flow through your mind:
Writing a Theme 297
58f
"I don't really care whether I win or not."
No competition, really no interest
Boy who wouldn't play a game after he lost
No competition really selflessness, a virtue
Reason to prove superiority
Reason to disprove inferiority
Reason pure fun of it
Ambition
Too much competition for grades in school
Not enough intellectual competition
Cheating at solitaire
Creates enemies
A mental disease
None in Garden of Eden
The basis of democracy
In the family
Basis of capitalism
Versus monopoly
Too Little competitive spirit to enjoy spectator sports (Example:
Uncle Jack)
Anger
Proper spirit of competition
Causes nervous breakdowns
The life of trade
A condition of life
Competitor's attitude toward non-competitor
Between social, religious organizations, etc.
Between fraternities, sororities
For a good cause
Connection to evolution survival of the fittest
Not enough in socialism or welfare state
These ideas are enough to begin with, but there is no order
in them. They are but the first step a random listing of pos-
sible materials. The list gives no clue to what should come first,
what second, what should be omitted. There is, in short, no
298 The Theme
58f
principle of organization. From here on, one method of pro-
cedure is just to start writing and hope that the topics will fall
into line in a theme. Sometimes they do; more often they do
not. A wiser method is to group the topics into a semblance of
order, somewhat as follows:
Too Little Competitive Spirit
"I don't really care whether I win or not."
Really no interest
Too little to enjoy spectator sports (Example: Uncle Jack)
None in socialism and welfare state
Too Much Competitive Spirit
Cheating at solitaire
Creates enemies
A mental disease
Cause of anger
Nervous breakdowns
To prove superiority
To disprove inferiority
Attitude toward non-competitor
Survival of the fittest
Monopoly
Introduction
None in Garden of Eden
A condition of life
Boy who wouldn't play unless he could win
Proper Spirit of Competition
Pure fun of it
Serves good causes social and religious organizations
In the family
Ambition
Democracy
After the topics have been thus sorted out into groups, the
thesis statement becomes almost obvious: "A reasonable spirit
of competition is necessary for the individual and for society."
Writing a Theme 299
58g
The theme will define competition, give examples of excessive
and deficient competitive spirit, and explain what a proper
spirit of competition is.
With the main topics and the thesis statement decided upon,
what is the best way to arrange the major points and the
details supporting them? The theme could begin with an in-
troduction, discuss deficiencies in competitive spirit, then ex-
cesses, and finally the proper spirit.
The process just described is typical of the way many themes
are produced. It is a good one to follow, especially in the early
stages of a course in composition.
Learn how to develop a topic outline.
Your instructor may require a formal outline. For a paper
on competition you might develop an outline as follows:
COMPETITION
Thesis statement: A reasonable spirit of competition is necessary for the
individual and for society.
I. Introduction
A. Brief concrete and contrasting examples
1. No competition in Garden of Eden
2. Cheating at solitaire
3. Boy who refuses to play unless he always wins
B. Thesis statement: reasonable spirit of competition necessary
II. Too little competition
A. Poor personal attitude lack of interest
B. Effects on society and organizations
III. Too much competition
A. Poor personal attitude
1. Generates anger, selfishness
2. Creates enemies
B. Effects on society and organizations
300 The Theme
58g
IV. Proper spirit of competition
A. Definition
1. Fun and sense of achievement
2. Restraint no harmful effects on others
B. Examples
1. In family
2. In career
3. In society and organizations
V. Conclusion a matter of balance
This is called a topic outline, because the headings and sub-
headings are expressed as topics words or phrases rather
than as sentences. Certain conventions should be followed:
1. Number the main topics with Roman numerals, the large
subheadings under these with capital letters, the next sub-
headings with Arabic numerals. If further subheadings are
necessary though they seldom are for short papers use a,
6, c, and (1), (2), (3).
I.
A
1
a. . . .
(1)
(2)
b
2
B
II
2. Use parallel grammatical structures.
3. Use topics, not sentences. Do not place periods after the
topics. Punctuate as in the outline above for "Competition."
4. Check to see that your outline covers the subject com-
pletely.
Writing a Theme 301
58h
5. Use specific topics and subheadings arranged in a logical,
meaningful order.
58 H Learn how to develop a sentence outline.
A sentence outline is made by expanding each topic into
a complete sentence that contains a statement about the topic.
Place periods after sentences in a sentence outline.
COMPETITION
I. Introduction
A. In a state of perfection, such as the Garden of Eden, competi-
tion would not exist.
B. In the world as we know it, a reasonable spirit of competition
is necessary.
II. One who has little spirit of competition really has little interest
in life.
III. An excessive spirit of competition reveals personal weaknesses.
IV. It is difficult to attain a proper spirit of competition.
A. The right attitude leads to fun and achievement without harm
to others.
B. The right attitude is necessary for happiness in the family,
success in a career, and achievement in society.
V. Conclusion One should be temperate in spirit of competition.
OOl Use varied details for interest, illustration, explana-
tion, or proof. (See also 57b.)
An abstract truth may be evident in a concrete example or
action. Sometimes a writer may state the concrete fact, omit
the general truth, and assume that the reader himself will arrive
at the abstract conclusion about the facts. Ultimately, mean-
ingful generalizations rest on details.
302 The Theme
58l
The sentence on the left below is an example of writing that
is thin, vague, too general, lacking in detail. The passage on
the right shows how the same information may be given in
concrete, specific detail.
Early immigrants from Europe
to America came in ships that
seemed sturdy in the harbor but
fragile on the sea.
The New World began at the
water's edge in Europe.
Tiny vessels, sixty to two hun-
dred tons in the main, bore the
voyagers westward. Riding at
anchor in the sheltered bays of
the homeland, the ships seemed
substantial enough. Their sturdy
timber and looming masts, their
cabins that rose like a castle sev-
eral stories high in the stern, were
impressive in comparison with the
harbor craft that flitted about
them. At sea, it would be another
matter. All became precarious as
the isolated specks, buffeted by
the elements, beat their way into
the unknown immensity before
them; and the men below huddled
fearfully in the cramped space
that set their condition of life. 1
The first selection below is general and abstract. In the
second selection the same generalities are made vividly specific,
alive, and interesting.
One day my mother told me I would have to help her clean out the
attic. We worked hard for a long time and finally had a huge pile of
The Americans by Oscar Handlin. Copyright 1963 by Oscar
Handlin. Reprinted by permission of Atlantic-Little, Brown and Company.
Writing a Theme 303
58i
stuff to be thrown away. Then Mother told Father to come up and
begin carrying these things out for the trash men to take off.
But Father and I did not really want to throw all these old things
away. And even Mother found several things that made her change
her mind and decide to keep them. All of us eventually began to move
objects we wanted to keep over into a small pile, and this pile grew
larger and larger. We actually wound up by discarding only a table,
some picture frames, and some rubber boots.
from UP AiTic 2
Walter Prichard Eaton
. . . once my mother on a rainy day decreed that the attic was to be
cleared of its accumulated "rubbish," and I was to assist in the oper-
ation. We worked ruthlessly and without sentiment for a long time,
dragging out trunks and boxes, fishing through cobwebs under the
dusty eaves, thumbing through old books and piles of magazines,
testing broken chairs, and at length accumulated a huge pile on one
side of the cupola stairs marked for the discard, and on the other side
a small pile of things to be saved. With a sigh of righteous satisfaction
mother straightened up, adjusted the dust cloth covering her hair, and
announced down the stair well that father could come up now and begin
the process of removing the discards.
But before father's head appeared above the floor, I had already
repented of scrapping a certain avuncular brown derby, much used in
charades, and in all plays calling for a villain, and I had carried it over
to the small pile. The first thing father saw, of course, was the stack
of books. He immediately squatted down and began to inspect them.
"What's this?" he cried. "My old geometry? and my Latin gram-
marl Amo, amare, amatum scrap this? Never!" And over to the
other pile went book after book.
2 From The Virginia Quarterly Review, XXI (Spring 1945). Reprinted by
permission of Mrs. Walter Prichard Eaton.
304 The Theme
58i
Meanwhile, mother was re-examining a painted chair, or fancy chair
as they were sometimes called. The rush bottom had been sat through
and dangled forlornly. "That was Aunt Lizzie's chair," she was saying.
"I suppose it could have a new seat. These roses on the back I
guess they're roses are kind of pretty. And who knows, it might be
in style again?"
It went over to the other side.
Father was sceptical about discarding a blue Staffordshire washbowl
and pitcher and slop basin. But we had recently installed a bath room,
and mother was all for getting rid of any reminders of more primitive
days. As I look back on those primitive days, I don't know that I
blame her. But meanwhile I had become fascinated anew by the picture
in the bottom of the bowl a romantic landscape backed by a house
in the best Strawberry Hill Gothic and peopled in the foreground by
languid ladies bearing parasols. My plea decided the question. Over
went the blue Staffordshire to the salvage group. And then grand-
father's bootjack turned up, which we had found under the eaves. It
meant nothing to me, and I think mother honestly thought it was
nothing but an oddly cut bit of wood. But father snatched it out
angrily, proclaiming it was just what he had been searching for for
years, to get his congress boots off with. In fact, he carried it down-
stairs and put it carefully in his closet where it remained forgotten
again.
Mother was perceptibly weakening now. Old, discarded things were
telling her their stories. I saw her hand lingering on the dusty back of
the little rosewood sofa, the stuffing oozed from rips in the horsehair
and one leg broken. Presently she called me to push it back against
the chimney. So one by one the objects in the larger pile were moved
to the other pile till it became the larger, and at last little was left for
father to carry downstairs but a black-walnut table with a marble top
so heavy that the whole table wobbled precariously if touched, a
couple of broken picture frames, and some leaky rubber boots. Even
the marble top was to go no farther than the kitchen, where it later did
duty as a mixing board. And mother and I descended from the attic,
dirty and defeated.
Writing a Theme 305
58
Building a Theme: A Case Study
Suppose that you have been assigned an expository paper
of about 700 words on a topic of your own choosing. Sitting at
your desk trying to write, you decide upon something from your
list of topics and titles: college professors. You then determine
to do a paper entitled "Types of College Professors." Ideas
begin forming about the various kinds of professors you and
your classmates have known and talked about. You jot these
down hastily, something like this:
notebook lecturer
knows subject thoroughly but can't teach it
conscientious, fair, sympathetic
thinks all students smart as he is and grades accordingly
level-headed, both practical and imaginative
likes to work with people
scholar at heart, just teaches for a living
good mind
down on younger generation everything going to dogs
egotist likes to be looked up to and hear self talk
dry as dust
condescending holier-than-thou
eager beaver impossible assignments
wisdom
sense of humor
well-informed on newest information
rambler hard to take notes on his lectures
poor speaker uh's, ah's
lives in ivory tower
seeks truth
absent-minded
grouch
human
306 The Theme
58
The list begins to look like a start, but the necessary plan-
ning is not yet complete. A little study suggests a grouping of
points which would develop into a theme of contrast between
good professors and bad. One easy way to get a clearer notion
of what each group contains is to put a check mark beside the
good qualities and leave the others unmarked. Since the paper is
to be relatively short and a certain amount of improvising is
probably safe, it is not necessary to make such a careful outline
as was done for the paper on "Competition" (pages 300-302).
You can now carry this kind of thing in your head. Even so,
it is wise to consider what will probably be the best order for
the items and to number them accordingly.
notebook lecturer
knows subject thoroughly but can't teach it
$ conscientious, fair, sympathetic
thinks all students smart as he is and grades accordingly
S"? level-headed, both practical and imaginative
f / likes to work with people
scholar at heart, just teaches for a living
2 y f good mind
down on younger generation everything going to dogs
egotist likes to be looked up to and hear self talk
dry as dust
condescending holier-than-thou
eager beaver impossible assignments
3 wisdom
? sense of humor
/ well-informed on newest information
rambler hard to take notes on his lectures
poor speaker uh's, ah's
lives in ivory tower
*f / seeks truth
absent-minded
grouch
7 human
Writing a Theme 307
58
At this point it seems safe to begin writing. You try an open-
ing sentence: "College professors can be divided into two
groups, good and bad." But this sounds dull; something less
obvious would surely be better. To catch the reader's interest,
you decide upon a question: "Did you know that college pro-
fessors can be divided into two groups, good and bad?" Even
worse! Perhaps a more specific and unusual touch will an-
nounce the topic and arouse interest at the same time: "To go
from the classes of Professor Jones to those of Professor Brown
is like passing from light into darkness." This is better. But
how accurately does it forecast the content of the paper? You
try again: "The good professor and the bad professor are poles
apart in their mental and humane qualities." This opening is
the most accurate and effective yet, but still others are pos-
sible. Perhaps a brief picture of students sitting in the classes
of each type of professor would catch the reader's attention
and reflect the contrast which the paper is to develop.
If a satisfactory introduction fails to take shape, you may
postpone it until after writing the body of the paper. Perhaps
then you will more readily hit upon the right tone and phrasing.
Many of the best introductions are written after the paper is
otherwise finished.
Moving on to the body of the paper, you start developing
your list of items on the good professor. Write along rapidly
before ideas escape like vanished dreams. Do not worry too
much about matters of mechanical correctness spelling, com-
mas, choppy sentences, cliches, omissions, and style. These can
be straightened out later during revision of the rough draft.
The important point in the first draft is to get your thoughts
down on paper.
In the process of writing, a good many general ideas and
specific details usually come to mind in addition to those in
308 The Theme
58
the original list of potential materials. Some of these new ideas
can be incorporated immediately into the draft. Others will
not belong in the paragraph being written at the time. Lest
they escape, these should be noted in the margin or at the top
of the draft or on an extra sheet kept for this purpose. Fleeting
thoughts not captured at once may never recur, and often some
of the most telling ideas and illustrations come to mind when
the writing is under way.
During the term, first drafts should improve, and many stu-
dents reach the point where relatively few revisions are needed.
Remember, however, that even professional writers constantly
revise and perfect before they are satisfied. Some of Keats's
best details were added later; Poe's "The Raven" exists in
sixteen different versions; and Gray worked on his "Elegy"
for some eight years. No matter how much experience one
gains, the rough draft should always be gone over carefully for
improvement before being put into final form.
The first draft of the proposed paper on the professor is
shown on pages 311-314.
Although the original plan was to write on both good and
bad professors, this rough draft on desirable qualities is long
enough to fulfill the assignment if it is properly revised and
expanded. The subject of the paper, then, is "The Qualities of
a Good Professor." Since part of the assignment was to choose
a topic, there is no objection to this last-minute limitation of
subject. Perhaps a little more care in the original planning
would have shown in the first place that the good professor (or
the bad one) was a sufficiently broad topic to handle in a short
theme.
The next step is to perfect what you have. A careful reading
of the first draft shows that there are mechanical errors lack
of agreement in number, misspellings, an incomplete sentence,
Writing a Theme 309
58
improper use of your, wordiness, repetition, indefinite reference
of pronouns, misplaced modifiers, and so on. Once spotted,
these errors can be corrected in the next draft.
Perhaps more important at this stage, you notice that there
are several possibilities for division of the material into para-
graphs as you revise. Each of the proposed new paragraphs
will need to be given unity and direction by a governing state-
ment or topic sentence, and the movement or transition from
one point to the next within the paragraph must be made
smoother and clearer than it is in the first draft.
Still other things will certainly need revision. There are, for
example, marginal notes to be developed and incorporated into
the new draft. The important thing is to examine this first draft
for every possible improvement. Only this kind of critical read-
ing can make a second draft better than a first.
It is now time to begin a careful reworking of the first draft,
checking points of grammar and usage in the handbook, looking
up words in the dictionary, and so on. Conscientious revision
yields the result shown on pages 315-318.
This paper is a marked improvement over the earlier draft,
and a certain pride in it is pardonable. Consider the sentence
about not being able to fool all the students all the time. May-
be the instructor will like it too. And that phrase "accentuate
the positive." Of course, the paper could have been better
with more time to work on it. Next time it would be wise to
begin writing in the afternoon instead of late at night.
310 The Theme
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318
58
A few days later the instructor walks into the classroom with
the bundle of graded papers under his arm. He lays them on
the desk and selects several to read aloud. Your theme on the
good professor is one of these. The instructor follows the read-
ing of it, however, with comments which seem rather to empha-
size the negative. He has found several weaknesses: the abrupt
introduction and the fact that the first sentence depends partly
on the title for its meaning; the choppy sentences, especially in
the first part of the paper; the fact that it was Francis Bacon,
not a poet, who had "taken all knowledge for his province" and
that the exact quotation is "I have taken all knowledge to be
my province"; the occasional need for transitions; the general
weakness of vocabulary and the use of some worn-out or slang
expressions such as "knows his stuff," "have all the answers,"
"along this line," and "accentuate the positive"; some wordi-
ness, especially in the first part of the fifth paragraph; some
repetitiousness, as in the use of "fields," "this does not mean
that," and in the sentence "The good professor therefore works
with his students with kindness and with a sense of humor."
Still other errors, the instructor says, are marked in red ink on
the paper.
But he does emphasize some good points also. He points out
that the paper is on a subject of general interest, far more so,
for example, than the two papers entitled "When I Fell Off My
Water Skis" and "Hitchhiking to Talladega." He remarks that
it has more "idea content" than many freshman papers, and
he says it shows an awareness of life and a willingness to ob-
serve and reflect. He offers encouragement because this paper
shows an improvement over previous work in technical matters,
such as its generally satisfactory transitions and its correct
spelling. He again reads the sentence about the impossibility
of fooling all the students all the time. He points out that the
class responded favorably when he first read it, and he remarks
Writing a Theme 319
58
that he likes it too. He calls it a "somewhat novel twist on a
rather well-known phrase" and "a step in the right direction
toward individuality and interest." In short, this instructor
exhibits some of the humane qualities stressed in the paper.
But he has not finished. He passes out mimeographed copies
of two paragraphs from another paper on a similar topic. (See
pages 321-323.) These are the introduction and the first para-
graph of the body of the paper, and they handle the topic in a
very different way.
The instructor offers a few comments on what impressed him
favorably in these paragraphs the very readable, slightly tart
lead-off sentence, the transition from the introduction to para-
graph two, and the diction. He points out an error or two
the misspelling of professor throughout, the use of a period
instead of a question mark at the end of the first paragraph.
He raises a fundamental question for the class to ponder:
Which is the more valuable idea in the second paragraph, the
one about the teaching of principles versus the teaching of
facts, or the concluding one about the practical quality of the
ideal professor's teaching? The instructor favors the former
and suggests that an idea so important as the teaching of
principles should not be buried in the middle of the paragraph,
where it may be lost upon the reader. He suggests reorganizing
the paragraph to place this idea in a more emphatic position.
He advises the class to think this point over both as a principle
in learning and as a principle in paragraph development.
You leave the classroom resolved to write a better theme
next time. As a first step toward this goal, you should revise
and correct the paper you have just written, profiting by your
instructor's comments and your new insight into what makes
a good theme. Many instructors require this, for the revision
of one's own work is a valuable learning experience.
320 The Theme
[THEME #2: OPENING PARAGRAPHS]
The Ideal Proffessor
Contrary to a large segment of popular campus opin-
ion, all proffessors are not a menace. Though some may
blunt the native curiosity, scholarly potentialities,
and humane qualities of their students, most have a
decidedly beneficial effect upon the intellectual and
moral qualities of those who study under them. Among
this latter group is the teacher who combines the best
qualities of various outstanding instructors into what
we may term the ideal proffessor. What, it may be asked,
are this gentleman's qualities as a man of intellect, as
a human being, and as a teacher.
Among those qualities of the ideal proffessor which
we may term intellectual is his knowledge of his subject.
He has mastered that area of learning which he has marked
as his own* He knows all the facts and can summon them
as needed to illustrate or amplify a lecture or class
1
321
2
discussion. Yet he is no bookworm crammed with the
dust of dry facts. He is not, as Pope expressed it,
The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read,
With loads of learned lumber in his head.
He knows the broad principles which underlie these
facts. He knows that one's facts are valueless unless
they lead to laws and truths. He states quite frankly
that it is the business of a university to teach, not
facts, but principles, and he busies himself to this
end. Besides his grasp of the facts and principles in
his own area of knowledge, our ideal proffessor is also
a man of culture who has a wide and vital interest in
several fields of study besides his own. His culture
may be said to resemble that of the Renaissance gentle-
man. Though he loves what he is doing and believes
sincerely in the value of his own area of learning,
there is no narrowness about him, no feeling that his
is the only way to truth and human values. Our ideal
proffessor is also, therefore, mentally honest honest
322
3
not only about the unsolved problems and unknown facts
in his own domain of knowledge, but honest also in his
attitude toward the values inherent in the studies and
intellectual interests of others. Never dead nor
deadening, never without charm, warmth, graciousness,
liveliness and a deep-seated sense of humor, our ideal
proffessor is nevertheless a man of high seriousness.
He believes in ultimate values, and he would wish his
students to believe in them too. Flipness, shallowness,
disinterestedness, laziness, indifference to worthwhile
things have no place in his teaching. Yet his classes
are never dull. For he has, finally, the wisdom not
only to deal learnedly with "pure 11 principles and ab-
stractions but also to bring these principles into
contact with the practical, everyday affairs of life.
The ideal proffessor may walk within cloistered walls,
but his teaching is never obscured by thick tangles of
ivy.
323
58j
58j
Use the following check list of essentials as a useful
guide in the writing of better themes.
Title
The title should properly suggest the contents of the paper.
It should attract the reader's interest without straining to be
excessively novel or cute.
It should not be too long.
NOTE: Do not italicize the title of your own theme or put
quotation marks around it.
Introduction
The introduction should be independent of the title. No
pronoun or noun in the opening sentence should depend for
meaning on a word or idea in the title.
It should interest the reader, catch his attention.
It should properly establish the mood of the paper as serious,
fanciful, humorous, ironic, or otherwise.
It should set forth or suggest your subject and purpose.
It should not begin with material too far removed from the
primary matters to be discussed in the body of the theme.
It should not be too long.
Body
The major divisions of the contents should be readily ap-
parent.
The materials should be arranged in logical sequence.
Technical terms should be sufficiently defined or explained.
Paragraphs should not be choppy.
Enough space should be devoted to important ideas. Un-
important ideas should be subordinated or discarded.
324 The Theme
58j
Enlightening, concrete, effective details should be used when
appropriate. Insignificant or irrelevant details should be
omitted.
The paper should have unity and a controlling purpose.
The reasoning should be sound.
Transitions
Good linking words should show the connections between
sentences and between paragraphs. The connections between
ideas should be made perfectly clear to the reader. (Refer to
57e.)
Conclusion
The conclusion should usually be a summary statement of
the underlying idea developed in the theme. If a problem is
discussed in the paper, the conclusion should summarize the
solution and state its significance.
The conclusion should not be a mere restatement of the in-
troduction in different words.
The paper should not end in vague and dull generalities. It
should make a final and striking impression. It should not leave
the reader still wondering what the point is.
The conclusion may require a separate paragraph. On the
other hand, if the underlying idea is woven into each paragraph,
a formal conclusion may be a waste of words.
Proofreading
Allow some time, if possible at least one day, between the
last draft of the paper and the final finished copy. A fresh look
at the paper then will enable you to examine it objectively and
to spot wordiness, repetition, incorrect diction, misspellings,
poor punctuation, choppy sentences, vague sentences, lack of
transitions, and the like, before making the final copy.
Writing a Theme 325
Never turn in a paper without a careful final reading, pref-
erably aloud. In this way you will catch any foolish errors,
such as omitted words, mistakes in spelling due to haste, and
illegibility.
Final Mechanical Matters
Use the proper kind of paper.
Follow standard requirements for margins, space between
lines in typescript, position of title, numbering of pages, and
so on.
Copy pages that are sloppily written.
Endorse your paper exactly as required by your instructor.
TERM PROJECT
Keep a notebook of items which you think may be useful to you as
possible subjects and materials for papers.
GENERAL EXERCISES
For each of the topics below, suggest feasible limitations which might
be made for papers of 1000 words, 600 words, and 350 words.
Vocabulary My Life Engines
Athletics Pets Leisure
Drivers Language Fads
Teachers Integration Music
Literature Character Causes and Results
Christmas Life of the Civil War
B
Make a list of four different topics for 300-word themes, four for
600-word themes, and four for 1000-word themes. Choose one topic for a
1000-word theme. Then limit it suitably for a 600-word theme and for a
300-word theme.
326 The Theme
58 j
Suggest necessary changes to expand two of your 300-word topics into
1000-word topics.
Below is a brief summary of a paper, followed by four titles. Choose the
one you consider the best. If you can think of a better one than any of the
suggestions, write it down. Be prepared to defend your choice.
SUMMARY: If I were to be shipwrecked and left marooned on an
island with no apparent chance to be rescued and if I were allowed
only one companion, I should wish to have, in the order of preference,
a strong, courageous man who knows how to live a life next to nature;
a companionable and well-trained hunting dog; a pretty woman.
TITLES
Three Friends I Should Like to Have on a Desert Island
Shipwrecked
Companions in Adversity
Island Adventure
Supply a good title for each of the themes summarized below.
1. Some words, because of their meanings or sounds, always have
pleasant associative values for me. Chief among these are home, brother,
love, lake, sunshine, cascade, destiny, prelude, and clandestine.
2. Joe Sams was what the people of the neighboring villages called a
"swamp rat." I met Joe and came to know him well as we chatted in
his shack while at a fishing camp. He had been born with but one
eye and he had a big hump on his left shoulder. His parents had
deserted him in childhood. Turning from the coldness of the outside
world, Joe had finally retreated into the vast world of cypress swamps.
Here he had found the peace and comfort he could not discover in the
busy life of men.
General Exercises 327
58j
The following is a brief statement of the thesis or central idea of a formal
expository paper entitled "The Greek Virtues Today." Beneath it are
possible introductions. Choose the one you think best and be prepared to
defend your choice. If none of the given introductions satisfies you, write
one of your own.
CENTRAL IDEA: The Greeks recognized four cardinal virtues, which
man might well apply as a curative to the evils existing today.
INTRODUCTIONS
1. Although a classification of virtues may be at best rather arbi-
trary, the Greeks recognized four cardinal virtues: prudence, fortitude,
temperance, and justice. One can see how they have meaning today
and how well it would be for men to develop and apply them in private
conduct and group actions.
2. The Greeks recognized four of these: prudence, fortitude, tem-
perance, and justice. A discussion of them shows how useful they
would be today if we would only develop and apply them.
3. The four cardinal virtues of the Greeks prudence, fortitude,
temperance, and justice would be valuable for us today in the affairs
of the world. A virtue is a moral quality on which men place a very
high value. A discussion of this follows.
4. Do we of today have any need for prudence, fortitude, temper-
ance, and justice the four cardinal virtues of the Greeks? Indeed
we do. A redevelopment and reapplication of these virtues in our
private lives and our organized actions could lead mankind into a new
Golden Age.
Write a good introduction for one of the following papers, the chief
contents of which are summarized.
1. The younger generation's growing dependence upon slang is al-
most certain to cause a crisis in our colleges and universities. This
328 The Theme
MUM***- 58 j
conclusion is particularly apparent when two other fundamental trends
are considered: (]) the tremendous future increase in our college popu-
lation, and (2) the growing national clamor that Americans should
"streamline" their vocabularies so that nothing will be expressed in any
medium of linguistic exchange incomprehensible to fourteen-year-olds.
How, it may be asked, can a learned college professor intelligently
conduct his swollen classes with no common medium of expression ex-
cept perhaps mathematical symbols, which are also not readily under-
stood by the younger generation? How, it may further be asked, can
a man with a PhD. degree possibly grasp the critical penetration
behind the following remark about Hamlet, Prince of Denmark:
"Man, he ain' got no moan! He's just a plain cube. I mean he's gone.
I mean you know?" Yet, happily, there is a solution to our prob-
lem. Because of their ability to master difficult matters rapidly, our
professors can begin immediately attending the new Slanguage Insti-
tute, which has been established by virtue of a liberal grant from one
of the wealthier philanthropic foundations of this country. The aim
of both the Institute and the foundation is the improvement of
education.
2. The old blacksmith shop offered the perfect atmosphere and
backdrop for my melodramatic contrivances. Before I could commence
one of my death-defying adventures, it was necessary to secure arms
and a stock of ammunition never a difficult problem since the lower
floor was filled with an assortment of oddly shaped tools and parts
that could serve as weapons. My grandfather was never greatly
pleased when I made these confiscations of his equipment, or junk as it
seemed to me. Upstairs, I always assumed an air of sobriety and
earnestness. One never knew when the treacherous enemy might at-
tack. Sometimes Indians or rustlers came up the back stairs, or maybe
a group of black knights would use ladders and come right in through
the windows. The fighting was always horrible. During one of my
most terrible hand-to-hand combats, suddenly I looked up and there
stood Grandfather, scratching his head. "Watcha doin'?" he asked.
I turned crimson with embarrassment and mumbled an answer.
"Nothin'," I said.
General Exercises 329
58j
H
Write an introductory paragraph for the paper on "Competition" dis-
cussed on pages 297-300.
I
Practice organizing materials as directed below.
1. Group the following ideas and details under large headings, and
arrange these headings in the order in which you think they should
be treated in a theme entitled "Types of Comic Strips." (Notice how
this was done for the theme on "Competition/' pages 297-300.)
space ships, ray guns,
disintegrators, etc.
crime solution
Little Orphan Annie
really funny or comic
Li'l Abner
Donald Duck
idealistic Pollyanna type
Blondie
Pogo
general popularity as reading material
Superman
private detectives, newspaper sleuths,
police, G-men, etc.
science fiction
laughter at politics, greed,
stupidity, etc.
Buck Rogers
motives
fingerprints
turning other cheek and finally winning
over adversaries through naivete and
satirical plus comic
330 The Theme
58j
2. Suppose that your assignment demands a longer paper than the
one planned in item 1. List other general categories of comic strips
you might discuss, and include details under each. Also add further
details under the large headings you have in item 1. Arrange the
materials in suitable order for the longer theme.
3. Jot down all the ideas you can think of in connection with one
of the titles below. Group these details under large headings listed
according to some logical sequence. Cross out any details which prove
to be of little or no value.
The Subway at Night
Folk Songs
Indoor Gardening
Daily Chores
America's Punch-Clock Life
How to Use a Library
Should College Freshmen Be Allowed to Have Automobiles?
The Studious in College Are Not Necessarily Bookworms
Rewrite and expand two of the following to enrich the content by use of
detail.
1. After punishment by our parents, my friend Eddie and I decided
to run away. Having packed my most treasured belongings, I left
home and met Eddie in a pine thicket behind our house. Here we
planned to spend the rest of our lives. Our first two meals that day,
the fruit of our foraging, were very skimpy. When the sun began to
go down, two little fugitives returned home.
2. Travel should be more than a pleasant and happy vacation,
though its most significant values are hard to define.
3. At these meetings each Saturday we made many things to cheer
the various sick people in our community.
4. At a football game the cheerleaders and band add to the wild,
carefree enthusiasm of the crowd. The cheerleaders lead the cheers,
General Exercises 331
58j
which let the team know their fans are hoping for the best. The band
plays the songs which clearly denote which team it is for.
5. The most important member of my church is the minister, who
is very pleasing in manner and appearance. He tactfully preaches on
many different subjects which are calculated to please all members of
the congregation. After each sermon he shakes hands with everyone,
being careful to show no partiality. He loves his church and his
church loves him. Through him there is harmony, and the church is
one.
Choose from among the following conclusions the one you think best for
ending the theme summarized in Exercise G, paragraph 2 (page 329,
above). If you can think of a better one than any of those offered, write it.
L After such a humiliating invasion of my privacy, I found it neces-
sary to remove to the secluded lot behind the shop, where there was
an abandoned water tank. Here I could rout the Barbary pirates,
polish off Captain Kidd with a deft stroke of my rusty scythe, or climb
into an old barrel and sink an enemy fleet of battleships just as any
well-trained submarine commander should be able to do. Nor were
there any silly grownups around to disturb my peace of mind.
2. This incident indicates how little adults understand the mind of
a child.
3. During one of my most terrible hand-to-hand combats, I sud-
denly looked up and there stood my grandfather scratching his head
in wonder. "Watcha doin'P" he asked. "Fightin'," I said. "What's
it look like I'm doin'?"
4. Was I justified in telling a lie like this? Some people say lying
is never justified, but I think that in this case it was.
5. During one of my most terrible hand-to-hand combats, I sud-
denly looked up. There stood my grandfather scratching his head and
fighting to hold back a smile. "Whatcha doin'?" he asked. I turned
crimson with embarrassment and mumbled an answer. "NotihinY*
l!
332 The Theme
58j
Write a concluding paragraph for the paper on "Competition" dis-
cussed on pages 297-300.
M
Write a different concluding paragraph for the paper on "The Ideal
Professor 1 on pages 315-318.
General Exercises 333
Tlie Research Paper
A research paper, sometimes called a library or term paper,
is different in several respects from the kind of theme discussed
in 58. It is longer; it is less personal; it is based on a systematic
search for information, usually in the library ; and it is a formal
presentation of your studied views of the information which
you have gathered. Research has been aptly compared to de-
tective work. Each has the given problem or subject ; the search
for information bearing on it; the process of thinking about the
information and what it means; the conclusion to be drawn or
the coherent pattern to be assembled; and finally the presen-
tation of results.
Writing a Research Paper
Learn how to use the library, to search for information sys-
tematically, and to present the results of your search coher-
ently and thoughtfully.
A genuine grasp of research method is a valuable asset, not
only in all college courses, but in later life. The following sug-
gestions are designed to help you develop competence in re-
334 The Research Paper
59a
search through writing a paper centered on the resources of
the library. You will learn how to choose and limit a subject,
how to find source materials and to take notes, and how to
organize, outline, write, and document a research paper.
59d Choose a subject that will give you a rewarding
experience in research.
The subject you choose should enable you to use the library
extensively, to think for yourself, and to come to a conclusion
which will be of interest to a general reader. Above all, it should
be a subject that interests you one that really engages your
attention, that you will enjoy digging into, reading and think-
ing about, and writing up for others. Research and the presen-
tation of results are fascinating and rewarding activities when
you work on something that really matters to you.
Begin by choosing a general subject area. Most students start
with a general subject area and feel their way around in it before
deciding what particular aspect of it to explore and develop in
the research paper. If you have long had a particular interest,
that may be your starting point: photography, perhaps; or
boats; or painting; or Africa. If nothing comes immediately to
mind, you may start with a list of broad subject areas, such as
the following, decide which ones interest you most, and then
move in to a close-up of some limited sector.
the arts government industry
literature sociology science
philosophy anthropology technology
history economics medicine
religion business agriculture
At this stage you are concerned primarily with relating your
research to some active interest. Once you have done that, you
Writing a Research Paper 335
59a
are ready to narrow your subject down to manageable pro-
portions.
Limit your subject sufficiently. Make sure you can cover your
subject thoroughly within the assigned length of the research
paper.
Suppose that you have chosen photography as your general
subject area. You will see at once or you will discover after
a little thought and reading and a look at the card catalogue of
the library that this is too broad a topic for one paper. You
may, therefore, limit it to color photography or aerial photog-
raphy or the history of photography. You may then discover
that any of these topics could appropriately be further limited:
for example, "The Effect of Color Photography on Adver-
tising," or 'The Role of Aerial Photography in World War II,"
or "Matthew Brady: Photographer of the Civil War." Still
further limitation may be desirable, depending on the proposed
length of your paper and the resources of your library.
If you are starting with an even broader area of knowledge,
such as anthropology, history, or science, you may move
gradually toward your final subject by some such step-by-step
process as the following:
Anthropology prehistoric man human fossils Piltdown
Man Piltdown forgery Subject: "The Piltdown Hoax."
History American history American military history the
Civil War new weapons in the Civil War new naval
weapons in the Civil War the submarine Subject: "The
Use of the Submarine in the Civil War."
Science a study of science in some historical period ancient
science ancient concepts of physics the Greeks' knowledge
of physics the theory of the atom Subject : "Greek Theories
of the Atom."
336 The Research Paper
59a
In practice, your narrowing-down from the general to the
specific subject is not likely to be quite so smooth and orderly.
Perhaps by skimming an article in an encyclopedia or the sub-
ject headings in the card catalogue you will glean ideas for
limiting a broad area. You may even be well into your pre-
liminary research (see 59b) before you arrive at your final
subject.
Choose your subject only after careful thought and study
and consultation with your instructor. Your preliminary re-
search will then test your choice. It will suggest whether you
are trying to cover too much ground, or whether, at the other
extreme, you have too severely confined yourself. If you are
not satisfied with your subject after you get into your pre-
liminary research, try with your instructor's help to work out
an acceptable modification of it instead of making an out-
right change of topic. In this way you can probably still use
much of your early research.
Avoid inappropriate subjects. In choosing your final topic,
remember that your research facility in this course will be the
library. Since you will not be working in a large laboratory, on
a testing ground, or in a testing center where experimental
techniques are practiced, you would do well to avoid a subject
on which it is difficult for you to gather sufficient and up-to-date
information.
Be wary of subjects that are highly technical, learned, or
specialized. Only a specialist, for example, could understand
and properly evaluate source materials relating to modem
techniques in psychosomatic medicine or to fuels for rockets.
And even such a specialist faces another difficult task in mak-
ing his materials and conclusions intelligible to the general
reader, as you are required to do in your research paper.
Avoid topics centered on an assertion of value-judgments,
that is, matters of taste, personal opinion, or critical evaluation,
Writing a Research Paper 337
59b //at.
to which factual infonnation or evidence, the product of re-
search, is irrelevant. "Why Hamlet Is the Greatest Play Ever
Written" would be an acceptable topic for a theme of personal
opinion, but it would not be a suitable subject for a research
paper, because the basic assumption that Hamlet is the great-
est play ever written cannot be established through the tech-
niques of research, the assembling of evidence, and the drawing
of conclusions from it. Research can yield a great deal of
information on what various critics have thought of Hamlet,
but it cannot prove a critical judgment of the play's merit.
Avoid topics that do not lead you to a wide range of source
materials. If you find that you are using one or two sources
exclusively, the fault may be with your research methods or
it may be with your topic. For example, a process topic (how
to do something) does not lend itself adequately to library re-
search. Instead of writing on "How to Ski," the student might
harness his interest in skiing to a study of the effect of that
winter sport on some industry or region of the United States.
59 D Become acquainted with the reference tools of the
library, and use them to compile a working bibliography.
Certain guides to the knowledge stored in libraries are in-
dispensable to research. From them you can compile a working
bibliography, a list of publications which contain information
about your subject and which you plan to read. Each entry on
this list should consist simply of the author's name, the title,
and the information you need in order to find the book or
article in the library.
The basic tool in the library is the card catalogue. Here
you may look up books listed alphabetically by author and
title. The card catalogue also provides helpful subject headings,
subheadings, and cross references.
338 The Research Paper
59b
After you find the entry for the book you want in the card
catalogue, the most essential information on the card is the
call number, which will enable you to find the book if you are
permitted to enter the library stacks, or the librarian to find it for
you if the stacks are closed to students. Familiarize yourself with
the use of call slips, which in most libraries you must fill out
and present to the librarian so that she can get a book for you.
The catalogue cards reproduced on the accompanying pages
are typical and illustrate the kinds of information to be derived
from them. If you were doing research on William Shakespeare,
you would go first to his name in the card catalogue. You
would find Shakespeare listed as the author of some works and
as the subject of others. Usually, for convenient reference, the
heading on the subject card is in red. A student writing a paper
on a broader subject, such as a historical event, would go
directly to the subject cards. If, for example, you were writing
on the Piltdown forgery, you would look first under that head-
ing. Besides the books listed on the subject cards, the library
will also contain a number of other books which have informa-
tion on the Piltdown forgery but which are not catalogued
under that heading. To find these, the student might first look
under the subject heading Man, Prehistoric. Not all of the
books in this category will contain information on the Piltdown
forgery or on the subject of Piltdown Man; a glance at the cards
will reveal those which are likely to be useful. The student
should also consider books listed under other likely headings
and subheadings, such as Anthropology, Evolution, and Forgeries.
Whatever your subject, be sure to consider all pertinent sub-
ject headings, subheadings, and cross references.
A good card catalogue will lead you to the books which the
library contains on any subject, but finding magazine articles
is a little more complicated. There are numerous indexes to
periodicals which will tell you what articles have been written
Writing a Research Paper 339
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59b
on any subject. These provide alphabetized listings of authors,
articles, and subjects. The years which any given index volume
covers are listed on the spine of the volume. The names of the
periodicals indexed in the volume are listed inside the front
cover or on the first pages. After you have chosen your subject,
you should search in all the volumes of all the periodical in-
dexes which might list articles on that subject. The following
indexes are the most important ones:
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1900-.
An index to the most widely circulated American periodicals.
International Index, 1907-.
"A Quarterly Guide to Periodical Literature in the Social Sciences
and Humanities."
Biography Index, 1946-.
"A Cumulative Index to Biographical Material in Books and
Magazines."
Poolers Index to Periodical Literature, 1802-1906.
Has only subject entries; no author entries.
Nineteenth Century Readers 1 Guide to Periodical Literature, 1890-1899.
The Art Index, 1929-.
"A Cumulative Author and Subject Index to a Selected List of Fine
Arts Periodicals and Museum Bulletins."
The Music Index, 1949-.
Annual Magazine Subject-Index, 1909-1949.
"A Subject-Index to a Selected List of American and English
Periodicals and Society Publications."
Essay and General Literature Index, 1900-.
"An Index to ... Volumes of Collections of Essays and Miscellaneous
Works."
The Dramatic Index, 1909-1949.
"Covering Articles and Illustrations Concerning the Stage and Its
Players in the Periodicals of America and England and Including the
Dramatic Books of the Year."
The New York Times Index, 1913-.
"The Master Key to the News."
342 The Research Paper
59b
Public Affairs Information Service, 1915-.
The Education Index, 1929-.
"A Cumulative Author and Subject Index to a Selected List of
Education Periodicals, Books and Pamphlets. 1 '
Agricultural Index, 1919-1964.
"Subject Index to a Selected List of Agricultural Periodicals, Books
and Bulletins."
Biological and Agricultural Index, 1964-.
The Industrial Arts Index, 1913-1957.
"Subject Index to a Selected List of Engineering, Trade and Business
Periodicals.*'
Business Periodicals Index, 1958-.
Engineering Index, 1884-.
Index to engineering, industrial, governmental, scientific, technical
publications.
Applied Science and Technology Index, 1958-.
Suppose that you are writing your research paper on the
Piltdown hoax. Looking under Piltdown forgery in the Readers 9
Guide to Periodical Literature, volume twenty, March 1955-
February 1957, you find the following entry:
E PILTDOWN forgery
; Mr Piltdown. J.Shaw. Sat R 39:28 Ag 11 '56
^i^ject heading A
Titleof article '
Author of article
Abbreviation of the name of the ^
periodical in which the article
appears. Learn the complete
name by checking inside the
front cover of the periodical
index.
Volume number
Pages
Month, day, year
Writing a Research Paper 343
59b
With this information, you should be able to find the peri-
odical which contains the article if it is in your library. Of
course, you will be unable to read thoroughly all the articles
ever written about a broad subject. But you will be able to
exclude some articles from your working bibliography merely
by studying the titles in the periodical index.
Besides using the card catalogue and the periodical indexes,
you will need to know about several general reference aids.
Many of these will give you bibliographical listings as well as
surveys of your subject.
The Book Review Digest, 1905-.
Cambridge Histories: Ancient, 12 vols.; Medieval, 8 vols.; Modern,
13 vols.
The Cambridge History of American Literature, 1917-1921. 4 vols.
The Cambridge History of English Literature, 1907-1933. 15 vols.
The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature, 1941-1957. 5 vols.
Current Biography, 1940-. "Who's News and Why."
Dictionary of American Biography, 1928-1958. 22 vols.
Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1949. 63 vols. and 10 supple-
mentary vols. British.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. Supplemented by Bntannica Book of the
Year, 1938-.
Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, 1908-1927. 13 vols.
Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, 1930-1935. 15 vols.
The Encyclopedia Americana. Supplemented by Americana Annual,
1923-.
Encyclopedia of the Arts, 1946.
Encyclopedia of World Art, 1959-.
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Fifth edition, 1954.
9 vols. Supplementary volume, 1961.
Harper's Encyclopedia of Art, 1937. 2 vols.
Literary History of the United States, 1963. 2 vols. (II, Bibliography.)
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 1960. 15 vols.
Supplemented by McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology,
1962-.
344 The Research Paper
59c
The Mythology of All Races, 1916-1932. 13 vols.
The New Century Cyclopedia of Names, 1954. 3 vols.
Check your card catalogue to determine what the special
tools of reference are in the area of knowledge that includes
the subject of your research paper.
Your working bibliography should continue to grow as you
proceed with your research. Be sure to include all the informa-
tion that will help you find each item listed: along with the
author and title, you will need the library call number for books,
and the date, volume, and page numbers for articles.
5zC A Variant Procedure Controlled Research
In some courses students are asked to write their first re-
search paper from a sourcebook of selected research materials
assigned by the instructor. Such a book typically contains a
large selection of extracts from books, periodicals, and docu-
ments, all related to some broad subject. This way of pre-
senting the methods and techniques of research is called
"controlled research" because it sets specific boundaries within
which you and your instructor work toward your mastery of
research procedures before you go on to independent research
in the library. In other words, instead of practicing all the
techniques of research in your first paper, you will concentrate
on the final selection, organization, and synthesis of materials,
and on the mechanics of documentation; and you will practice
gathering your materials from the library at another time.
If you are being introduced to the writing of your first re-
search paper through the use of sourcebooks by the controlled
method, your choice of a general subject area has already been
settled for you. Your instructor may further assign the limited
final topic, or you may be expected to choose your specific topic
yourself within the broad area covered by the given materials.
Writing a Research Paper 345
59d
You may or may not, on your first paper, be asked to supple-
ment these materials with others that you find in the library.
In any case, you should treat the materials in the assigned
sourcebook as though you had assembled them yourself, exam-
ining them for relevance to your limited topic and taking notes
as directed in 59e.
In short, with a sourcebook in hand you will be in a position
comparable to that at which you would have arrived if you had
combed the card catalogue and the periodical indexes in the
library, compiled your working bibliography, and assembled
your materials. You are now ready, that is, to read, take notes
on your reading, and otherwise proceed as described in the
following sections.
59 d Keep in mind the difference between primary and
secondary materials.
Secondary materials consist of those things which have
been written about your topic of research. In a study of the
life of soldiers overseas during World War II, the writings of
historians on this subject are secondary. The significance and
accuracy of secondary sources should be evaluated. The value
of an article or a book can be estimated by a consideration of
such things as the time when the work was written, the infor-
mation available to the author at the time, the general scholarly
reputation of the author, the extent of the author's research as
indicated in preface or footnotes or bibliography, the thought
and logic he has demonstrated in proving his points, and even
the medium of publication. A general article in a popular
magazine, for example, is likely to be less accurate and valuable
than a scholarly article in a learned journal.
Primary materials are such things as a painting, a poem,
a novel, a motor, a stock exchange, an animal, a fossil, a virus,
346 The Research Paper
59e
or a poll of public opinion. In research on gasolines, for ex-
ample, the gasolines tested are primary materials; the writings
of engineers about gasolines are secondary. Primary materials
in a study of the life of soldiers overseas would consist of pub-
lished and unpublished diaries and journals and letters by the
soldiers, recordings, songs, equipment, interviews of veterans,
anything that was part of the soldier's life. By using primary
materials the student is often able to reach independent con-
clusions and is not forced to rely entirely on the conclusions of
others. A topic which has no primary materials, however, can
still be useful in helping to teach principles that may be used
in later research.
Locate your source materials, read, evaluate, and
take notes.
Before you begin to take notes, it is a good idea to do some
broad preliminary reading on your subject in an encyclopedia
or in other general studies which you find while compiling your
working bibliography. This preliminary reading will give you
a general view, a kind of map of the territory within which you
will be working; it will help you to know where you are and in
what direction you are going.
After you have compiled a working bibliography, located
some of the sources which you wish to use, and done some
preliminary general reading, you are ready to begin collecting
information for your paper. As you use each source listed in
your working bibliography, make a bibliography card for it,
a full and exact entry of bibliographical information, using a
three-by-five-inch filing card. From these cards you will com-
pile the bibliography at the end of your paper, A sample
bibliography card is shown on page 348. The essential biblio-
graphical information includes the name of the author, the title
Writing a Research Paper 3U7
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of the work, and the place and date of publication. If the work
has an editor or a translator, is in more than one volume, or is
part of a series, these facts should be included also. Finally, the
library call number should be noted down.
Having made the bibliography card, you are ready to read
the book and take notes from it. For note-taking, provide
yourself with a supply of cards or slips of paper uniform in size.
Cards are recommended because they are easier to use than
slips of paper, and they withstand more handling. Most stu-
dents find 3 X 5" filing cards convenient, though some prefer
to use the 4 X 6" size for notes, reserving the 3 X 5" size for
the bibliography cards.
To handle the large amount of reading matter listed in your
working bibliography, develop the knack of skimming so that
you can move quickly over material that does not pertain to
your subject and can concentrate on a thorough reading of rele-
vant information. Do not overlook the help you can get from
a book's table of contents, section headings, and index in finding
chapters or pages of particular significance to you.
As you read and take notes, you should be deciding what
subtopics you will consider under your subject. The two proc-
esses work together: your reading will give you ideas for sub-
topics, and the subtopics will give direction to your note-taking.
Suppose you wish to make a study of the Piltdown hoax. You
might work up the following list of tentative topics:
Details of the discovery of Piltdown Man
Theory of evolution in 1912
Early controversy over Piltdown Man
Details of disclosure of hoax
Reaction of press and public to hoax
Reaction of scientists to hoax
Importance of Piltdown Man to public for over a generation
Identity of forger
Writing a Research Paper 349
59e
These subject headings may not be the final ones chosen. You
should constantly be ready to delete, supplement, and change
them as you read and take notes. At this stage, too, the final
ordering of the headings the outline may be neither pos-
sible nor necessary.
To illustrate the process of note-taking, let us suppose that
you have found the following quotation about the opinion of
most anthropologists in 1912.
The ready initial acceptance of the Piltdown discovery at its
face value, at least by a majority of interested scientists, can
probably be attributed to the philosophical climate that invested
the problem of human evolution at that time. In September 1912,
before the announcement of the discovery of "Piltdown man," the
distinguished anatomist Elliot Smith, in an address before the
Anthropological Section of the British Association for the Advance-
ment of Science at Dundee, expressed a prevailing point of view
when he developed the theory that the brain led the way in the
evolution of man and that modification of other parts of the body
followed. Thus the stage was set for the ready acceptance of the
Piltdown fragments as constituting a single individual, a "dawn
man 14 possessing a human cranium housing a human brain, but
with phylogenetically laggard, hence simian, jaws and teeth. 1
There are several possible ways of taking notes on this
passage: by paraphrasing, by quoting, or by combining short
quotations with paraphrasing.
To paraphrase is to express the sense of the passage entirely
in your own words, selecting and summarizing the most useful
information and ideas in the course of restatement. The card
opposite shows how the student has identified the source, given
the card a subject heading, indicated the page number, and
iWiUiam L. Straus, Jr., "The Great Piltdown Hoax," Science, CXIX
(February 26, 1954), 268.
350 The Research Paper
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then taken down in his own words the information he wishes
to use. It is a good note because it extracts items of information
instead of merely recasting the entire passage and line of thought
in different words. Notice the careful selection of details and
the fact that the paraphrase is considerably shorter than the
original material.
If at the time of taking his notes a student is unable to de-
termine precisely what information he wishes to extract from
a useful passage, he may of course copy it entire. For his own
future reference, he must be careful to show by quotation marks
that it is copied verbatim. Later, when writing his paper he
may either quote directly or paraphrase. Except for three
ellipses, the following note has gone directly from the book to
the student's card. An ellipsis, or omission, is shown by the
use of three spaced periods, in addition to the period that ends
the sentence.
7^6
552 The Research Paper
59e
Short quotations and paraphrasing may be combined on a
single card, as in the following:
4t*Us /
On a card of this kind it is most important to use quotation
marks accurately while writing the note, to use your own words
when you are not quoting, and to transfer quotations and
quotation marks from card to paper with scrupulous care.
Any single card should contain notes from only one source,
and all the notes on any single card should be about one single
subject, such as Opinion on evolution in 1912 on the cards
above. This will give you maximum flexibility in arranging and
organizing the materials later on when the plan or outline of
the paper takes shape. When you begin taking notes, you may
keep them in order according to source. After a while, when
you have a quantity of note cards, you will find it more practical
to arrange them by topic.
Writing a Research Paper 353
59e
The accuracy of your research paper depends to a great ex-
tent on the accuracy of the notes you take. Be sure to indicate
on each note card the source and page numbers and to use an
appropriate subject heading. Then just before you write the
final draft of your paper, check your notes again by comparing
them with the sources.
Because note-taking is not a mechanical process, but involves
interpretation and evaluation, two students writing on the
same subject and using the same sources would probably not
take the same notes, and their papers would differ accordingly
in content and organization. Study the following passage about
Piltdown Man. Assume that you are writing a paper on that
subject, and decide what kind of notes you would take.
Eventually a majority of scientists agreed to regard the Pilt-
down monstrosity, which had thrown the whole system of classi-
fication into confusion, as a unique error of nature. The
Eoanthropus was dismissed from the human evolutionary series.
He was proclaimed to have been a creature "with no past and no
future" which had got stuck in a blind alley of evolution and thus
died without posterity. Nevertheless, he was still considered to
have actually existed; it was still believed that the skull and jaw-
bone went together; and he was still credited with a high antiquity
of at least 500,000 years. By 1916 his discoverer, Dawson, was
already dead at the age of fifty-two. The scientific world ensured
that he would be remembered with honor in the future. His name
gleamed in large letters on the glass case in the British Museum
which exhibited the unorthodox "human brute" to inquisitive
visitors from all over the world. 2
From a passage as full of information as this one, it is possible
to take several kinds of notes under several kinds of subject
headings. Most of this material might eventually be used in
2 Herbert Wendt, In Search of Adam (Boston, 1956), pp. 408-409
354 The Research Paper
59e
a research paper, but to a certain extent the research worker
makes it his own by selecting and classifying according to his
own subject headings. In and through the very process of
reading and note-taking, he is thinking about his subject and
organizing his thoughts. This is the supreme importance of
taking notes, of quoting and paraphrasing.
QUOTATION
Subject Heading: Piltdown Man's later status
* 'Eventually a majority of scientists agreed to regard the Pilt-
down monstrosity, which had thrown the whole system of classi-
fication into confusion, as a unique error of nature. The
Eoanthropus was dismissed from the human evolutionary series.
He was proclaimed to have been a creature 'with no past and no
future' which had got stuck in a blind alley of evolution and thus
died without posterity. Nevertheless, he was still considered to
have actually existed; it was still believed that the skull and jaw-
bone went together; and he was still credited with a high antiquity
of at least 500,000 years."
QUOTATION
Subject Heading: Dawson
"By 1916 his [Piltdown Man's] discoverer, Dawson, was already
dead at the age of fifty-two. The scientific world ensured that he
would be remembered with honor in the future. His name gleamed
in large letters on the glass case in the British Museum which
exhibited the unorthodox 'human brute* to inquisitive visitors from
all over the world."
PARAPHRASE
Subject Heading: Dawson
Dawson died in 1916 when he was fifty-two. His immortality
seemed certain, however, for the skull of Piltdown Man in the
British Museum carried his name as its discoverer.
Writing a Research Paper 355
59f
QUOTATION AND PARAPHRASE
Subject Heading: Controversy over age of Piltdown Man
As time went on Piltdown Man began to appear as an anomaly,
but generally "he was still credited with a high antiquity of at
least 500,000 years."
59r Construct an outline.
While you are reading and taking notes, you are thinking
also about the organization or outline of the paper. You revise
subject headings, plan ways to put them in order, study your
notes to detect gaps in information or in supporting details,
and strive to fill these in through further research.
Your cards should now be arranged by subject headings. Try
to put them in a meaningful and logical order the order in
which you will present the information in your research paper.
You will probably have to shuffle the cards around many
times before you arrive at an order that satisfies you, a proper
and final order. And it is not unlikely that you will yet make
some changes in the arrangement of topics during the actual
process of writing.
Your final, formal outline, the result of continual card-
sorting and mental outlining, might be as follows:
THE PILTDOWN HOAX
I. Widespread acceptance of Piltdown Man
A. General public
B. Specialists
C. Reasons for ready acceptance
II. The discovery
A. Work of Dawson, Woodward, and others
B. Announcement and controversy
G. Gradual subsiding of excitement
356 The Research Paper
59g
HI. Disclosure of hoax
A. Work of Weiner, Oakley, and Clark
B. Identity of the forger
C. Reactions to the disclosure
1. Worldwide shock
2. Intellectuals
3. General public
4 Anti-Darwinians
IV. Conclusion favorable results of the hoax
For the form of the outline, refer to 58g (topic outline) and
58h (sentence outline).
59g
Make proper acknowledgment to the sources from
which you quote, paraphrase, or otherwise borrow words,
information, or ideas.
The integrity and intelligence of the research worker are on.
trial when he writes his paper. To be honest, he must acknowl-
edge all indebtedness to other writers and scholars, indicating
in the text and in the footnotes exactly what he has taken
from them.
Some of the principles of quoting and paraphrasing have
already been discussed under the topic of taking notes. These
principles must also be kept in mind during the writing and
revision of the paper. Finally, the quoting and paraphrasing
should be carefully re-examined after the paper is completely
written.
All direct quotations must be placed in quotation marks and
footnoted. If quotation marks are used without a footnote, the
documentation is inadequate because the source is not given:
If a footnote is used without quotation marks, the reader as-
sumes that you are giving someone else credit for the idea but
Writing a Research Paper 357
59g
that the words are your own. Even when you take only a
phrase or a single unusual word from a passage, you should
enclose it in quotation marks.
You may quote words, phrases, clauses, sentences, or even
whole paragraphs. Generally you should quote a sentence or
a paragraph only when the authority cited has phrased the
statement more effectively than you can and when you need
to give all the information which he has given. One kind of
error is quoting too much. A sequence of quotations strung
together with a few words of your own is not a satisfactory
presentation of material. Excessive quoting indicates that you
have not properly digested the sources, thought about the
ideas, and learned to express them in your own words and to
relate them to your own ideas.
All paraphrases and citations must be footnoted. You should
credit your source when you cite ideas or information from it,
even though you do not quote directly from it. The fact that
you have altered the wording does not make the substance
your own. A footnote not only gives evidence of your honesty
in research; it also supports or authorizes your statement. If
while you are writing you need to consult a source or a note
which you have made, you probably are paraphrasing or citing
and you probably need a footnote.
When paraphrasing, you are expressing in your own words
the ideas of another writer. A good paraphrase preserves the
sense of the original, but not the form. That is, it does not
retain the sentence patterns and merely substitute synonyms
for the original words, or retain the original words and merely
alter the sentence patterns. It is a genuine restatement. In-
variably it should be briefer than the material paraphrased.
If the source has stated the idea more concisely than you can,
you should quote, not paraphrase. Do not make use of extended
paraphrases. If a good many of your paragraphs are simply
358 The Research Paper
59g
long paraphrases, your reader will assume that even your or-
ganization is taken from the sources cited. He will conclude
that you have not assimilated your materials and thought in-
dependently about them in short, that you have not done
an acceptable piece of research. In the example below, notice
the difference between a satisfactory and an unsatisfactory
paraphrase:
ORIGINAL "Hemingway's debt to journalism was a large one,
and he always acknowledged it. Unlike many ex-
newspapermen, however, he neither sentimentalized
the profession nor misunderstood its essential threat to
creative writing." 3
BADLY Hemingway's indebtedness to journalism was very
PARAPHRASED great, and he himself said so. Unlike so many writers
who have been newspaper men, however, he did not
sentimentalize journalism or misunderstand that it is
a danger to creative talent.
BETTER Hemingway admitted that he learned from news-
paper work. But he also recognized that journalism
can hurt a writer as well as help him.
There are only two exceptions to the rule that everything in the
research paper must be documented. (1) A part of every para-
graph, a major portion of your paper, and certainly the intro-
duction and the conclusion should come from the general ideas
which you have formed about the subject or problem as a
whole and from your reactions to the things you have read. In
any research you must interpret, and your interpretation be-
longs to you and therefore needs no documentation. (2) Other
information may be written without a footnote only if it meets
all of the four following conditions:
3 Charles A. Fenton, The Apprenticeship of Ernest Hemingway (New York,
1954), p. 262.
Writing a Research Paper 359
59h
a. It may be found in several books on the subject.
6. It is written entirely in the words of the research worker.
c. It is not paraphrased from any particular source.
d. It belongs to common knowledge.
59 M Learn and consistently follow accepted practices of
documentation.
Although there is common agreement on the principles of
documentation, the forms of documentation vary with almost
every subject field, every periodical and publisher, and indeed
every instructor. The most widely adopted style is that recom-
mended by the Modern Language Association of America in
The ML A Style Sheet. The sample footnote and bibliographical
entries listed below, as well as those in the specimen paper
(pages 367-397), are based on the MLA style. These entries
may serve as models for your own. Your instructor, however,
may suggest or require modifications. The important thing is
not that you learn the forms prescribed by this handbook but
that you become aware of the requirements of documentation
and able to follow consistently the forms required by instruc-
tor, periodical, or publisher.
SAMPLE FOOTNOTES
Standard reference to a book:
*F. 0. Matthiessen, American Renaissance (New York, 1941),
p. 88.
Reference to a book by two authors:
2 Ren6 Wellek and Austin Warren, Theory of Literature (New York,
1942), pp. 106-107.
360 The Research Paper
59h
Reference to a book by more than two authors:
3 Sylvan Barnet and others, The Study of Literature (Boston, 1960),
p. 80.
Reference to a volume in a work of more than one volume:
4 George A. Simcox, A History of Latin Literature from Ennius to
Boethius (New York, 1883), II, 438. [Note that the abbreviation p.
is not given when the volume number is given.]
Reference to an essay in a volume of essays:
5 Henry A. Murray, "Definitions of Myth," in The Making of
Myth, ed. Richard M. Ohmann (New York, 1962), p. 9.
Reference to the same work and the same page as in preceding
footnote:
6 Ibid. [Sometimes italicized]
Reference to the same work as in preceding footnote, but to
another page:
7 Ibid., p. 7.
Reference to a work cited earlier but not immediately pre-
ceding:
8 Barnet, p. 121.
Reference to a book that is part of a series:
9 F. 0. Matthiessen, Theodore Dreiser, American Men of Letters
Series (New York, 1951), p. 77.
Reference to second or later edition of a book:
10 Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren, Understanding Poetry ,
3rd ed. (New York, 1960), pp. 20-21.
Writing a Research Paper 361
59h
Reference to a book with an editor:
ll The Poetical Works of Chaucer, ed. F. N. Robinson (Boston,
1933), p. 107.
Reference to an introduction to a book:
^Robert Wooster Stallman, "Introduction," Stephen Crane, The
Red Badge of Courage (New York, 1951), pp. xxi-xxii.
Reference to a book with a translator:
13 Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment, trans. David
Magarshack (Baltimore, 1962), p. 307.
References with the title shortened when previous footnotes
have cited two or more works by the same author:
14 Matthiessen, Dreiser, p. 142.
15 Matthiessen, American Renaissance, p. 328.
Reference to a signed article in an encyclopedia:
16 Charles Edward Mallett, "William Ewart Gladstone," Encyclo-
paedia Britannica, 1955, X, 385. [Standard form for reference works]
Reference to an unsigned article in an encyclopedia:
""Bering Sea Controversy," Encyclopedia Americana, 1964, III,
552.
Standard reference to an article in a periodical (with volume
number) :
18 H. Stuart Hughes, "Notes on a Trip to Russia," American
Scholar, XXX (Spring 1961), 165-166. [Note that the abbreviation
pp. is not used when the volume number is given.]
362 The Research Paper
59h
Reference to an article in a periodical (without volume number) :
19 Pete Hamill and Frank Lee, "Last Voyage of the Lakonia"
Saturday Evening Post, February 1, 1964, p. 71. [Note that p. is
used in absence of the volume number.]
Reference to a newspaper article:
20 "Jefferson's Rule on Gifts Is Found," New York Times, July 4,
1958, p. 11. [When article is signed, author's name should be given
at the beginning of the footnote.]
Reference to an unpublished dissertation or master's thesis:
21 Leroy Reynolds, "New Light on the Question of Hamlet's
Insanity" (unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wiscon-
sin, 1938), p. 231.
Biblical reference:
22 I Kings iv. 3. [Note that books of the Bible are not italicized.]
Reference to a play (with act, scene, and line) :
King Lear V. iii. 245.
Reference to one author quoted in a book by another author:
24 Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel (Berkeley, 1957), p. 125, quoted
by Wayne C. Booth, The Rhetoric of Fiction (Chicago, 1961), p. 321.
Reference to an unsigned bulletin or pamphlet:
^Enforcement of the Selective Service Law, Special Monograph
No. 14, Selective Service System (Washington, 1951), pp. 102-103.
Reference to a signed bulletin or pamphlet:
26 Charles E. Whieldon, Jr., and William E. Eckard, West Virginia
Oilfields Discovered before 1940, Bulletin 607, Bureau of Mines, U. S.
Dept. of the Interior (Washington, 1963), p. 5.
Writing a Research Paper 363
59h
SAMPLE BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barnet, Sylvan, and others. The Study of Literature. Boston, 1960.
"Bering Sea Controversy," Encyclopedia Americana, 1964, III, 552-
553.
Booth, Wayne C. The Rhetoric of Fiction. Chicago, 1961.
Brooks, Cleanth, and Robert Perm Warren. Understanding Poetry,
3rd ed. New York, 1960.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Poetical Works of Chaucer, ed. F. N, Robinson.
Boston, 1933.
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment, trans. David Magar-
shack. Baltimore, 1962.
Enforcement of the Selective Service Law. Special Monograph No. 14,
Selective Service System. Washington, 1951.
Hamill, Pete, and Frank Lee. "Last Voyage of the Lakonia," Saturday
Evening Post, February 1, 1964, pp. 71-75.
Hughes, H. Stuart. "Notes on a Trip to Russia," American Scholar,
XXX (Spring 1961), 161-173.
"Jefferson's Rule on Gifts Is Found," New York Times, July 4, 1958,
p. 11.
Mallett, Charles Edward. "William Ewart Gladstone," Encyclopaedia
Britannica, 1955, X, 385-388.
Matthiessen, F. 0. American Renaissance. New York, 1941.
_ . Theodore Dreiser. (American Men of Letters Series.) New
York, 1951.
Murray, Henry A. "Definitions of Myth," in The Making of Myth,
ed. Richard M. Ohmann, pp. 7-37. New York, 1962.
Reynolds, Leroy. "New Light on the Question of Hamlet's Insanity."
Unpublished dissertation. University of Wisconsin, 1938.
Simcox, George A. A History of Latin Literature from Ennius to
Boethius. 2 vols. New York, 1883.
Stallman, Robert Wooster. Introduction. Stephen Crane, The Red
Badge of Courage. (Modern Library Edition.) New York, 1951.
364 The Research Paper
59i
Wellek, Rene" , and Austin Warren. Theory of Literature. New York,
1942.
Whieldon, Charles E., Jr., and William E. Eckard. West Virginia
Oilfields Discovered before 1940. Bulletin 607, Bureau of Mines, U. S.
Dept. of the Interior. Washington, 1963.
59 1 From your outline and notes write a systematic
presentation of your assimilated research and your con-
clusions.
Although the Check List of Essentials for the writing of
themes (58, pages 324-326) generally applies also to the writ-
ing of research papers, a few special considerations must be kept
in mind in presenting the results of research.
Remember that the research paper is a systematic presen-
tation of a subject or problem, of information or evidence. It
represents your reasoned judgment which you support by citing
sources. The tone, therefore, should be impersonal; the first-
person pronoun should be avoided. For example, instead of
saying "I think . . . ," say or imply that "A study of the evi-
dence shows . . . ."
The title should present the subject concisely and accurately.
A catchy title is out of place in a research paper.
Most good papers have an early statement of purpose or
"thesis." Similarly, there should be a concluding paragraph
summarizing your judgment that the thesis has been demon-
strated through the information given in the paper.
In the body of the paper, the logical progression from one
topic to another, which you have worked out in your outline,
should be made evident to the reader through the use of transi-
tions (see 57e). In beginning the discussion of a new main
topic, show clearly how it relates to or builds on what has
gone before.
Writing a Research Paper 365
59i
Use quotations and other citations of authority to support
your own considered views of the evidence. Make the quota-
tions and citations work for you. Show why and how each one
relates to your interpretation of the evidence. Do not allow
your paper to become a mere patchwork of quotations and
paraphrases. Comment on and interpret your source materials.
Too much direct quoting and paraphrasing will suggest to the
reader that you have not assimilated your research and made
it a part of your own thinking.
Suggested Steps in Writing Your First Research Paper
1. Choose a subject area which interests you.
2. Limit the subject to suit the assigned length of the paper.
3. Ask your instructor to approve your subject.
4. Compile a working bibliography
5. Start reading; decide on possible subject headings.
6. Turn in sample note cards for two quotations and two para-
phrases (along with a copy of the material paraphrased) to your in-
structor for approval.
7. Read and take notes carefully.
8. Turn in a tentative outline and bibliography for approval.
9. Continue to read and take notes
10. Turn in sample footnotes for approval of the form.
11. Write a rough draft of your paper four or five days before the
final paper must be submitted.
12. Revise! Revise! Revise!
13. Check all paraphrases, quotations, and footnotes.
14. Start writing the final version of your paper at least forty-eight
hours before it is to be submitted.
15. Reread the completed paper to catch careless errors.
A specimen student research paper, with accompanying
comments, is given on the following pages for study.
366 The Research Paper
THE E>m/rr>awN HOAX
By
WiXXiam
English XOO
Section. 3
Writing a. Research JPaper 367
COMMENTS ON SPECIMEN PAPER
GBNEKAL APPEARANCE
Allow ample and even margins.
Type the title in capital letters and center it on the page.
Triple-space between the title and the first line of text; that is, leave two
blank lines and start the text on the third line.
Double-space the text.
Indent five spaces for paragraphs.
Leave two spaces after periods and other terminal punctuation.
Leave one space after other marks of punctuation.
From the title and opening paragraphs, it is clear that this paper
attempts a broad descriptive coverage of an incident in history. The
introduction does not contain a specific statement of purpose, which
in this instance might be more obvious than helpful. A paper written
on a more limited subject might arrive at a distinct thesis and a sig-
nificant statement of purpose.
The page number of the first page may be omitted or centered at
the bottom.
368 The Research Paper
THE PILTDOWN HOAX
On December 28 , 1912 , the Illustrated London News pub-
lished a drawing of the Piltdown Man. It pictured a half-
stooping creature with long straight hair, a large flat
nose, and a mouth and jaw which strikingly resembled those
of an ape. This illustration reflected the widespread pub-
lic interest in a recent sensational discovery near the
village of Piltdown, England. Anthropologists had found
there parts of a skull and jaw which seemed to be by far the
oldest human bones yet uncovered. In general, people
accepted the word of the experts that Piltdown Han went back
to the very dawn of human existence. Artists 1 reconstruc-
tions of the half -man, half -ape could be seen in numerous
popular magazines , accompanied by stories of the discovery.
If Piltdown Man caught the imagination of the general
public, the discovery also excited specialists in anthropol-
ogy* geology, and paleontology from all over the world.
They hailed the find as the "missing link" so long sought in
1
Writing a Research Paper 369
Place the page number in the upper right-hand corner, two lines
above the first line of text. Use Arabic numerals.
Place footnote numbers slightly above the line of type and after
marks of punctuation. Do not leave a space before the number.
Number footnotes consecutively throughout the paper. Never repeat
a number in the text even if the references are exactly the same.
The footnotes in this paper are placed at the bottom of pages on
which the references occur. An alternate procedure is to group foot-
notes in a separate section at the end of the paper. Follow the prefer-
ence of your instructor.
Separate footnotes from the text by a short ruled line starting at the
left-hand margin and placed far enough below the last line of the text
so that it will not be mistaken for underlining to indicate italics.
Indent the first line of every footnote five spaces (four spaces for
footnote numbers of two digits) ; do not indent succeeding lines.
Double-space between footnotes; that is, leave one blank line.
Single-space within footnotes.
The author's name appears in normal order, the given name before
the surname.
Ellipses (three spaced periods within a sentence) indicate that some
of the material from the source has been omitted in quoting.
Footnote 1 is the simplest possible first reference to a book.
Footnote 2 is the simplest possible first reference to an article in a
periodical. Notice that the abbreviation p. (or pp.) is not used when
the volume number is given in Roman numerals.
Footnote 3 shows how "ibid." (meaning "in the same place") is used
to refer to the same work and the same page cited in the immediately
preceding footnote. Most printers do not italicize (underline) "ibid."
370 The Research Paper
2
the study of man's evolution. Henry Fairfield Osborn ex-
pressed the feeling of many anthropologists when he wrote:
"The history of anthropology does not include any story of
persistent exploration, discovery, and research more worthy
of recognition and praise than that connected with the Dawn
Man of Sussex."
Piltdown Man found ready and enthusiastic acceptance
partly because current opinion was right for such a discov-
ery. A new and widely held theory was that in the course of
evolution man's brain developed much more rapidly than other
2
parts of his body. This view, held by the leading scholars
of the day, has since proved false. But in 1912 it paved
the way for acceptance of Piltdown Man. W. J. Sollas was
one of many who saw the new fossil as a fulfillment of the
current theory of evolution: "We seem to have realised pre-
cisely such a being . . . which had already attained to
human intelligence but had not yet wholly lost its ancestral
Henry Fairfield Osborn, Man Rises .to Parnassus
(Princeton, 1928), p. 55.
William L. Straus, Jr., "The Great Piltdown Hoax,"
Science. CXIX (February 26, 1954), 268.
3 Ibid.
Writing a Research Paper 371
Sometimes words have to be added to a quotation to explain the
context. Be extremely careful to enclose all added words in brackets
(not parentheses).
Ellipses are used with a period (making four spaced periods) to
indicate that material has been omitted at the end of a sentence.
Footnote 4 is a reference to an edition of a book later than the first
edition.
Footnote 5 shows how to enter the name of the translator of a work.
Footnote 6 illustrates one way to give credit to a source from which
many facts and statements have been taken and paraphrased.
"Passim" (meaning "throughout the work") indicates that the refer-
ence is to many places in the entire book. It is generally better to give
specific page references when possible.
372 The Research Paper
3
jaws and fighting teeth." But Sollas was not surprised.
"Such a combination had, indeed, been long previously an-
ticipated as an almost necessary stage in the course of
4
human development."
The unearthing of Pi It down Man was therefore an event
of great importance both to the public and to the experts in
anthropology. As one writer has put it: "This [was an] af-
fair, in which nearly all the prominent anthropologists and
prehistorians of Europe gradually became involved . . . ."
The story of the discovery of Piltdown Man centers on
Charles Daws on, a lawyer and amateur geologist and anthropol-
ogist, who resided in the county of Sussex, England. About
1908 Dawson was passing a pit from which men were obtaining
gravel to repair nearby roads. Watching their digging,
Dawson saw some brown fragments and asked one of the men
about them. An unproved but popular story is that the
w. J. Sollas, Ancient Hunters , 3rd ed. (New York, 1924),
p. 188.
^Herbert Wendt, In Search of Adam, trans. James Cleugh
(Boston, 1956), p. 405.
account of the discovery given here is based pri-
marily upon J. S, Weiner , The Piltdown Forgery (London,
1955) , passim.
Writing a Research Paper 373
This paragraph, the central idea of which is the discovery of Piltdown
Man, is longer than most. Paragraph length varies with content. It
is better to write a single unified paragraph which is somewhat longer
than usual than to break it artificially into two shorter units.
Footnote 7 illustrates the short form of reference to a work already
cited but not in the immediately preceding footnote.
374 The Research Paper
4
worker called them parts of a worthless coconut, "no good to
anybody." At any rate, Daws on recovered the fragments,
which he recognized as belonging to an ancient skull. He
said little about the incident. In 1911 he uncovered more
pieces from the pit, and the next year he visited his friend
Arthur Smith Woodward, Keeper of the Department of Geology
at the British Museum of Natural History, submitted his find-
ings, and requested that Woodward join him in further ex-
ploration of the pit. In 1912 Daws on, in the company of
Woodward and Father Teilhard de Chardin, a French archeolo-
gist, found in the same pit a jaw with two molars. Although
it seemed to resemble the jaw of an ape, it was brown with
great age, and the molars were worn down flat as the teeth
of human beings are. Since prehistoric apes were not known
to exist in England, Woodward concluded that the jaw belonged
to the human skull which had been found near it. Several
other discoveries followed, including ancient flints and bits
of teeth of prehistoric animals. Father Chardin then dis-
covered in the gravel pit a canine tooth which fit the jaw
and which was worn down flat like the molars. Three years
7 Wendt, p. 406.
Writing a Research Paper 375
Note the transitional function of this paragraph in moving the
discussion to a new phase: from the discovery to the controversy.
376 The Research Paper
5
later, in 1915, fragments from what seemed the skull and
teeth of a second Piltdown Man were revealed by Dawson, who
told Woodward that he had found them two miles from the
original gravel pit.
Announcement of the extraordinary new discovery had
meanwhile been made on December 18, 1912, before the Geolog-
ical Society of London. Woodward and Dawson explained their
finds and discussed the significance of them. Woodward de-
clared that Dawson had found the "first Englishman," and he
proposed to name Piltdown Kan Eoanthropus Dawsoni, Daws on f s
Dawn Man. Various opinions were offered about the age of
the fossil; some felt that it was as much as 500,000 years
old, the most ancient of all human bones yet uncovered. A
few experts, however, were skeptical from the first. David
Waterston, Professor of Anatomy at King's College, could not
believe that the jaw and cranium belonged to the same indi-
vidual. Gerrit Miller, an American, wrote in 1915 that the
jaw belonged to an ancient ape and was associated with the
o
skull by chance. Some anthropologists may have suspected a
Gerrit S. Miller, Jr. , The Jaw of the Piltdown Man
(Washington, 1915), pp. 18-19.
Writing a Research Paper 377
Long quotations (ten or more typewritten lines) are blocked. Indent
five spaces, and single-space within the quotation. Paragraphing
within the passage should follow the source. Indent three additional
spaces for new paragraphs. Do not enclose blocked quotations in
quotation marks.
A quotation should follow the source exactly for spelling, capitaliza-
tion, punctuation, and italics. In the source from which reference 10
was taken, a comma was used needlessly after the word anatomy.
Nevertheless, the passage must be reproduced precisely as it is in the
source; therefore, the comma is used here. In cases of misspelling or
error in fact, the abbreviation "sic" (Latin for "thus" or "so") should
be inserted in brackets after the error.
Within the blocked quotation a few sentences have been omitted.
Note the use of ellipses to indicate this.
Footnote 9 illustrates a valuable function of footnotes: to give in-
formation which may not be important enough or pertinent enough to
include in the text, but which helps to exemplify or to clarify a state-
ment made in the text. Since a full reference to Weiner has been given
earlier, only page numbers are necessary here.
378 The Research Paper
6
deliberate hoax, but they did not raise their voices.^ The
reputations of Daws on and especially Woodward seemed beyond
question. The few who doubted the authenticity of Piltdown
Man were showered with scorn. W. P. Pycraft, a zoologist
with the British Museum, expressed the majority opinion in
1915:
The really ape -like characters are concentrated in
the lower jaw. So much so is this the case that
there are some who have gone to ridiculous lengths
to show that this was really that of an ape, and
had nothing to do with the skull. Needless to say,
such opinions were expressed only by those unfamiliar
with the problems of comparative anatomy, and palae-
ontology.
That this jaw did belong to this skull is not a
matter for dispute. Its Simian features should
not occasion surprise, having regard to the age
of the skull, and the relatively small size of the
brain .... About the human nature of this
there is no doubt, for the character of the teth
renders any other interpretation impossible.
%einer points out that two acquaintances of Daws on 1 s,
Captain Guy St. Barbe and Major R. A. Marriott, "became
convinced at that time that 'Daws on was salting the mine 111
(p. 166). According to Weiner another amateur antiquarian
who lived near Daws on, Harry Morris, wrote the following
note, which was found after he died: ''Judging from an over-
heard conversation, there is every reason to suppose that
the 'canine tooth 1 found at P. Down was imported from
France" (p. 158).
10 W. P. Pycraft, "Mankind in the Making," Scientific
American. CXII (January 30, 1915), 100-101,
Writing a Research Paper 379
A new paragraph may or may not be necessary after a blocked
quotation. Here the student begins a new topic the subsiding of
excitement over Piltdown Man and a new paragraph is needed.
380 The Research Paper
7
The excitement which surrounded the discovery of
Piltdown Man gradually subsided as new fossils were un-
covered during the next three decades. More and more it
began to look as if the Piltdown Man were a freak. He did
not fit into the evolutionary pattern as it was unfolding.
As experts reversed their earlier opinion and considered
the brain, not the body, as the laggard in the evolutionary
process, Piltdown Man was an increasing embarrassment.
But until tests began in 1949, Eoanthropus Dawsoni was still
respected as an ancient, if unusual, specimen of man's re-
mote past. The public, which had not kept up with the latest
developments in anthropology, still thought of it as the
missing link.
The unmasking of Piltdown Man occurred only after the
introduction of new methods of detecting the age of bones.
In the early nineteen fifties, three distinguished scien-
tists, J. S. Weiner, Kenneth Oakley, and W. E. Le Gros Clark,
subjected the skull, jaw, and other pieces found at Piltdown
to recently devised tests for fluorine, nitrogen, and
1:1 Wendt, pp. 410-412.
Writing a Research Paper 381
In summarizing the results of scientific tests on the Piltdown fossils,
the student has wisely paraphrased to avoid the technical language of
his source.
This entire paragraph is a paraphrase of the article by Werner,
Oakley, and Clark. Though the student has handled his material well
in this case, as a rule it is wise to consult and cite more than one source.
Several different sources may add depth, variety, and substance to a
paragraph.
Footnote 12 shows that more than one reference may be included in
a single footnote. The student has not actually paraphrased from The
Pittdown Forgery in the paragraph; he merely refers the reader to the
book for another account of the same general information.
382 The Research Paper
8
radioactivity. The results were conclusive. 12 The jaw
proved to be no more than fifty years old. It had belonged
to an ape, probably an orangutan which had died about the
age of ten. The skull was a genuine fossil but a fairly
common one of some 50,000 years in age. Further tests, in-
cluding those with X-rays and powerful microscopes, proved
that most of the fragments of bone, teeth, and flint had
been artificially stained with potash and iron salts to give
the appearance of great age. Furthermore, the teeth of the
orangutan had been worn down with abrasives to simulate
human rather than animal wear. Although some of the accom-
panying animal fossils were shown to be as old as originally
believed, they now appeared to have come from some source
other than the gravel pit, where they had been "planted."
On November 21, 1953, Weiner, Oakley, and Clark concluded
in their report in the Bulletin of the British Museum that
Piltdown Man was an elaborate hoax.
12 J. S. Weiner, K. P. Oakley, and W. E. Le Gros Clark,
"The Solution to the Piltdown Problem, !r Bulletin of the
British Museum (Natural History). Geology, II (1953), 139-146.
See also Weiner, The Piltdown Forgery , passim.
Writing a Research Paper 383
The rhetorical question is often a useful way of establishing the topic
for a paragraph, in this case the identity of the forger and his motives.
The rhetorical question, however, can be easily overdone, and it should
be used sparingly.
Footnote 13 shows how to distinguish between two cited works by
the same author. After the first full reference to The Piltdown Forgery
(footnote 6), any other reference to that work before footnote 12 could
be simply shortened to "Weiner," with appropriate page numbers
After citing another work by Weiner (in footnote 12), however, it is
now necessary, for clarity, to give titles in subsequent references.
Footnote 14 illustrates the use of "ibid." with page numbers.
384 The Research Paper
9
Who was the forger and what were his motives? Was the
affair only an involved joke? Did hunger for fame and scien-
tific recognition drive the forger to his crime? Was the
hoax an act of a fanatic who wished to pave the way for
acceptance of a new scientific theory? These questions re-
main unanswered. Weiner, Oakley, and Clark could not answer
any of them positively. Dawson died in 1916, and with him
was buried a great deal of needed information. Woodward,
who had helped Dawson search the gravel pit, still seems an
innocent victim. His name has been cleared by those who un-
1 *%
covered the hoax. Whoever the perpetrator was , his knowl-
edge of geology and paleontology was not slight. He was
also accomplished in the arts of staining and in other tech-
niques which fooled authorities for more than a generation.
Weiner strongly suspected Daws on- -much evidence points to
him but he made it clear that no final answer had been
found. 14
The disclosure that Piltdown Man was a forgery shocked
the world. The New York Times printed a lengthy article on
13 Weiner, The Piltdown Forgery, p. 136.
14 Ibid. , p. 204.
Writing a Research Paper 385
As illustrated here, quotations may often be fitted in gracefully
without breaking the flow of a sentence. Notice the proper punctua-
tion for this method of quoting. As always, be certain that no words
are erroneously attributed to the source and that all words that are
in the source are properly enclosed in quotation marks.
Footnote 15 illustrates reference to a signed article in a newspaper.
Since the volume number is not given, the abbreviation pp. is used
with page numbers.
Footnotes 16 and 17 show how to cite a quotation taken from another
source. When you are able to find the original source, you should use
and cite that.
386 The Research Paper
10
the fraud in a prominent, first-page story of November 22,
1953. Radio and television immediately gave extensive
coverage to the news. For months the pages of popular maga-
zines carried the story. Piltdown Man became one of the
best-known hoaxes ever perpetrated on the world.
News of the fraud seemed to place the intellectual
world on the defensive. On November 25, 1953, six members
of the House of Commons introduced a bill to censure the
trustees of the British Museum for "their delay in ascertain-
ing that the skull of the Piltdown Man is partly a forgery."
The London Times stated that if the hoaxer proved to be
Daws on, "it would be but one more instance of the desire for
fame (since money was certainly not the object) bringing a
scholar into dishonesty." 1 ^ Geologists and anthropologists
came to the aid of Daws on and Woodward, defending their in-
tegrity and their scholarly reputations. Ernest A. Hooten,
15 John Hillaby, "Piltdown Man Hoax Is Exposed; Jaw an
Ape f s, Skull Fairly Recent," New York Times, November 22,
1953, pp. 1, 28.
16 Quoted inWendt, p. 410.
17 Quoted in Hillaby, p. 28.
Writing a Research Paper 387
The student uses four different footnotes (16-19) to indicate the
sources of information on reactions to the Piltdown hoax. Citing a
variety of sources usually is evidence of more thorough and competent
research than the citation of one source or the quotation of one long
paragraph. Notice, too, that the writer has related his source materials
to his own thinking, so that the paragraph is something more than a
mosaic of citations.
The topic sentence of this paragraph provides a transition from the
reaction of experts to the reaction of the general public. Such sentences
aid in the overall organization and unity of the paper.
Footnote 18 illustrates reference to an unsigned article in a news-
paper.
388 The Research Paper
11
of Harvard, was shocked at the disclosure. To "impugn the
honesty' 1 of Smith Woodward, he stated, was "like implying
that the secretary of the Treasury is running a counterfeit-
18
ing business on the side." Understandably, the world of
science seemed anxious to forget the whole unfortunate af-
fair. One visitor to the British Museum shortly after the
hoax was uncovered noticed that Piltdown Man was missing
from its usual place. Upon later telephoning the museum,
the visitor was informed with an embarrassed chuckle "that
all references to the no longer mysterious Piltdown Man had
19
been quietly and carefully disposed of!" When the public
questioned, the authorities simply explained that there were
those who doubted the authenticity of Piltdown Man from the
beginning and that, furthermore, the skull and jaw had been
suspect for years because they did not seem to fit the normal
processes of evolution.
If the experts in geology, paleontology, and anthropol-
ogy seemed anxious to change the subject, the general public
18 "Hooton Jolted by the Fact," New York Times , November
22, 1953, p. 28.
19 Joseph Shaw, "Exit Mr. Piltdown," Saturday Review.
XXXIX (August 11, 1956), 28.
Writing a Research Paper 389
Footnote 20 illustrates how "ibid." may be combined with other
references in a single footnote.
390 The Research Paper
12
was determined to use the incident to deflate those whom
it regarded as intellectual windbags. A spirit of good-
humored fun pervaded the dozens of articles which appeared
in popular magazines. Such titles as "Exit Mr. Piltdown" and
"Monkey Business at Piltdown" were common. 2 ^ Comedians
picked up the subject; one declared that the eggheads had at
least found something in 1912: the first man with false
21
teeth! As one writer put it, "The discovery that the
scientists had been fooled by a highly skillful hoaxer . , .
22
has caused simple pleasure here to ordinary mortals,"
Naturally the occasion was ripe for comment from those
who opposed Darwin's theory of human evolution. One letter
to the press stated: "So the Piltdown Man is a hoax! Is not
the exposure a step towards complete vindication of those
who have unswervingly adhered to the scriptural records of
23
separate human creation?" In 1959 Gertrude Himmelfarb
20 Ibid. and America, XC (December 5, 1953), 255-256.
21 Wendt, p. 415.
22 Mollie Panter-Downes , "Letter from London," New Yorker,
XXIX (December 12, 1953), 162.
23
Quoted in Panter-Downes, pp. 162-163.
Writing a Research Paper 391
The conclusion represents the student's own thinking about the
Piltdown hoax. Generally it is more effective to avoid secondary
sources in a conclusion and to make your own judgments.
Now compare this paper with the outline on pages 356-357, from
which it was written. Consider organization, transitions, and topic sen-
tences and their development. Can you find any evidences of more or
less emphasis on any of the topics and subtopics, in their relation to
the whole, in the actual writing of the paper, than the student antici-
pated when he prepared his outline?
392 The Research Paper
13
used the Piltdown hoax in attempting to prove the falsity of
Darwin's theory. Supporters of Darwinism, on the other
hand, were actually more comfortable after the removal of
Piltdown Man, which they had long considered an anomaly in
the evolutionary scheme.
In a sense, the Piltdown hoax was a fortunate incident.
The disclosure of fraud shocked, but it did not seriously
disillusion anyone, except perhaps those who were extremely
fond of the suspected Charles Daws on. It did not in the
least set back the search for knowledge in anthropology. It
did give the common man a chance to enjoy a good-natured
laugh at the professor who was fooled at his own game. The
professor took the digs, felt them fully deserved, and then
got back to work. More importantly, the incident provided
another reminder that even the learned are not above error.
Gertrude Himmelfarb, Darwin and the Darwinian
Revolution (New York, 1959), pp. 356-357.
Writing a Research Paper 393
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL FORM
Start the bibliography on a new page as the last section of your
paper. Head the page BIBLIOGRAPHY, in capital letters, centered.
Triple-space below the heading.
Do not indent the first line of an entry; indent succeeding lines five
spaces.
Double-space between entries; single-space within an entry.
List only those sources actually used in your paper and referred to
in footnotes.
Authors are listed with surname first. If a book has more than one
author, however, the names of all authors after the first one are put in
normal order.
List entries alphabetically. When more than one book by the same
author is listed, use a long dash (about one inch) in place of the author's
name in entries after the first. An entry without an author (for example,
an unsigned magazine article) is listed alphabetically by the first word.
List the inclusive pages of articles.
Notice that the important divisions of entries for books are separated
by periods; those for articles have a period after the author's name,
commas to separate the other divisions of the entry.
A bibliographical entry should include all the information that will
enable the reader to find the source readily if he wishes to do so
The Research Paper
14
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hillaby, John. "Piltdown Man Hoax Is Exposed; Jaw an Ape's,
Skull Fairly Recent," New York Times . November 22, 1953,
pp. 1, 28.
Himmelfarb, Gertrude. Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution.
New York, 1959.
"Hooton Jolted by the Fact," New York Times. November 22,
1953, p. 28.
Miller, Gerrit S. , Jr. The Jaw of the Piltdown Man.
Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. 65,
no. 12, Washington, 1915.
"Monkey Business at Piltdown," America, XC (December 5,
1953), 255-256.
Osborn, Henry F airfield. Man Rises to Parnassus . Princeton,
1928.
Panter-Downes , Mollie. "Letter from London," New Yorker
XXIX (December 12, 1953), 162-163.
Pycraft, W. P. "Mankind in the Making," Scientific American,
CXII (January 30, 1915), 100-101.
Shaw, Joseph. "Exit Mr. Piltdown," Saturday Review, XXXIX
(August 11, 1956), 28.
Sollas, W. J. Ancient Hunters , 3rd ed. New York, 1924.
Straus, William L. , Jr. "The Great Piltdown Hoax," Science ,
CXIX (February 26, 1954), 265-269.
Weiner, J. S. The Piltdown Forgery. London, 1955.
Writing a Research Paper 395
Study the various kinds of entries in this bibliography and on
page 364, and note especially the differences between forms for books,
articles, and encyclopedias.
396 The Research Paper
15
Weiner, J. S. , K. P. Oakley, and W. E. Le Gros Clark. "The
Solution to the Piltdown Problem," Bulletin of the
British Museum (Natural History) , Geology, II (1953) ,
139-146.
Wendt, Herbert. In Search of Adam, trans. James Cleugh.
Boston, 1956.
Writing a Research Paper 397
Clear Thinking
The quality of expository or argumentative writing depends
to a great extent on the range, relevancy, and value of the
factual content and on the clarity, logic, and validity of the
thinking which the writer brings to bear upon his materials.
Avoiding Errors in Content and Thought
Think logically, express facts and thoughts accurately and
fully, and avoid the difficulties that result from fuzzy or
erroneous thinking.
In the process of writing, many errors may creep in both
of fact and of thinking. Errors of fact shake your reader's
confidence in you if he detects them; they misinform and mis-
lead him if he does not. Faulty logic may give rise to serious
misunderstandings even when both writer and reader have the
best intentions.
OUQ Use only accurate and verified data.
All figures, dates, and other factual data should be correct.
Otherwise, the information may result in a faulty conclusion.
If the factual material which you present as evidence is inac-
398 Clear Thinking
Jbp 60b
curate and unreliable, you are inviting your reader to believe
what is not true. At best, you will be guilty of failure to verify
your data; at worst, of deliberate deception.
Errors of fact, committed through carelessness, ignorance,
or dishonesty, lead to distrust and doubt. If the reader can
disprove one thing which is stated as a fact, he will be likely to
doubt the accuracy of a conclusion based on it. Further, he
will be suspicious of other statements presented as facts.
The following statements, for example, are immediately sus-
pect because of errors of fact:
1. Shakespeare's language seems old-fashioned to us because he
lived in the Middle Ages. (Shakespeare lived in the Renaissance,
long after the Middle Ages.)
2. Arthur Smith told the committee that he had broken with
the Communist Party on June 31, 1935. (Thirty days hath June.)
3. Intelligent people do not buy paperback books. (The facts
will not bear out this contention.)
60b
Use only reliable authority.
Information is authoritative that is, acceptable as fact or
evidence only if it is true. How can you decide whether a
source of information is reliable? This kind of evaluation is not
an easy task, and you may need some help at first from your
instructor. Here are some points to consider:
1. What is the reputation of the writer or the work in the
given field? The opinions of other writers on the subject, the
comments in annotated bibliographies, and, for more recent
works, the critical reviews which you can find by using the
Book Review Digest will give you some basis for forming your
judgment.
Avoiding Errors 399
60c
2. Is the writer a specialist on this subject? A competent
specialist in one field may not be an authority in other fields.
A scientist whose word on nuclear energy is definitive is not
necessarily an authority on foreign affairs. A sports writer who
can be cited with confidence on the history of the World Series
may be highly unreliable on the history of art.
3. How objective is* the source? If it strikes you as biased
or prejudiced or one-sided in any way, check it against the facts
and against the works of other authorities on the same subject.
Two biographies of the same man may give two very different
pictures of him.
4. Are you distinguishing fact from opinion? You may be
justified in accepting the factual information of a source, but
not the conclusions the writer draws. If you are presenting an
opinion, moreover, be sure to label it as such and not present
it as though it were a fact.
5. Are you using a source which gives you the latest signifi-
cant information? Consider the date of publication of your
source with this point in mind. Sometimes the information of
an earlier source is superseded by later findings.
OUC Avoid sweeping generalizations.
Even when the facts are accurate, they may be numerically
insufficient to support a generalization. If you know that three
of your friends oppose capital punishment, you should not leap
to the conclusion that "Everyone wishes to have capital pun-
ishment abolished." The statement is too broad for the evidence
on which it is based. Such generalizations as the following may
contain some elements of truth, but certainly they also contain
elements of error:
Modern teen-agers have no respect for their parents.
People who read comic strips are stupid.
400 Clear Thinking
College professors are absent-minded.
Businessmen are not interested in the arts.
Generalizations about "everybody" or "people who" or groups
(like teen-agers or professors or businessmen) are tempting and
easy, but they are usually inaccurate because they are too
sweeping.
Use enough specific evidence to prove the point.
If the conclusions are not based upon an examination of
sufficient information, the content of the entire paper may be
of doubtful validity. The true scholar grounds his conclusions
on sufficient data arrived at through careful study of the find-
ings of others and through his own painstaking experimenta-
tion. In the same way, the writer of an expository paper should
accumulate enough evidence to justify the point he is making.
Naturally, he may not be able to give all the relevant support-
ing facts in a short paper. But he can present enough to show
that his conclusions are trustworthy.
Use typical, representative instances and examples.
Guard against basing your conclusions on the unrepresenta-
tive, the atypical. Ultimately it may be true that everything
is unique, is in some way different from everything else. Yet,
broadly speaking, the representative, the typical, does exist
a typical freshman, a typical winter, a typical executive. The
type is arrived at through examining many individual instances
and determining what all or most of them have in common. It
is based on a wide sampling of particular cases. To cite only
examples of corruption in public office and conclude from them
Avoiding Errors 40i
60f
that "A typical public official is as crooked as a rattlesnake"
is to base a conclusion on the exceptional rather than the
typical. To cite Professor Dalrymple's interest in feminine
endings in poetry as proof that "All university professors are
interested in inconsequential things" is to use the odd or
unique rather than the representative instance to support your
argument.
60f Stick to the point.
Do not introduce irrelevancies or wander off the subject.
Except in the most informal of personal essays, digression is a
sign of inability to focus attention on the problem at hand. A
discussion of the artistry of a poet, for example, might be irrele-
vant in a treatment of his social theories. First paragraphs of
themes and research papers are sometimes irrelevant because
they begin at a point too far removed from the main subject
of the paper. Thus in a discussion of the morals of the Prohi-
bition era, it is hardly necessary to begin with a historical survey
of moral and political decline in the latter days of the Roman
Empire.
OUQ Do not ignore conflicting facts or evidence.
You should always be aware of facts and instances which may
seem to refute your own views and conclusions, and you must
be prepared to deal with them. You can actually strengthen
your case by taking opposing evidence into consideration and
showing why it is inadequate or invalid. You may show that
certain facts do not really contradict your position, because
they are insignificant, irrelevant, or exceptional. You may
anticipate objections and answer them in advance by showing
402 Clear Thinking
Jkf
60h
that they are based on outmoded, disproved, or false assump-
tions. An argument in favor of intercollegiate athletics, for
example, might admit instances of corruption, but maintain
that these are exceptional and that on the whole an extramural
athletic program serves a college well in terms of education and
public relations.
OOu Do not beg the question or reason in a circle.
A writer begs the question when he assumes that something
is true and writes as if he had proved it. Here is an example:
A large part of the taxpayer's educational dollar is spent on
unnecessary items like school lunchrooms, classes for handicapped
children, and instruction in art and music.
That the educational items mentioned are "unnecessary" ones
is a debatable proposition which the writer does not establish
but merely asserts. Suppose he defends it, when challenged, as
follows:
These items are unnecessary because they are "extras," and
"extras" are things that are not needed.
He is still begging the question because he is simply restating
the proposition in terms of itself. To assert that Mary is not
pretty because she is unattractive, or that Donald's argument
is unsound because it is illogical, is to beg the question. This
kind of unsupported statement leads to circular reasoning, as
illustrated in the following sentences:
Anyone who watches television regularly knows that the pro-
grams are shallow and superficial, for they do nothing to stimulate
the mind. I have watched for hours on end without encountering
any new ideas. Technically, the medium is advanced and mature;
but as far as programming is concerned, television fails to challenge
the viewer's mental powers because it is not profound.
Avoiding Errors 405
A:
In other words, television is shallow because it does not stimu-
late the mind, and it does not stimulate the mind because it is
shallow. The writer of these sentences has gone around in a
circle and has begged the question by ending where be began.
Do not omit essential steps in the thought or draw
false conclusions from unstated assumptions.
The omission of basic details in a train of thought may leave
the reader puzzled or confused. Some elementary or obvious
steps may be skipped when a specialist is writing for specialists;
but the more general the audience, the fewer the steps that may
be omitted. The problem here is one of clarity rather than logic.
A logical fallacy, however, results whenever the omission or
concealment of a step in the reasoning leads to a false conclu-
sion. If one argues, for example, that "He cannot be elected to
Phi Beta Kappa because he is a football player," the argument
is based on a hidden and false assumption: that no foot-
ball player ever makes good grades, or that Phi Beta Kappa
will refuse to elect someone who plays football. Similar omis-
sions of parts of the argument occur in the following sentences.
What are the unstated assumptions, and why are the conclu-
sions false?
Since he made good grades in high school, he will undoubtedly
be a good student in college.
He will not make a good judge because he was once fined for
speeding.
He has a wonderful personality and will certainly be successful
as a salesman.
404 Clear Thinking
60j
OUJ Do not substitute an appeal to emotions for an
appeal to reason.
Emotional appeal has its proper place, but it should never
be substituted for logical thinking.
Name calling is an appeal to prejudice. Do not becloud an
issue by calling an opponent a square, an egghead, or a moron.
This is argument against a man rather than against a principle
or a point of view.
"Loaded" words are emotional words designedly used to
shape an attitude through prejudice instead of reason. In
loaded terms a government subsidy plan might become a
"hand-out scheme that a bunch of radical do-gooders are try-
ing to fasten on the taxpayers," or a budgetary proposal might
be characterized as a "reactionary attempt to turn the clock
back to the economics of the McKinley era." Colorful, emotion-
arousing words have their place in good writing but not
when they are used as epithets instead of evidence or reason.
Flattery appeals to the emotions in its attempt to persuade
through excessive praise. The political candidate who tells an
audience that he knows they will vote for him because of their
high intelligence is attempting to convince by flattering. So,
more subtly, is the writer who states that any impartial person
will agree with the point he is making.
Snob appeal asserts that one should adopt a certain view
because all the better people do including, of course, the
writer. "More doctors smoke El Ropo than any other cigar" is
a favorite form of fallacious advertising.
Mass appeal attempts to persuade by asserting that every-
one follows the pattern favored by the writer. It suggests that
one should not be different from the herd: everyone ought to
Avoiding Errors 405
60k
go to college, everyone ought to own his home, everyone ought
to read the best-seller Magnolia Hall The assumption is that
if one does not do what everyone else does he deserves to be
censured or ostracized.
60k Do not draw unwarranted conclusions about cause
and effect
When two things happen in sequence, the second is not
necessarily caused by the first. If a man walks under a ladder
and shortly thereafter loses his wallet, he is not justified in
assuming that he lost his wallet because he walked under the
ladder. If one feels better after taking a pill, it is not necessarily
because one took the pill. A student's failure in college after
working as a laborer during the summer does not prove that
hard physical work has an adverse effect on mental activity.
To show a cause-and-effect relationship between two events,
it is necessary to produce evidence in addition to the mere fact
that one has preceded the other.
Express ideas with moderation.
Be temperate in your judgments and in your choice of words.
Overstatement, overemphasis, and dogmatic assertion not only
irritate most readers but arouse doubt or even disbelief. The
good writer knows better than to be cocksure and brash. He
is careful to state that something "usually" happens in a par-
ticular situation, that a given result occurs "in most cases,"
and that an outcome will "probably" be a happy one or * 'per-
haps" a disastrous one.
406 Clear Thinking
60m
Allow for adequate alternatives.
On some questions it is faulty logic to assume that there are
two and only two alternatives. Often a number of possibilities
exist. If, for example, a father tells his son that he must go to
college or else fail in life, he has not allowed for the possibility
that the son may succeed without a college education. It is
tempting, because dramatic, to present things in terms of two
extremes, but a simple eiiher-or proposition of this kind is not
always valid.
EXERCISE
Point out the errors in content and thought in each of the following.
1. Happiness is derived only from one's dealings with other people.
Thus a hermit cannot have true happiness.
2. Happiness is a state of mind which results from comfort and ease.
3. The neighbor who keeps an eye on the newly planted lawn when
the folks next door are away can be sure that they will do the same
for him.
4. The first real basis for moral standards was the Ten Command-
ments.
5. A well-written theme must be in chronological order.
Avoiding Errors 407
60m
6. Everyone believes that we should not kill. Capital punishment
is killing. Thus capital punishment should be universally abolished.
7. Mr. Pompey took three doses of Elixir of Pine and his arthritis
was gone in two days. If you really wish to get rid of your rheumatism,
you will try this new wonder medicine.
8. To be a gentleman is to be a Christian.
9. During the depression of the 1930's there was some suffering, but
relatively few people went bankrupt. The worker's family sometimes
suffered from hunger and cold, but what he already had was his own.
The situation would be otherwise if we were to have a depression now.
Since the last depression, Americans have discovered installment buy-
ing, and everyone would go bankrupt if we were to have another
depression.
10. European and Asian countries lack resources because they lack
the money it would take to create natural resources.
11. The value of TT is 3.145.
12. This mountain is God's most beautiful work of art.
13. Many leaders of schools in the United States have the idea that
fraternities tend to lower the scholarship level of the school. This is
absolutely wrong. Such leaders are dishonest. A boy must first prove
his scholastic ability to be average or above average before he is con-
408 Clear Thinking
sidered eligible for membership in a fraternity. This requirement serves
as an incentive for the boy to do good work.
14. Truck driving is the most fascinating job in the world.
15. Being able to drive has afforded me more real pleasure and has
meant more to me than any other thing I can think of.
16. There are so many Communists in this country that we must
either revoke the right of freedom of speech or give up the fight and
recognize the fact that we are being defeated from within.
17. When there is a need for civic activities, American women, who
are more responsible than the men, never fail to fulfill the need.
18. Only a fool and a coward succumbs to the allurements of the
enemy while he is a prisoner of war.
19. Socialized medicine has been extremely successful in England.
We are stupid because we have not adopted socialized medicine in
Ajtnerica.
20. The American Medical Association strongly opposes socialized
medicine. You should therefore vote against it.
Avoiding Errors 409
Glossary
The purpose of this glossary is twofold: (1) to provide in-
formation on the status of a number of words and expressions
that often cause difficulty, and (2) to define or explain some
useful grammatical terms. Many items not listed here are
covered in other sections of this book and may be located
through the index. For words found neither in this glossary
nor in the index, consult an up-to-date dictionary.
The usage labels (colloquial, dialectal, etc.) affixed to words
in this glossary are agreed on by at least three of the four dic-
tionaries listed on page 167, or, if a word is not entered in one
of those dictionaries, by two of the remaining three.
Glossary
Consult this glossary frequently. It can be a great help to
you, not only in giving you specific information, but in sharpen-
ing your sensitivity to functions of words and levels of usage.
A, an. Use a as an article before consonant sounds; use an as an
article before vowel sounds.
a house an hour
(the h is sounded) (the h is not sounded)
MO Glossary
61
a historical novel
(though the British say an)
a union an uncle
(long u has the consonant
sound of y)
a nickname an ordinary thing
Absolute phrase. See 22 1.
Accept, except. As a verb, accept means to receive; except means to
exclude. Except as a preposition also means but.
Every legislator except Mr Whelling refused to accept the bribe.
We will except (i.e , exclude) this novel from the list of those to be
read.
Accidently. A misspelling usually caused by mispronunciation.
Use accidentally.
Ad. Colloquial; a clipped form of advertisement.
Adjective. A word which modifies a noun or a pronoun.
Her old hound jumped over that high clothesline for the third time.
Adjective clause. See Dependent clause.
Adverb. A word which modifies a verb, an adjective, or another
adverb.
The surrendering general very humbly handed the captain his rather
rusty sword
See 14.
Adverbial clause. See Dependent clause.
Affect, effect. Affect is a verb meaning to act upon or to influence.
Effect may be a verb or a noun. Effect as a verb means to cause or
to bring about; effect as a noun means a result, a consequence.
The patent medicine did not affect (influence) the disease.
The operation did not effect (bring about) an improvement in his
health.
Glossary Uii
The drug had a drastic effect (consequence) on the speed of the
patient's reactions
Aggravate. Colloquial in the sense of annoy, irritate, or pester. In
formal English, it means to make worse or more severe.
Agree to, agree with. Agree to a thing (plan, proposal). Agree with
a person.
He agreed to the insertion of the plank in the platform of the party.
He agreed with Senator Stenner that the plank would not gain many
votes.
Ain't. Substandard in most uses.
All ready, already. All ready means prepared, in a state of readiness;
already means before some specified time or previously, and describes
an action that is completed.
The hunters were all ready to take horse. (Fully prepared)
Mr. Bowman had already bagged his limit of quail for the day.
(Action completed at time of statement)
All together, altogether. All together describes a group as acting
or existing collectively; altogether means wholly, entirely.
The sprinters managed to start all together.
I do not altogether approve the decision.
Allusion, illusion. An allusion is a casual reference. An illusion is
a false or misleading impression.
Alright. Not considered proper for all right.
A.M., P.M. To be used only with figures, as in "6:00 P.M." Not
to be used for morning or afternoon as in "The wreck occurred this
P.M."
Among, between. Among refers to three or more persons or things ;
between usually refers to only two.
It will be hard to choose between Terry and Jim.
It will be hard to choose among so many well-qualified candidates.
412 Glossary
JL 61
<f
Amount, number. Amount refers to a mass or quantity; number
refers to things which may be counted.
That is a large number of turtles for a pond which has such a small
amount of water
An. See A,
And etc. The and is unnecessary; etc. means and so forth (literally,
et cetera, "and other things").
Antecedent. A word to which a pronoun refers.
ANTECEDENT PRONOUN
When the ballet dancers appeared in the third act, they were dressed
as pink butterflies.
Anyplace. Prefer anywhere.
Anyways. Prefer anyway.
Anywheres. Substandard. Use anywhere.
Appositive. A word, phrase, or clause used as a noun and placed
beside another word to explain it.
APPOSITIVE
The poet John Milton wrote Paradise Lost while he was blind.
Article. A and an are indefinite articles; the is the definite article.
See 18d.
As. (1) Not equivalent to that or whether.
SUBSTANDARD Mr. Snipes did not know as the answer was correct
STANDARD Mr. Snipes did not know that (or whether) the answer
was correct.
(2) Sometimes confusing when used for because.
CONFUSING The client collected the full amount of insurance as his
car ran off the cliff and was totally demolished
Glossary 413
61 J.
f
Auxiliary verb, A verb used to help another verb indicate tense,
mood, or voice.
I shall be there next week
He may lose his job.
I was told to be ready by noon.
Awful. A trite and feeble substitute for bad, shocking, ludicrous,
ugly, etc.
Awhile, a while. Awhile is an adverb; a while is an article and a
noun.
Stay awhile.
Wait here for a while.
Bad, badly. See page 58.
Because. See Reason is because.
Being as, being that. Substandard for because or since.
Beside, besides. Beside means by the side of, next to; besides means
in addition to.
Mr. Potts was sitting beside the coffin.
No one was in the room besides Mr. Potts
Between. See Among.
Between each. Illogical; omit each.
Between classes (not between each class) the students gathered in
excited groups.
Between you and I. Substandard affectation for between you and me.
Bust, busted, bursted. See pages 20, 21.
But, hardly, only, scarcely. Preferably not used with another
negative.
AVOID did not have but one
can't help but realize
can't hardly realize
wasn't there only two weeks
did not have scarcely enough
4^4 Glossary
61
PREFER had but one, had only one
can't help realizing
can hardly realize
was there only two weeks
had scarcely enough, had hardly enough
Can, may. In formal English, can is used to denote ability; may, to
denote permission. Colloquially the two are interchangeable.
FORMAL May (not can) I go?
Cannot hardly, can't hardly. Double negatives. See But, hardly,
only, scarcely.
Cannot help but, can't help but. Double negatives. See But,
hardly, only, scarcely.
Capital, capitol. Capitol designates a building which is a seat of
government; capital is used for all other meanings.
Case. See 13.
Center around. Illogical. Use center in (or on) or cluster around.
Clause. A group of words containing a subject and a predicate. See
Independent clause and Dependent clause.
Climactic, climatic. Climactic pertains to a climax; climatic per-
tains to climate.
Collective noun. A word identifying a class or a group of persons
or things. See lld and 12c.
Compare to, compare with. After compare in similes, use to; in
analyses of similarities and differences, use with.
He compared the wrecked train to strewn and broken matches.
He compared this train wreck with the one that occurred a month ago
Complected. Dialectal or colloquial Use complexioned.
Complement. A word or group of words used to complete a predi-
cate. Predicate adjectives, predicate nominatives, direct objects,
and indirect objects are complements.
Glossary 415
61
Complement, compliment. Complement means to complete; com-
pliment means to praise.
Complex, compound sentences. A complex sentence has one inde-
pendent clause and at least one dependent clause. A compound
sentence has at least two independent clauses. A compound-complex
sentence has at least two independent clauses and one dependent
clause.
Conjunction. A word used to connect sentences or sentence parts.
See also Coordinating conjunctions and Subordinating con-
junctions.
Conjunctive adverbs. Adverbs used to relate two independent
clauses which are separated by a semicolon: however, therefore,
moreover, then, consequently, besides, etc. See 24a.
Considerable. Basically an adjective, though used colloquially as
a noun. Do not use as an adverb.
STANDARD He had a considerable influence on his students.
COLLOQUIAL He made considerable each week.
AVOID The horse tired considerable on the last lap (Use con-
siderably.)
Contemptible, contemptuous. Contemptible means deserving of
scorn; contemptuous means feeling scorn,
The veteran was contemptuous toward unpatriotic civilians.
The unpatriotic civilian in wartime is contemptible
Continual, continuous. Continual refers to a prolonged and rapid
succession; continuous refers to an uninterrupted succession.
Coordinating conjunctions. The simple conjunctions which
join sentences and sentence parts of equal rank: and, but, or, nor,
for, yet, so.
Correlative conjunctions. Conjunctions used in pairs to join coor-
dinate sentence parts. The most common are either-or, neither-nor,
not only-but also, both-and.
416 Glossary
Could of. See Of.
Couple. A couple of is colloquial for a few or several Properly,
couple designates two, a pair.
Curricula, curricular. Use only curricular as an adjective, as in
"extracurricular activities." Curricula is a noun, the plural of
curriculum.
Cute. Colloquial and overused for such expressions as pretty, dainty,
attractive.
Data, A plural form, sometimes treated as a collective noun and
used as a singular form. The true singular (datum) is rarely used.
FORMAL These data have been carefully analyzed
POSSIBLE The complete data is now being reviewed.
Date. Although considered colloquial for appointment or social en-
gagement (usually with a person of the opposite sex) or for the
young man or young lady with whom the engagement is made, the
word date has no formal equivalents which are always acceptable
and appropriate in these uses.
Deal. Colloquial and overused for bargain, transaction, or business
arrangement.
Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns. Words used to point
out: this, that, these, those.
Dependent (subordinate) clause. A group of words which con-
tains both a subject and a predicate but which alone does not make
complete sense. A dependent clause may not be used as a complete
sentence. It always serves as an adjective, a noun, or an adverb.
AS ADJECTIVE The tenor who sang the aria had just arrived from Italy.
AS NOUN The critics agreed that the young tenor had a magnificent
voice
AS ADVERB When he sang, even the sophisticated audience was
enraptured
Glossary 4i7
61
Didn't ought, hadn't ought. Substandard for ought not, should
not, shouldn't.
Differ from, differ with. Differ from expresses unlikeness; differ
with expresses disagreement.
The twins differ from each other in personality.
The twins differ with each other about politics.
Different than. Prefer different from.
Direct object. A noun or pronoun receiving the action of the verb.
The old goat bit the little boy on the finger.
Done. Past participle of do. Illiterate when used in place of did, as
the past tense of do: "He did it," not "He done it."
Don't. Contraction of do not; not to be used for doesn't, the con-
traction of does not.
Effect. See Affect.
Elliptical clause. See 13e.
Enthused. Colloquial. Use is (or was) enthusiastic.
Equally as. The as is unnecessary. Instead of "equally as good,"
use "equally good" (or "just as good" or "as good as").
Etc. See And etc.
Ever, every. Use every in every other, everybody, every now and then;
use ever in ever and anon, ever so humble.
Every day, everyday. Every day is used as an adverb; everyday,
as an adjective.
He comes to look at the same picture in the gallery every day.
His trip to the gallery is an everyday occurrence.
418 Glossary
J. 61
9
Exam. Colloquial. Use examination in formal writing.
Except. See Accept.
Expect. Colloquial for believe, suspect, think, suppose, etc.
Expletive. See llh.
Farther, further. Generally interchangeable, though many persons
prefer farther in expressions of physical distance and further in ex-
pressions of time, quantity, and degree.
My car used less gasoline and went farther than bis
The second speaker went further into the issues than the first
speaker
Fellow. Colloquial for young man, person, or sweetheart,
Fewer, less. Use fewer to denote number; less, to denote amount or
degree.
Because of the late frost, fewer (not less) peaches will be shipped
from the state this year
Less paving was done in April than in February.
With fewer advertisers, there will be less income from advertising.
Fine. Often a poor substitute for a more exact word of approval or
commendation.
Fix. Colloquial for the noun predicament.
Flunk. Colloquial. Prefer fail or failure in formal usage.
Folks. Colloquial for family or relatives.
Funny. Colloquial for strange, remarkable, or peculiar. Standard
for amusing or comical
Further. See Farther.
Gerund. See Verbal.
Glossary 4/0
Good. Incorrect as an adverb. See page 57.
Grand. Often vaguely used in place of more exact words like majestic,
magnificent, imposing, etc.
Guy. Colloquial or slang as a noun for a person or as a verb meaning
to make fun of.
Had of. Use had.
I wish I had (not had of] known he was going.
Had ought. Use should.
Hadn't ought. See Didn't ought.
Hang, hanged, hung. See page 21.
Hardly. See But, hardly, only, scarcely.
Has got, have got. Wordy. Use simply has or have.
Himself. See Myself.
Hisself. Illiterate for himself.
Illusion. See Allusion.
Imply, infer. Imply means to hint or suggest; infer means Lo draw
a conclusion.
The speaker implied that Mr. Falkner was guilty.
The audience inferred that Mr Falkner was guilty.
In, into. Into denotes motion from the outside to the inside; in de-
notes position (enclosure).
The lion was in the cage when Mr. Funkle walked into the main tent
In back of. Prefer behind.
420 Glossary
JL 61
f
Indefinite pronouns. Pronouns not pointing out a particular person
or thing. Some of the most common are some, any, each, every,
everyone, everybody, any, anyone, anybody, one, and neither.
Independent clause. A group of words which contain a subject and
a predicate and which, taken alone, make complete sense. An
independent clause may be used as a complete sentence.
Indirect object. A word which indirectly receives the action of the
verb.
Miss Philpotts wrote the soldier a letter.
Usually to or for is implied before the indirect object.
Miss Philpotts wrote (to) the soldier a letter
Infer. See Imply.
Infinitive. See Verbal.
In regards to. Unidiomatic. Use in regard to or with regard to.
Intensive pronoun. A pronoun ending in -self and used for em-
phasis.
The director himself will act the part of Hamlet
Interjection. A word used to exclaim or to express a strong emotion.
It has no grammatical function within its sentence. Some of the
most common interjections are oh, ah, alas, and ouch.
Interrogative pronoun. See 13i.
Into. See In.
Intransitive verb. See Voice.
Irregardless. Substandard for regardless.
Is when, is where, Ungrammatical use of adverbial clause after
a linking verb. Often misused in definitions and explanations.
SUBSTANDARD Combustion is when (or is where) oxygen unites with
other elements.
Gkssary 421
61 J.
tf
STANDARD Combustion occurs when oxygen unites with other
elements
STANDARD Combustion is a union of oxygen with other elements
Its, it's. Its is the possessive case of the pronoun it; it's is a contrac-
tion of it is.
It's exciting to parents when their baby cuts its first tooth
Kind of, sort of. Colloquial as adverbs. Use rather, somewhat, etc.
COLLOQUIAL Mr. Josephson was sort of disgusted.
FORMAL Mr Josephson was rather disgusted.
FORMAL (not
an adverb) What sort of book is that?
Kind of a, sort of a. Delete the a; use kind of and sort of.
What kind of (not kind of a) pipe do you smoke?
Lay, lie. See page 22.
Learn, teach. Learn means to acquire knowledge. Teach means to
impart knowledge
He could not learn how to work the problem until Mr Smithers
taught him the formula
Less. See Fewer.
Liable. See Likely.
Lie. See page 22.
Like. Prefer like as a preposition; prefer as, as if, or as though as a
conjunction.
COLLOQUIAL She acted like she had never been on the stage before
FORMAL She acted as if she had never been on the stage before
FORMAL She acted like a novice.
422 Glossary
61
Likely, liable. Use likely to express probability; liable, to express
responsibility or obligation, often with legal connotations.
You are likely to have an accident if you continue to drive so
recklessly.
Since your father owns the car, he will be liable for damages.
Linking verb. A verb which does not express action but links the
subject to another word which names or describes it. See 14c.
Locate. Not preferred for settle.
Loose. A frequent misspelling of lose. Loose is an adjective; lose is
a verb.
She wore a loose and trailing gown
Speculators often lose their money
Lot of, lots of. Colloquial in the sense of much, many, a great deal
May. See Can.
May of. See Of.
Might of. See Of.
Modifier. A word (or word group) which limits or describes another
word. See Adjective and Adverb.
Most. Colloquial for almost
He is late for class almost (not most) every day.
Must of. See Of.
Myself, yourself, himself. These words are reflexives or intensives,
not strict equivalents of /, me, you, he, him.
INTENSIVE I myself helped Father cut the wheat.
I helped Father cut the wheat myself
REFLEXIVE I cut myself
Glossary 423
61 A
Q
LOOSE The elopement was known only to Sherry and myself.
Only Kay and myself had access to the safe
PREFERRED The elopement was known only to Sherry and me.
Only Kay and / had access to the safe.
Nice. A poor substitute for more exact words like attractive, modest,
pleasant, kind, etc.
Nominative case. See 13.
No place. Use nowhere.
Noun. A word which names and which has gender, number, and
case There are proper nouns, which name particular people, places,
or things (Thomas Jefferson, Paris, the Colosseum) ; common nouns,
which name one or more of a group (alligator, high school, politician) ;
collective nouns (see lld and 12c); abstract nouns, which name
ideas, feelings, beliefs, etc. (religion, justice, dislike, enthusiasm)-,
concrete nouns, which name things perceived through the senses
(lemon, hatchet, worm).
Noun clause. See Dependent clause.
Nowheres, Dialectal. Use nowhere.
Number. See Amount.
Object of preposition. See Preposition and 13b.
Objective case. See 13.
Of. Use have in verb phrases like might of, may of, could of, would of,
should of, etc.
Off of. Off is sufficient.
He fell off (not off of) the water tower.
On a whole. Confusion of two constructions, as a whole and on the
whole.
Only. See But, hardly, only, scarcely.
424 Glossary
Ought to of. See Of.
Participle. See Verbal.
Parts of speech. The parts of speech are noun, pronoun, adjective,
verb, adverb, conjunction, interjection, preposition. See each of
these in this glossary
Party. Colloquial when used to mean person, except in legal usage.
Percent, per cent. Use after figures, as "three percent" "50 per-
cent." Do not use for percentage:
Only a small percentage (not percent) of the class will fail.
Personal pronouns. Words like /, you, he, she, it, we, they, mine,
yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.
Phenomena. Plural. The singular is phenomenon.
Phrase. Closely connected words which do not contain both a sub-
ject and a predicate. There are subject phrases (The new drill
sergeant was young), verb phrases (should have been), verbal phrases
(climbing high mountains), prepositional phrases (see Preposition),
appositive phrases (my brother, the black sheep of the family), etc.
Plenty. Colloquial when used as an adverb.
COLLOQUIAL The pet deer was plenty sick.
FORMAL The pet deer was very sick.
P.M. See A.M.
Predicate. The verb (simple predicate) or the verb and its modifiers,
complements, and objects (complete predicate).
Predicate adjective. A word following a linking verb and describ-
ing the subject.
The rose is artificial
See 14c.
Glossary 425
61 J.
9
Predicate complement. See Complement.
Predicate nominative. See Subjective complement.
Predominate, predominant. Do not use the verb predominate for
the adjective predominant
Preposition. A word which joins a noun or a pronoun to the rest of
a sentence. A prepositional phrase may be used as either an adjec-
tive or an adverb.
PREPOSITION OBJECT OF PREPOSITION
ADJECTIVE Joseph wore a coat of many colors^
N - /
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
PREPOSITION OBJECT OF PREPOSITION
ADVERB He leadeth me beside the still waters^
^ j /
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
Principal, principle. Use principal to mean the chief or most im-
portant. Use principle to mean a rule or a truth.
The principal reason for her delinquency was never discussed
The principal of Brookwood High School resigned
To act without principle leads to delinquency.
Pronominal adjective. An adjective which is the possessive form
of a pronoun (my book, their enthusiasm).
Pronoun. A word which stands for a noun. See Personal pro-
nouns, Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, Reflexive
pronoun, Intensive pronoun, Interrogative pronoun, Indefi-
nite pronouns, and Relative pronoun.
Proposition. Overused commercially and colloquially to mean offer,
plan, project, undertaking, idea, etc.
426 Glossary
J. 61
V
Quite, quite a. Colloquial in the meaning of very or to a considerable
extent.
COLLOQUIAL quite pretty, quite a distance
FORMAL very pretty, rather pretty; a considerable distance
Also, do not confuse the spelling of quite and quiet.
Raise, rise. See page 22.
Real. Colloquial or dialectal as an adverb meaning really or very.
Reason is (was) because. Especially m writing, do not use for the
reason is that.
WRONG The reason Abernathy enlisted was because he failed in college.
(Because should introduce an adverbial clause, not a noun
clause used as a predicate nominative.)
RIGHT The reason Abernathy enlisted was that he failed in college.
RIGHT Abernathy enlisted because he failed in college.
Reflexive pronoun. A pronoun ending in -self and indicating that
the subject acts upon itself.
The butcher cut himself
Relative pronoun. See 13i.
Respectfully, respectively. Respectfully means with respect; respec-
tively means each in the order given.
He respectfully thanked the president for his diploma.
Crossing the platform, he passed respectively by the speaker, the
dean, and the registrar
Right. Dialectal or colloquial for very or somewhat, as in the expres-
sion "right tired."
Said. Not to be used in the sense of previously mentioned, except in
a legal context (as in 'The said object was found in the room of
the accused").
Glossary 427
61 JL
f
Same. Rarely used as a pronoun unless it is preceded by the, except
in legal style (as in "Drinking by minors is illegal and same shall
result in arrest").
Scarcely. See But, hardly, only, scarcely.
Sensual, sensuous. Sensual connotes gross bodily pleasures; sen-
suous refers favorably to what is experienced through the senses.
Set, sit. See page 22.
Shall, will. In formal English, to indicate simple futurity, shall is
conventionally preferred in the first person (I shall, we shall) ; will,
in the second and third persons (you will, he will, they will). To
indicate determination, duty, or necessity, will is preferred in the
first person (I w ill, we will) ; shall, in the second and third persons
(you shall, he shall, they shall). These distinctions, however, are
weaker than they used to be, and will is increasingly used in all
persons.
Should of. See Of.
Simple sentence. A sentence consisting of only one independent
clause.
So. For the use of so in incomplete constructions, see page 78.
The use of so for so that sometimes causes confusion.
Someplace. Use somewhere.
Sometime, some time. Sometime is used adverbially to designate
an indefinite point of time. Some time refers to a period or duration
of time.
I will see you sometime next week.
I have not seen Hiyn for some time.
Somewheres. Dialectal. Use somewhere.
Sort of. See Kind of.
428 Glossary
Sort of a. See Kind of a.
J. 61
f
Subject. A word or group of words about which the sentence or
clause makes a statement.
SIMPLE SUBJECT Whitman left the lecture on astronomy.
COMPOUND SUBJECT Whitman and Emerson were transcendentalists.
CLAUSE AS SUBJECT That Whitman left the lecture on astronomy is well
known
Subjective case. See 13 and 13a.
Subjective complement. A word or group of words which follows
a linking verb and identifies the subject.
This book is a best-selling historical novel.
His excuse was that he had been sick.
Subordinate clause. See Dependent Clause.
Subordinating conjunctions. Conjunctions which join sentence
parts of unequal rank. Most frequently they begin dependent
clauses. Some of the most common subordinating conjunctions are
because, since, though, although, if, when, while, before, after, as, until,
so that, as long as, as if, where, unless, as soon as, whereas, in order
that
Sure. Colloquial as an adverb for surely, certainly.
COLLOQUIAL The speaker sure did criticize his opponent.
FORMAL The speaker surely criticized his opponent.
Sure and, try and. Use sure to, try to.
Be sure to (not and) notice the costumes of the Hungarian folk
dancers.
Suspicion. Dialectal or colloquial as a verb. Use suspect.
Swell. Slang or colloquial for good; often vaguely used for more exact
words of approval.
Glossary 429
Teach. See Learn.
Terrible. Often a poor substitute for a more exact word.
Their, there. Not interchangeable. Their is the possessive of they;
there is either an adverb meaning in that place or an expletive
("There is ... ," "There are ")
Their dachshund is sick.
There is a veterinarian's office in this block. (Expletive)
There it is on the corner. (Adverb of place)
These (those) kind, these (those) sort. These (those) is plural;
kind (sort) is singular. Therefore use this (that) kind, this (that)
sort; these (those) kinds, these (those) sorts.
Thusly. Prefer thus.
Transitive verb. See Voice.
Try and. See Sure and.
Unique. Means one of a kind; hence may not logically be compared.
Unique should not be loosely used for unusual or strange.
Use. Sometimes carelessly written for the past tense, used
Thomas Jefferson used (not use) to bathe his feet in cold water
almost every morning.
Verb. A word or group of words expressing action, being, or state of
being.
Othello killed Desdemona.
What is man?
I shall have returned
The fire has been built.
Verbal. A word derived from a verb and used as a noun, an adjec-
tive, or an adverb. A verbal may be a gerund, a participle, or an
infinitive.
GERUND 1. ends in -ing
2. is used as a noun
430 Glossary
61
PARTICIPLE 1 ends in -ing, -ed, -rf, -rf, etc.
2. is used as an adjective
INFINITIVE 1. begins with to, which may be understood
2. is used as an adjective, an adverb, or a noun
GERUND OBJECT OF GERUND
* X.
GERUND Shoeing horses is almost a lost art.
x ^ /
GERUND PHRASE, USED AS SUBJECT
PREPOSITIONAL, PHRASE, MODIFYING PARTICIPLE
PARTICIPLE
PARTICIPLE Riding at top speed, he snatched the child from danger.
N j ,
PARTICIPIAL PHRASE, MODIFYING SUBJECT
INFINITIVE OBJECT OF INFINITIVE
* /
INFINITIVE To rescue the child this way was a difficult feat,
v j /
INFINITIVE PHRASE, USED AS SUBJECT
INFINITIVE, USED AS ADJECTIVE
^/
Black Beauty is a good book to read to a child.
INFINITIVE, USED AS ADVERB
He was eager to ride his new horse.
Verb phrase. See Phrase.
Voice. Transitive verbs have two forms to show whether their sub-
jects act (active voice) or are acted upon (passive voice). See 9.
Wait on. Unidiomatic for wait for. Wait on correctly means to serve.
Ways. Prefer way when designating a distance.
AL long way (instead of "A. long ways")
Where. Do not misuse for that.
J read in the newspaper that (not where) you saved a child's life.
Glossary 431
61 JL
Q
Where at. The at is unnecessary.
NOT Where is he aP
BUT Where is he?
While. Do not overuse for such other conjunctions as but, and,
whereas, and although.
Whose, who's. Whose is the possessive of who; who's is a contraction
of who is.
-wise. A suffix overused in combinations with nouns, such as budget-
wise, progress-wise, and business-wise.
Without. Dialectal for unless, as in "I cannot come without you pay
for the ticket."
Would of. See Of.
Gbssary
Index
A, an, 410
Abbreviations
acceptable in formal writing,
163-164
capitalization of, 158
governmental agencies, 91-92
in footnotes and bibliographical
entries, 164
in technical writing, 164
period after, 91-92
titles with proper names, 164
Absolute phrase, comma with, 109
Abstract words, 227-231
Accent marks, in dictionary,
173-174
Accept , except, 411
Accidently, 411
Accuracy of content, 398-399
Accusative case, SEE Objective
case
Active voice
for conciseness, 218
for directness, 27
Ad, 411
A.D., B.C., capitals for, 160
Addresses, commas in, 107
Adjective modifiers
position of, 64
restrictive and nonrestrictive,
101-105
Adjectives, 56-59, 411
after linking verb, 58
clauses, 417
comma between, 98-99
comparative and superlative
degrees, 57-58
coordinate, 98-99, 117
cumulative, 98-99
demonstrative, 272, 417
distinguished from adverbs,
56-59
modifying object, 58-59
no comma between adjective and
noun, 117
predicate, 58, 425
pronominal, 426
Adverbial clause, 417
Adverbs, 56-59, 411
between auxiliary and main
comparative and superlative
degrees, 57-58
conjunctive, 6, 106-107,
119-120, 416
distinguished from adjectives,
56-59
-ly ending, 56
not after linking verbs, 58
placement of, 63-64
position in sentence, 68-69
restrictive and nonrestrictive,
102
Affect, effect, 411-412
After, with perfect participle, 25-26
Aggravate, 412
Agreement, pronoun and
antecedent, 40-47
ambiguous reference, 44
antecedents such as each,
either, 42
collective noun antecedent, 41
compound antecedent with or,
nor, etc., 41
definite antecedent, 43-44
which, who, that, 42
whose, 42
Agreement, subject and verb, 31-40
collective noun subject, 34
compound subject with and,
32-33
compound subject with or, nor,
etc., 33
indefinite pronoun subjects like
each, either, 35
intervening phrases or clauses,
33-34
not with subjective complement,
37
noun subjects plural in form but
singular in meaning, 34-35
person and number, 31-32
relative pronoun subject, 37-38
title as subject, 38
with here, there, it, 36-37
words like none, some, 35-36
Agree to, agree with, 412
Ain't, 412
All ready, already, 412
All together, altogether, 412
Allusion, illusion, 412
Already, all ready, 412
Alright, 412
Alternatives (in reasoning), 407
Altogether, all together, 412
Ambiguous reference of pronoun,
44
Among, between, 412
Amount, number, 413
AM., P.M., 164, 412
An, a, 410
And, but, or, nor, for, etc , SEE
Coordinating conjunctions
And etc , 413
Antecedent, 37, 413
agreement with, SEE Agreement
ambiguous, 44
compound, 40-41
collective noun, 41
single word or word group, 43
singular, 42
Anticlimax, 245
A number of, 36
Anyplace, 413
Anyways, 413
Anywheres, 413
Apostrophe
pronouns with, 51
to show omissions, 156
to show possession of nouns,
155-156
with indefinite pronouns, 51
with plural of numbers, letters,
words, 156
Appeal to emotions, 405-406
Appositive, 413
case of, 49
colon before, 123
punctuation with, 101-103, 117
restrictive and nonrestrictive,
101-103, 117
Appropriateness, SEE Diction AND
Style
Archaic words, 193
Argument, 296
Argumentum ad hominem, SEE
Name calling
Article, 413
capitalization of, in titles, 157
faulty omission of, 79-80
SEE A, An
As, as if, as though, SEE Like
As, in elliptical clause, 50
As, that, whether, because, 413
At, unnecessary, 432
Authority, 399-400
Auxiliary verb, 29, 414
faulty omission of, 79-80
Awful, 414
Awhile, a while, 414
Bad, badly, 58
Balanced sentences, 243-244
434 Index
B.C , A.D , 160, 164
Be in subjunctive mood, 28
Because, SEE Reason is because, 427
Begging the question, 403-404
Beginning of sentence, 244-245
Beginning of theme, SEE Theme,
introduction
Being as, being that, 414
Beside, besides, 414
Between, among, 412
Between each, 414
Between you and I, 414
Bible, 142, 160
Bibliographical form, 364-365,
395, 397
Bibliography, compiling for
research paper, 338-345
Blocked quotations, 129, 378-379
Body of theme, 324-325
Brackets, 126-127
But, hardly, only, scarcely, 414r415
Call numbers, library, 339
Can, may, 415
Cannot hardly, 415
Cannot help but, 415
Capital, capitol, 415
Capitalization, 157-163
B.C., A.D., 160
days of week, 159-160
degrees, 158
direct quotations, 157
holidays, 159-160
months, 159-160
movements, periods, events, 160
names of specific courses, 160
proper names, 159
seasons not capitalized, 159
titles (literary), 157
titles (personal), 158
Card catalogue, 338-341
SEE ALSO Research paper
Case, 47-55
after than in elliptical clause, 50
interrogative pronoun, 51-55
object of preposition, 48-49
of appositive, 49
o/-phrase for possession, 47, 51
possessive preceding a gerund,
50-51
relative pronouns, 51-55
subjective for subjects and
complements, 48
subject or complement of
infinitive, 59
Cause and effect, 406
Center around, 415
Choppy paragraphs, 276-279
Choppy sentences, 9-11
Citing references, SEE Footnotes
Clarity, repetition for, 223
Clauses
adjective, 64, 417
adverbial, 417
denned, 415
dependent, 9, 14-16, 417
elliptical, 50, 62
independent (or main), 95-96,
119-120, 421
,nonrestrictive, punctuation of,
101-105, 117
noun, 417
overlapping, 14-16
subordinate, 9, 14^16, 417
Clear thinking, 398-409
accurate and verified data,
398-399
adequate alternatives, 407
appeal to emotions, 405
begging the question, 403-404
cause and effect, 406
conflicting evidence, 402-403
false conclusion, 404
flattery, 405
"loaded" words, 405
mass appeal, 406
moderation, 406
name calling, 405
Index 435
omission of steps in thought, 404
reasoning in a circle, 403-404
relevance of content, 402
reliable authority, 399-400
representative examples, 401-402
snob appeal, 405
specific evidence, 401
sticking to the point, 402
sweeping generalization, 400-401
unwarranted conclusions, 406
Cliches, 203-204
Climactic order, 245
Climactic order in paragraph, 265
Climactic, climatic, 415
Coherence, SEE Modifiers;
Parallelism; Transition; Unity
in paragraph
Collective noun, 415
antecedent, 41
as subject, 34
Colloquial English, 185, 187-188
Colloquialisms, not quoted, 130-131
Colon
after salutation of letter, 124
before elements introduced
formally, J22-123
before formal appositives, 123
between hours and minutes, 124
between independent clauses, 123
unnecessary, 124
with quotation marks, 131
Comma, 95-114
after abbreviations, 92
after introductory phrases and
clauses, 100-101
between adjectives, 98-99
for contrast and emphasis, 108
in a series, 96-97
not with exclamation point, 93
to indicate omission, 110
to prevent misreading, 110
two or none, 95
unnecessary, 115-119
with absolute phrase, 109
with conjunctive adverbs,
106-107
with dates, places, addresses,
degrees, titles, 107-108
with direct address and
salutation, 109
with elements out of normal
order, 106-107
with expressions like he said, 109
with independent clauses and a
coordinating conjunction,
95-96
with mild interjections, 109
with nonrestrictive modifiers,
101-105
with quotation marks, 131
with sentence modifiers, 106-107
with transitional conjunctions,
106-107
Comma splice or comma fault, 5-6
Comparative and superlative
degrees, 57-58
Compare to, compare with, 415
Comparison and contrast, 267-268
Comparisons
figurative, 236-237
logical and complete, 80-82
Complected, 415
Complement, 415
Complement of infinitive, 49
Complement, subjective, 37, 48, 429
Complement, compliment, 416
Completeness and consistency,
77-89
Completeness, in structure, 77-80
Complex sentences, 416
Compliment, complement, 416
Composition, SEE Theme
Compound antecedent, 40-41
Compound-complex sentences, 416
Compound numbers, hyphen with,
154
Compound sentences, 416
Compound subject, 32-33
456 Index
Compound words
hyphen with, 153-155
in dictionary, 172-173
Conciseness, 217-220
Conclusion of theme, 325
Concrete words, 227-231
Condition contrary to fact,
subjunctive to express, 28-29
Conjunctions
coordinating, 5, 12, 70, 95, 116,
199, 416
correlative, 72-73, 416
not capitalized in titles, 157
subordinating, 429
Conjunctive adverb, 6, 106-108,
119-120, 416
Connotation, 231-235
Considerable, 416
Consistency, 85-89
Consonants, doubling of final, 147
Contemptible, contemptuous, 416
Continual, continuous, 416
Contractions
apostrophe in, 156
avoid in formal style, 163
Contrast
comma for, 108
semicolon for, 120
Controlled research, 345-346
Controlling purpose of theme, 295
Coordinate adjectives, 98-99, 117
Coordinating conjunctions, 5, 12,
70, 95, 116, 119, 416
Coordination, excessive, 12-13
Correlative conjunctions, 72-73,
416
Couple, 417
Cumulative adjectives, 98-99
Curricula, curricular, 417
Cute, 417
Dangling constructions, 61-63
elliptical clause, 62
gerund, 61-62
mfinitive, 62
participle, 61
prepositional phrase, 62
Dash, 124-125
after series, 125
emphasis, 125
interruptions, 124
no comma with, 116
typing, 153
unnecessary, 125
Data, 417
Date, 417
Dates
comma with, 107
figures for, 165
Days of week, capitalization, 159
Deal, 417
Definitions, in dictionary, 176
capitalization, 158
punctuation with, 107
Deity, capitals with reference to,
160
Demonstrative adjectives and
pronouns, 272, 417
Denotation, 231-233
Dependent clauses, 5-6, 9, 14-16,
417
Description, 296
Details
in paragraph, 258-260
in theme, 302-305
Development, of paragraph,
264-271
Diacritical marks, 173-174
Dialect, 191-193
Dialogue
paragraphing in, 129, 276
quotation marks with, 129
sentence fragments in, 4
Diction, 182-214
archaic and obsolete, 193
colloquial, 185, 187-188
dialect, 191-193
Index 457
exactness, 204r-205
formal, 184-189
gobbledygook, 200-201
idioms, 196-198
improprieties, 193-196
informal, 184-189
obsolete, 193
slang, 189-191
standard and substandard,
182-184
substandard, 182-184
technical, 199-201
triteness, 203-204
vocabulary, 204r-209
SEE ALSO Style
Dictionary, 167-181
accent marks, 173-174
as authority, 168
compound words, 172-173
desk, 167
etymologies, 175
foreign words, 180
idioms, 179-180
inflectional forms, 178-179
order of definitions, 176
parts of speech listed, 176
prefixes and suffixes, 180
pronunciation, 173-174
proper names, 181
recommended, 167
specimen entries, in, 169-171
spellings, 172
syllabication, 172-173
synonyms, 177-178
table of contents, 168-169
unabridged, 167-168
usage labels, 178
Didn't ought, hadn't ought, 418
Different than, 418
Differ from, differ with, 418
Direct address, comma with, 109
Direct discourse, indirect discourse,
88
Direct object, 418
Direct quotations
capitals with, 157
punctuation of, 128-129
Directions, not capitalised, 159
Documentation in research paper,
357-365
Done, 418
Don't, 418
Double negative, 414r-415
Each, either, neither, etc ,
agreement with, 35, 42
Effect, 411-412
Effectiveness, SEE SUCH ENTRIES
AS Diction, Style
Either ... or, agreement with, 41
Ellipsis, 352
Elliptical clause
case of pronoun after than, as, 50
dangling, 62
Emphasis
active voice, 27
climactic order, 245
comma for, 108
dash for, 125
italics for, 143
periodic sentences, 243
repetition for, 223
semicolon for, 120
Encyclopedias, 344-345
End punctuation, 91-95
Enthused, 418
Equally as, 418
Essential modifier, SEE
Restrictive elements
Etymology, in dictionary, 175
Euphony, 222-223
Ever, every, 418
Every day, everyday, 418
Evidence, 401
Exactness, 204-205
concrete words, 227-229
connotation and denotation,
231-234
638 Index
Exam, 419
Examples, use of, in reasoning,
401-402
Except, 411
Excessive coordination, 12-13
Exclamation point
for heightened feeling, 93
no comma with, 116
no period with, 93
with quotation marks, 131-132
Expect, 419
Expletive, 36-37
Exposition, 296
False conclusions, 404
False dilemma, 407
False parallelism, 69-73
Farther, further, 419
Faulty subordination, 14-16
Fellow, 419
Fewer, less, 419
Figurativeness, 235-241
Figures, SEE Numbers
Figures and letters
apostrophe with plural, 156
italics for, 143
Figures of speech, 235-241
Fine, 419
Fine writing, 241-242
First aid for sentences, 2-18
Fix, 419
Flattery, 405
Flank, 419
Folks, 419
Footnotes, 357-363
SEE ALSO Specimen research
paper
Foreign words
in dictionary, 180
italicized, 143
Formal and informal language,
184-189
Forms of words, 19-59
Fragments, 2-5
Funny, 419
Further, farther, 419
Fused sentence, 6-7
Future perfect tense, 24
Future tense, 23
Gender, pronoun and antecedent,
40-47
Generalizations, 400-401
Genitive, SEE Possessive case
Geographical labels, in dictionary,
178
Gerund, 430-431
dangling, 61
possessive with, 50-51
tense, 25-26
Glossary, 410-432
Gobbledygook, 201-202
Good, 420
Got, 420
Grammar, SEE DEFINITIONS OF
TERMS IN Glossary AND Forms
of words
Grand, 420
Guy, 420
Hackneyed expressions, 203-204
Hadn't ought, 418
Had of, 420
Had ought, 420
Hardly, 414-415
Has got, have got, 420
Here, 36-37
He said, etc , comma with, 109
Himself, myself, yourself, 423-424
His or her, 42
Hisself, 420
Holidays, capitalization, 159
Hours of the day used with A.M.
or P.M., figures for, 165
However, punctuation with, 106
Hyphen, 153-155
at end of line, 153
compound numbers, 154
Index 439
compound words, 153
two words as single modifier, 154
Ibid,, 361, 370
Idioms, 196-198
in dictionary, 179-180
//-clause, verb with, 29, 30
Illogical comparisons, 80-81
Illogical thinking, SEE Clear
thinking
Illusion, allusion, 412
Imperative mood, 28
Imply, infer, 420
Improper subordination, 14-16
Improprieties, 193-196
In back of, 420
Incomplete comparisons, 80-82
Incomplete constructions, SEE
Omissions
Incomplete sentences, 2-5
Indefinite pronouns, 421
agreement of verb with, 35
apostrophe with, 51, 156
Indentation, 139, 255
Independent clause, 95-96,
119-120, 123, 421
Indexes to periodicals, 339,
342-344
Indicative mood, 28, 30, 87
Indirect discourse, 88
Indirect object, 421
Indirect questions, 91
Indirect quotations, 130-131
Infer, imply, 420
Infinitive, 430-431
complement of, 49
dangling, 62
"split," 69
sign of, 79-80
subject of, 49
tense, 25
Inflections, 19
of personal pronouns, 47
of verbs, 31-32
Inflectional forms, in dictionary,
178-179
Informal and formal language,
184-189
In, into, 420
In regards to, 421
Instances and examples, use of,
in reasoning, 401-402
Intensive pronoun, 421
Interjection, 421
comma with, 109
exclamation mark with, 93
Internal quotations, 129
Interrogative elements, comma
with, 108
Interrogative pronoun, 51-55
Mo, in, 420
Intransitive verb, 22
Introduction of theme, 324
Introductory phrases and clauses,
comma after, 100-101, 117
Irregardless, 421
Irregular verbs, 20-22, 23
Is when, is where, 421-422
Italics, 142-143
for emphasis, 143
for foreign words, 143
for names of ships and trains, 143
for titles, 142
for words, letters, figures
referred to as such, 143
underlining to indicate, 142
It, as subject, 37
It is I, 48
Its, it's, 156, 422
If* me, 48
Joint possession, 156
Junior, Senior, placed after whole
name, 107
Key words in paragraph for
transition, 272-274
Kind of a, sort of a, 422
Kind of, sort of, 422
MO Index
Labels, in dictionary, 178
Lay, lie, 22
Learn, teach, 422
Less, fewer, 419
Letters, figures, and words
referred to as such
apostrophe with plural, 156
italics for, 143
Levels of usage, 182-201
Liable, likely, 423
Library paper, SEE Research paper
Library, use of, 338-345
Lie, lay, 22
Like, 422
Likely, liable, 423
Limiting the subject
of research paper, 336-337
of theme, 292-295
Linking verb, 58, 423
Literary titles
as subject of sentence, 38
capitalization, 157
italics for, 143
punctuation with, 92
quotation marks with, 130
1 'Loaded" words, 405
Localisms, 191-192
Locate, 423
Logical comparisons, 80-81
Logical thinking, 398-409
Loose, 423
Loose sentence, 243
Lot of, lots of, 423
Magazine indexes, SEE Periodical
indexes
Main clause, SEE Independent
clause
Manuscript form, 138-145
legibility, 139-140
margins, 139
neatness, 138, 139-140
paper and ink, 138-139
revision and correction, 140
Margins, 139
Mass appeal, 405-406
May, can, 415
Mechanics, 142-166
abbreviations, 163-164
apostrophe, 155-156
capitals, 157-163
contractions, 163
hyphen, 153-155
italics, 142-144
numbers, 164-165
spelling, 144-152
syllabication, 153
underlining, 142-144
Metaphors, 237
Meter, to be avoided in prose,
222-223
Misplaced modifiers, 63-65
Misreading, commas to prevent, 110
Mixed and inappropriate figures
of speech, 237-239
ML A Style Sheet, 360
Mode, SEE Mood
Moderation, 406
Modifiers, 60-67, 423
dangling, 61-63
hyphenated, 154
misplaced, 63-65
restrictive and nonrestrictive,
101-105, 117
sentence, 106-107, 119-120
"squinting," 65
Months, capitalization of, 159
Mood, 28-31
shifts in, 87
subjunctive, 28-31
with if-clause, 30
Most, 423
Myself, yourself, himself, 423-424
Name calling, 405
Names, proper
capitalized, 159
in dictionary, 181
Index
Narration, 296
Natural truth or scientific law, 25
Neatness, 138, 139-140
Nice, 424
No, comma with, 109
Nominative case, SEE Subjective
case
None, some, etc., as subjects, 35-36
Nonrestrictive elements, 101-105
Non sequilur, 406
No place, 424
Note-taking in research, 347-356
Nouns, 424
capitalization of, 157-163
case, 50-51
collective, 34, 41, 415
inflection, 47
plural form but singular
meaning, 34
possessive case, 155-156
proper, 159
Noun clause, 417
Nowheres, 424
Number
pronoun and antecedent, 40-47
shift in, 87
subject and verb, 31-40
Number, amount, 413
Number, as subject, 36
Numbers
apostrophe for plural of, 156
beginning sentence with, 164
compound, 154
figures for dates, street numbers,
tabulations, etc., 165
referred to as such, 143
spelled out, 164
0, capitalized, 157
Object
direct, 418
indirect, 421
of preposition, 48-49
SEE ALSO Case
Objective case, 47-55
Obsolete words, 193
Of, for have, 424
Off of, 424
0/-phrase to show possession, 51
Omissions
apostrophe to indicate, 156
article, 79-80
auxiliary verb, 79
comma to indicate, 110
possessive pronoun, 79-80
preposition, 78
sign of infinitive, 79-80
steps in thought, 404
that, 80
SEE ALSO Ellipsis
On a whole, 424
Only, 414-415
Order, climactic, 245
Organization, 297-300
Outline
sentence, 302
topic, 300-302
Outlining
in research paper, 356-357
in theme, 300-302
Overlapping subordination, 14-16
Page references, figures for, 165
Paragraph, 255-286
central purpose, 256-260
choppy, 276-279
details in, 258-260
development, 264-271
dialogue, 276
indentation, 139, 255
introductory, 277
length, 276-279
order, 268-269
topic sentences, 256-260
transition, 271-276
unity, 260-262
Parallelism, 69-76, 243
Paraphrasing, 350-356, 357-359
442 Index
Parentheses
comma after, 117
with loosely connected
material, 126
with question mark, to show
doubt, 92-93
Participle, 430-431
case with, 51
dangling, 61
perfect, 25-26
SEE ALSO Verbals
Parts of speech
defined, 425
in dictionary, 176
Party, 425
Passive voice, 27-28
Past perfect tense, 24
Past tense, 23
Percentages, figures for, 165
Percent, per cent, 425
Perfect participle, 25-26
Perfect tenses, 24-25
Period
after abbreviations, 91-92
end of sentence, 91-92
not after title of theme, 92
with quotation marks, 131
Period fault, SEE Sentence
fragment
Periodical indexes, 342-343
Periodic sentence, 243
Person
shift in, 87
subject and verb, 31-32, 33,
37-38
Personal pronouns, 47, 51, 156, 425
Personifications, 236
Phenomena, 425
Phrases, 425
absolute, 109
dangling, 61-63
restrictive, punctuation of,
101-105
Place names, commas with, 107
Plagiarism, 357-360
Plenty, 425
Plurals
numbers, letters, and words
referred to as such, 156
possessive of plural nouns,
155-160
proper names, 149
spelling of, 147-149
P.M , A.M., 164, 412
Point of view, SEE Consistency
Position of words, 60-76
Possession
joint, 156
o/-phrase with inanimate
objects, 51
Possessive case
apostrophe with, 155-156
before gerund, 50
indefinite pronoun, 51
personal pronoun, 47
whose for of which, 42
Possessive pronoun
faulty omission, 79-80
form of, 51
Predicate, 425
Predicate adjective, 58, 425
Predicate complement, SEE
Subjective complement
Predominate, predominant, 426
Prefixes and suffixes, in
dictionary, 180
Preposition, 426
capitalization in titles, 157
faulty omission of, 78
idioms, 197
object of, 48
repeating, 79-80
Prepositional phrase, dangling,
61-62
Present perfect tense, 24
Present tense, 23, 24
Primary materials in research, 346
Principal parts of verbs, 20-22
Index U3
Principal, principle, 426
Progressive form of verb, 22-23
Pronominal adjective, 426
Pronouns, 426
agreement with antecedent,
40-47
ambiguous reference, 44
case of, 47-54
for transition, 272
indefinite, 35, 51, 156, 421
intensive, 421
interrogative, 51-55
personal, 47, 51, 156, 425
possessive, 50, 79-80
reflexive, 427
relative, 37-38, 42, 43, 47,
51-55, 79-80, 87
to avoid repetition, 221
Pronunciation
in dictionary, 173-174
to avoid misspelling, 145
Proofreading, 140, 325
Proper names, plurals, 149
Proper nouns
capitalization, 159
in dictionary, 181
Proposition, 426
Punctuation, 90-137
brackets, 126-127
colon, 122-124, 131
comma, 92, 93, 95-114
dash, 124-125
end, 91-95
exclamation point, 93, 132-133
parentheses, 92-93, 117, 126
period, 91-92, 93, 94, 131
question mark, 92-93, 131
quotation marks, 128-132
semicolon, 6, 119-122, 131
single quotation marks, 129
unnecessary comma, 115-119
Question, direct and indirect, 92
Question mark
after doubtful date or figure,
92-93
after interrogative sentence, 92
after title of theme, 92
no comma with, 116
no period with, 93
not for humor or sarcasm, 92-93
within interrogative sentence, 92
within parentheses, 92-93
with quotation marks, 131
Quite, quite a, 427
Quotation marks, 128-132
direct quotations and dialogue,
129
not used with indirect quotations,
slang, etc , 130-131
other punctuation with, 131-132
single, 128, 129
titles, 128, 130
words used as words, 130
Quotations, block form, 129
Quotations
capitals in, 157
colon before, 123-124
comma to introduce, 109
indirect, 130-131
Quoting, in research paper,
352-356, 357-358
Raise, rise, 22
Real, 427
Reasoning, 398-409
Reasoning in a circle, 403-404
Reason is (was) because, 427
Reference books, 338-339, 342-345
Reference of pronouns
ambiguous, 44
collective noun antecedent, 41
compound antecedent, 40-41
definite, not implied idea, 43-44
singular antecedents like each,
either, 42
Reflexive pronoun, 427
Regular verbs, 20-22, 23
444 Index
Relative pronouns
case of, 51-55
faulty omission, 79-80
reference to animals or things, 42
shift from one to another, 87
verb with, 37-38
Relevance of content to subject
of theme, 402
Repetition, 221-226
for clarity, 223
for emphasis, 223
for transition, 272
ineffective, 221-226
of sound, 222-223
pronouns to avoid, 221
synonyms to avoid, 221-222
Research paper, 334-397
bibliographical form, 364-365
choosing a subject, 335-338
controlled research, 345-346
documentation, 357-365
footnoting and footnotes,
357-363
library, use of, 338-345
limiting the subject, 336-337
outlining, 356-357
paraphrasing, 350-356, 357-359
primary and secondary materials,
346-347
quoting, 352-356, 357-358
specimen, 367-397
subject headings, 349-350,
353-356
suggested steps in writing, 366
taking notes, 347-356
use of card catalogue, periodical
indexes, reference books,
338-345
working bibliography, 338-345
writing the paper, 365-366
Respectfully, respectively, 427
Restrictive elements, 101-105, 117
Revision and correction of
themes, 140
Rhyme, to be avoided in prose,
222-223
Right, 427
Rise, raise, 22
Run-on sentence, SEE Fused
sentence
Said, 427
Salutation
of formal letter, colon with,
124
of personal letter, comma with,
109
Same, 428
Scarcely, 414r415
Seasons, not capitalized, 159
Secondary materials in research,
346
Semicolon, 6, 119-122
between independent clauses,
11^-120
improper use of, 121
in a series, 121
to prevent comma fault and
fused sentence, 6
with quotation marks, 131
Senior, junior, placed after whole
name, 107
Sensual, sensuous, 428
Sentence fragments, 2-5
Sentence modifiers, 106-107,
119-120
Sentence outline, 300-302
Sentences
balanced, 243-244
choppy, 9-11
defined, 2
fragmentary, 2-5
fused, 6-7
loose, 243
periodic, 243
"stair-step," 14-16
structure, 77-80
topic, 255
Index 445
unnecessary separation of parts,
68-69
variety, 242-250
Separation of parts, unnecessary,
68-69
Sequence of tenses, 22-26
Series
colon before, 123-124
comma in, 96-97
semicolon in, 121
Set, sit, 22
Shall, will, 31, 428
Shifts
direct and indirect discourse, 88
from one relative pronoun to
another, 87
in mood, 87
in person, 87
in tense, 86-87
in voice, 87
Ships, names of, italicized, 143
Sic, 378
Sign of parallelism, 73
Similes, 236-237
Simple sentence, 428
Single quotation marks, 128, 129
SU, set, 22
Slang, 130-131, 189-191
Snob appeal, 405
So, so that, 428
So, such, too. 78
Someplace, 428
Sometime, some time, 428
Somewheres, 428
Sort of, kind of, 422
Sort of a, kind of a, 422
Sounds, bad repetition of, 222-223
Specific and concrete words, 227-231
Specimen research paper, 367-397
Spelling, 144-149
adding -s or -es, 148-149
chang-ing y to i, 147
doubling final consonant, 147-148
dropping final -e, 146
i-e or e-i, 145-146
in dictionary, 172
list, 150-152
pronouncing carefully, 143
Splice, comma, 5-6
"Split" infinitive, 69
"Squinting" modifiers, 65
"Stair-step'* sentence, 14-16
Standard usage, 182-189
colloquial, 185, 187-188
formal, 184-189
informal, 184-189
Street numbers, figures for, 165
Style, 215-254
balanced sentences, 243-244
conciseness, 217-220
connotation, 231-235
denotation, 231-235
figurativeness, 235-241
fine writing, 241-242
loose sentences, 243
periodic sentences, 243
repetition, 221-226
sentence variety, 242-250
specific and concrete words,
227-231
wordiness, 217-220
Subjective case, 47-55
Subjective complement, 37, 48, 429
Subject labels, in dictionary, 178
Subject of infinitive, 49
Subject of sentence, 429
agreement of verb with, 31-10
compound, 32-33
literary title as, 38
Subjects
for research paper, 335-338
for theme, 287-295
Subjunctive mood, 28-30
Subordinate clause, SEE Dependent
clause
Subordinating conjunctions, 429
Subordination
faulty, 14-16
446 Index
overlapping, 14-16
upside-down, 14
Substandard usage, 182-184
Substantive, 49
Such as, no comma after, 116
Such, so, too, 78
Suffixes and prefixes, in
dictionary, 180
Superlative degree, 57-58
Sure, 429
Sure and, try and, 429
Suspicion, 429
Sweeping generalizations, 400-401
Swell, 429
Syllabication, 153-155
in dictionary, 172-173
Synonyms
in dictionary, 177-178
to avoid repetition, 221-222
Tabulations, numbers in, 165
Teach, learn, 422
Technical English, 199-201
Tenses, 22-26
in i/-clause, 30
natural truth or scientific law, 25
perfect, 22, 24-25
sequence of, 22-26
shifts in, 86-87
verbals, 25-26
Term paper, SEE Research paper
Terrible, 430
Than, in elliptical clause, 50
That
as relative pronoun, 42
faulty omission, 80
not in nonrestrictive clauses, 103
Their, there, 430
Theme, 287-333
argument in, 296
body, 324-325
case study, 306-323
check list of essentials, 324-326
choosing subject, 287-295
conclusion, 325
controlling purpose, 295
descriptive, 296
detail, 302-305
exposition, 296
introduction, 324
kinds, 296-297
length, 292-295
limiting subject, 292-295
list of subjects, 288-291
mechanical matters, 326
method of treatment, 296-297
narration, 296
organization, 297-300
outlining, 300-302
planning and organizing, 297-300
proofreading, 325-326
revision and correction of, 140
sentence outline, 302
title, 325
tone, 297
topic outline, 300-302
transitions, 325
The number of, 36
There, 36-37, 430
These kind, 430
Thesis statement, 295
Thinking, SEE Logical thinking
This, antecedent of, 43-44
Thusly, 430
Title
of research paper, 365
of theme, 130,139,324
Titles
agreement of verb with, 38
capitalization, 157, 158
commas with, 107
italics for, 143
punctuation with, 92
quotation marks with, 130
To be, 31
To in infinitive, faulty omission,
79-80
Tone, of theme, 97
Index UKf
Too, such, so, 78
Topic, of theme, 287-295
Topic outline, 300-302
Topic sentence, 255
Trains, names of, italicized, 143
Transition in paragraph, 271-276,
325
Transitional words, 271-272
Transitive verb, 22, 27
Triteness, 203-204
Troublesome verbs, 20-22
Try and, sure and, 429
Typescript, example of, 141
SEE ALSO Specimen research
paper
Underlining for italics, 142-144
Unique, 430
Unity in paragraph, 260-262
Unnecessary colon, 124
Unnecessary comma, 115-119
Unnecessary dash, 125
Unnecessary semicolon, 121
Unnecessary separation, 68-69
Upside-down subordination, 14
Usage labels, in dictionary, 178
Use, 430
Vagueness, 227-231
Variety in sentences, 242-250
Verbals, 430-431
dangling, 61-63
introductory, comma after, 100
tense, 25-26
Verbs, 430
agreement, 31-40
auxiliary, 29, 414
ending of third person singular, 32
faulty omission of, 79
forms, 20-22
inflection, 31-32
intransitive, 22
irregular, 20-22, 23
linking, 58, 423
mood, 28-31
principal parts, 20-22
progressive form of, 22-23
regular, 20-22, 23
tenses, 22-25, 30
transitive, 22, 27
troublesome, 20-22
voice, 27-28
Vocabulary, 204-209
Voice, 27-28, 431
active for conciseness, 218
shift in, 87
Wait on, 431
Ways, 431
Where, 431
Where at, 432
Which, 42
While, 432
Whose for of which, 42
Who, whom, whoever, whomever,
51-55
Whose, who's, 432
Witt, shall, 31, 428
-wise, 432
Wish, subjunctive to express, 28-29
Without, 432
Wordiness, 217-220
Words
compound, 153-155
concrete, 227-231
connotations and denotations,
231-234
specific, 227-231
Words, letters, and figures referred
to as such, 130, 143
apostrophe with plural of, 156
Working bibliography, 338-345
Yes and no, comma with, 109
You in formal English, 185
Yourself, himself, myself, 423-4-24
448 Index
Index of
Correction Symbols
MT abbreviation, 163-164
/Q#Jr adjective, 56-59
adverb, 56-59
agreement of pronoun and antecedent, 40-47
agreement of subject and verb, 31-40
archaic, 193
case, 47-55
capital letter, 157-163
n o capital, 157-163
choppy sentences, 9-11
lack of coherence, 60-67, 69-76, 260-262, 271-276
faulty or incomplete comparison, 80-85
/C4TK- wrong connotation, 231-235
contraction, 163
comma splice, 5-6
weak or faulty diction, 182-214
dialect, 191-192
consult dictionary, 167-181
dangling construction, 61-63
449
Jitf, /feT exact word, 204-205
poor use of figurative language, 235-240
sentence fragment, 3-5
fused sentence, 6-8
fine writing, 241-242
see glossary, 410-432
faulty idiom, 196-198
impropriety, 193-196
incomplete construction, 77-80
use italics (underline), 142-143
no italics, 142-143
A awkward, 14-16, 68-69, 222
use lower-case (small) letter; no capital, 157-163
inappropriate level of style, 184-189
faulty logic, unclear thinking, 398-409
mixed construction, grammatical inconsistency, 85-89
mood, 28-31
misplaced modifier, 60-67
manuscript; attention to manuscript form, 138-140
use numbers; spell out numbers, 164-166
obsolete, 193
II faulty parallelism, 69-76
begin a paragraph, 255-286
fl no paragraph, 255-286
punctuation error or omission, 90-137;
see also individual marks below
450 Correction Symbols
shift in point of view, 85-89
vague or faulty reference, 40-47
repetition, 221-226
revision needed, 140
unnecessary separation, 68-69
sequence of tenses, 22-26
slang, 189-191
spelling error, 144-152
faulty subordination, 14-18
tense, 22-26
technical, 199-201
transition needed, 271-276
triteness, 203-204
topic sentence needed, 256-258
vague, 227-230
lack of sentence variety, 242-250
verb form, 20-22
voice, 27-28
wordy, 217-220
X /Cff* excessive coordination, 12-13
X obvious error
O spell out circled numerals or abbreviations
f\J transpose as marked
A omission
Correction Symbols 451
./ V / end punctuation (period, question mark, exclamation
point), 91-95
,/ comma, 95-114
/W, unnecessary comma, 115-119
; semicolon, 119-122
: colon, 122-124
dash, 124-125
C ) parentheses, 126
C 1 brackets, 126-127
ff / n quotation marks, 128-132
- hyphen, 153-155
/ apostrophe, 155-156
452 Correction Symbols
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